An oldie but a goodie. Wearing my butterfly necklace today.

Here's some news! A special jewelry sale starts tomorrow on elaineperlov.com. There will be other fun things on sale too. For the entire month of December. I just made this piece yesterday. It's a one-of-a-kind glass bubble and Sterling silver 21" necklace. Only one! It will go LIVE on the site tonight.


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Update 7:48pm
It's LIVE! Click to view the Glass Bubble Necklace.

ASCII Heart Necklace available on Etsy

I am a victim of the computer, most specifically Facebook. After that, I would blame Blogger. After that, Twitter. Lastly, email. I do not text, however. That is where I draw the line. But I do make smiley faces out of punctuation. :-) And would probably eventually make this heart in a Twitter post or something. (But not on Blogger, because it messes up the code.)

The other day, I saw the computer had claimed another: this jewelry maker named Becky Stern, who was forced to communicate human emotion in a math problem. So this is what it's come to. Sigh.

I saw it on Boing Boing. A blog. On the computer. I will probably FB out this post when I am done here. And Twitter it.

Die-cut felt necklace by Lily Yung. Her necklaces retail for $50-$400, approx.

Isn't this piece spectacular? I don' t use the word spectacular very often, buthis piece is spectacular. Lily Yung is a designer based in Toronto. Check out her work here!

Interesting mix of styles on this watch necklace from Fred Flare. Deco Medallion Watch Necklace, $24. Go ahead. Award yourself.

Rose Bobby Pins from Just Peachy, $10 on Etsy

At last! I made my first Etsy purchase! These cute turquoise rose bobby pins from Just Peachy: Handmade Jewels and Treasures. I also had my eye on some really cute bird earrings that seem to be sold out now. Rats. But alas, I would have to get my ears re-pierced to wear them anyway. Perhaps I will do that. Get my ears re-pierced. I wonder if you can go swimming everyday with newly pierced ears? That is what prevents me. I don't want my newly re-pierced ears conflicting with my swim. In the end, swimming is more important to me. Anyway, I wear barettes everyday. It would be hard to coordinate barettes and earrings and a necklace and a belt. I don't like over-accesorizing. What a strange post this turned out to be. A ramble about accessorizing. Look I am still rambling about rambling. Ok, I will publish this now.

Alternately, these bird earrings are pretty awesome!
$11 from Crazy for Jewels


Wait, here they are, but by another designer!
$12 by Modern Trinkets
Hey, I could become that person that wears bird earrings everyday.
It's an idea.


And look at these beautiful ones also by Modern Trinkets.
Silver Branch Earrings, $20.
Maybe I should get my ears re-pierced.
These earrings remind me of this chandelier.


PS I just purchased this piece too. So delicate!
Sterling Silver Peace Dove Necklace, $15 from Hope on a Rope Jewelry

Sushi Grass Necklace by Brookadelphia.
She is a genius. You should have seen her United States Maps
at the Renegade Craft Fair this weekend.

I love my neighborhood.* My husband and I went for a run around the track in Williamsburg Saturday morning, to be really pleasantly surprised that it was Renegade Craft Fair weekend! Very happy that they moved the Fair to a nice shady spot this year! The Pool location last year was a cool idea, but a hotbed of hot. I was also pleased that they changed the weekend. Not Father's Day. A much better idea.

So during our run, it was all I could do to not fork off from running and start shopping. As I went round and round, I watched the set up. I love booth set up. It is a strange sickness. From my Javits trade show days. In fact, I more notice people's displays than their merchandise. I would have taken photos of my favorite displays if I had not been running. I can't really carry a camera while running. You understand.

Well anyway, I am happy to report that I am now the proud owner of the Sushi Grass Necklace by Brookadelphia. Given my penchant for plastics and my love of sushi grass, this was an ideal choice for me.


*Or honorary neighborhood extension, to be technical. Because I technically live in Greenpoint. But as the realtors say, "Greenpoint/Williamsburg." So I consider the slashed neighborhoods as a whole.

