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Showing posts with label Jewelry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jewelry. Show all posts

Monogram Jewelry

So, awhile ago I expressed interest of buying a necklace of my monogram. I was inspired actually by Cat Deely, the host of "So You Think You Can Dance" on Fox. She was wearing a lacy gold necklace and it got me wondering if you could do that with a monogram. I kept the idea to myself and kept looking. My mom, sister, and I went to go visit one of my great aunts in New York and took a quick trip to Park Slope. We were looking around the stores there and we came across this little quiet shop. We browsed and then I saw a lacy monogrammed necklace. It was gorgeous...and over $400. Totally out of my price range. I told my mom that I really liked it and she thought that a jeweler in our area would be able to do it. I didn't think too much of it until my mom brought it up when we got back home.
We looked into it at the small store and the saleswoman pulled out a catalog. There were all kinds of customized items like lapel pins, cufflinks, bracelets and necklaces. We finally flipped to the back of the catalog and there was the necklace I was looking for! There were two options and about seven different sizes per option. The first was traditional "interlocking script" that is typical monogram script. The second option was a circular design where all of your initials fit into a circle. This looked a bit too much like what you see on bath and golf towels so my mom and I went with the script. We decided on a $75 dollar, silver size and the woman told us that she would call us once the necklace was ready.
That