Lady Ivory Necklace by Michvanetta, on Etsy, now sold out

How does one get from Point A to Point B to point-0f-purchase online? It is a mystery sometimes. I think I found this lovely rosary-style rose necklace on Etsy by way of Twitter --> then Wists --> then a blog --> then Etsy --> then the Etsy blog. I think that is how I came to it. These days, more often than not, Twitter is involved.

Purchasing, once again is thwarted though, due to Etsy shops being often sold out. Oh well.

Wood Fence Bracelet, Banana Republic, $29.

I think I wood. Depending on how it looks in person. If only accessory designers would mix would with silver! Then I wouldn't have to think twice.

Roberto Cavalli Ring, $390 on Net-a-Porter
Gold-plated brass textured leaf, turquoise vein & bloom-quartz pink stones

Look at this ring! Found on the Hudson Jeans blog this morning. Check out their blog. There's lots of design inspiration to be found there.

Libby Necklace by Gemma Redux, $418.

Wow, now this is a necklace. I just found this line on WhoWhatWear. The one they show is pretty fantastic too. Check out the many collections on gemmaredux.com. Designer: Rachel Dooley.

ACB Leather Fringe Necklace, previously available on Net-a-Porter

Leather Fringe Necklace by Martin Margiela


Leather Fringe Necklace by Annie Costello Brown

I found a rather bold necklace at Express today that simulated the above three, and was moved to purchase, for reasons that had nothing to do with me. Let me explain. Working in fashion, and working around other women, you see a lot of merchandise bandied about. Sometimes, you might be inspired to purchase something that has nothing to do with your own personal style. Sometimes you might purchase because you identified a key trend, and want to own it for yourself. Sometimes you might purchase because you found an even cooler version of an item for an even better price (case in point: the Express Necklace which by the way replaced the leather strips with chains of all shapes and sizes).

Well you get the idea. I did not purchase the Express necklace because the proportions were all wrong on me. As an object, I liked it. On me, not so much. I'll have to tell the friend who bought the Leather Fringe Necklace about it. The quality isn't there, but the shape is cute.

Potato Chip Necklace
3 actual size potato chips on a Sterling silver chain, $50.
[image from The Curiosity Shoppe]

I just made a discovery, but not in time for Christmas. Drat.

The Curiosity Shoppe. How many things on this Website do I want to own? Many. Manymany. If you are like me, you will be kicking yourself for not knowing about this sooner.

Landver Spike Onyx Ring, $260 on LA Buzz Shop

'Tis the season for holiday parties. Check out this cocktail ring!

Sterling Silver with 18K gold vermeil Spike Ring with ten hand set Onyx stones with a total weight of 14.9 carats. Only five left.

I can imagine these earrings with a number of great sweaters in my closet.

If you are in the mood to shop a great online sale, delight.com has some visually pleasing jewelry that you (and I) may want to acquire. Let's think about it, shall we? I have my eye on the above Crimson Enamel Earrings by Kiln Studio. $33.95 is not a bad price, now is it.

You have to see this ring. It is too amazing not to see.

At a super-fab event I attended earlier last week, I spied Spry, a notable NYC fashion stylist, wearing this super-fab ring, custom-designed for him by Melody Burns for Kiini Ibura Jewelry. The stone: agate. The metal: Brass dipped in gold. The visual impact of a ring that is larger than one's hand? Pretty incredible.

Necklaces by Danielle Burgos at Alter: [L-R] Jaw Necklace, $60
"Guy Smidley" hand-carved wooden moustache necklace, $45
"Wyatt Earp" hand-carved wooden moustache necklace, $49
[image from Alter]

Starting from when I was 3, my friend Jean Ann and I would make beards and moustaches out of white paper, curl the ends with scissors, tape them to our faces with scotch tape, and pose for our annual Polaroid. This tradition lasted until we were 7 or 8. Inexplicable, but true. When I saw these moustache necklaces by Brooklyn artist, Danielle Burgos, I thought, "kindred spirit!"

"Guy Smidley" and "Wyatt Earp" are currently available at Alter on Franklin Street in Greenpoint.

Linhardt, the new jewelry shop and design studio on 1st Avenue
in the East Village will catch your eye and draw you right in.


One of the floating display cases, designed by Wary Meyers, shows off
Lisa Linhardt's own silver cuffs, made from re-purposed and recycled flatware,
creamers, water pitchers, and other assorted tableware.


White pendant lamps, designed by Wary Meyers.
Each lamp is made from two garden shop plastic planters. So clever!

My eyes flash as I run along 1st Avenue in the East Village on my way to an appointment. New jewelry store! Wow, nice font. Great store design. I must investigate on my way back.

I meet Lisa Linhardt, jewelry designer and owner of the eponymous studio and shop which opened May 2. She is gracious, humble about her many accomplishments, and passionate about using design to make human connections with artisans from other cultures. Lisa works with artisans from Colombia and Africa to craft aesthetically pleasing, economically viable pieces of jewelry, using their own indigenous renewable materials. Linhardt's "Seed Rings" are a case in point, made from sustainable tagua seeds, shaped to her specifications by Colombian artisans. Earlier this year, Lisa participated in a 100-mile walk across Kenya to help raise funds for Beads for Education. While there, she got to work with Maasai women to make special beaded bracelets for her collection. She now showcases the pieces in her store.

The store itself, custom-designed by Maine-based Wary Meyers has a calming, organic flow, and the rusticity of a New England shoreline. Design details, such as wall-mounted floating display cases, are all made from salvaged re-purposed materials. The door handle is taken from "a 70s wingback sofa which washed ashore on a Maine island." The various planks are rescued from an old church, schoolhouse, and barn in Maine. The pendant lamps are each made from two garden shop plastic planters.

Another facet of the Linhardt design studio is custom orders. Lisa and I had to cut our conversation short when an architect from L.A. made a beeline for Lisa's "Signature Ring," pictured here, on a recommendation from a New York friend. When Lisa said she could make the ring in her size right in the store, and have it ready in an hour and a half, the customer's eyes lit up. An hour and a half? Now that's service. I let Lisa get to it.

Be sure to visit this hidden gem of a store soon, before Linhardt is deluged with press, and the wait for a "Signature Ring" is 4-6 weeks.


Linhardt
Design Studio NYC
156 1st Avenue (9th & 10th Street)
East Village, New York
917.748.9000

Lisa is inspired to work with furniture designers because "they see jewelry in materials
that aren't typically used," such as this cuff in cork.


"Tagua Rings," shaped to Lisa's specifications by Colombian artisans.
The tagua seed (shown whole in foreground) is a sustainable natural seed from Colombia.
Lisa sees jewelry in everything, especially in nature. She is a natural sculptor.

Lisa Linhardt's own faceted "Ice Pixel Ring" in white jade, $135.
Doesn't this scream Barneys Coop? Lisa does not wholesale as of yet,
but perhaps in the future.
Available in additional colors and materials, only at Linhardt.


Linhardt also features work from several other designers,
such as this necklace, made from found vintage beads, by Joann Scully.

This post is featured on Coutorture for June 17, 2008





And also featured on Racked for June 18, 2008

[image: judygeibplusalpha.com]

Brooklyn independent jewelry designer, Judy Geib, whose work is offered at Barneys and was included in the Cooper Hewitt's 2006 National Design Triennial, has something unique to contribute to the luxury jewelry market. Her work is handmade, and purposely shows the human hand at work in crafting each piece. She approaches stones and settings the way a graphic designer might approach line, pattern and color (as she was in graphic design before 2001 when she began pursue her jewelry as a career).

With the eye of a curator-meets-quirky-crafter, Geib provides her retailers with crocheted cases, on which to display matched sets of jewelry, so that her designs may be shown with a distinct look that is all their own. The intersection of the nubbly, friendly crochet with the almost drizzled look of her metalwork makes her presentation utterly captivating.

[page print from zoozoom.com]

Published: Zoozoom.com, The Zoo Daily
Read it on Zoozoom: click here
Writing: Elaine Perlov
Photo: Courtesy of Amy Bengston



Amy Bengston's collection of wood inlay jewelry is a feast for the eyes.



If you cannot view on Zoozoom: click on the image above
To read more of my articles for Zoozoom: click here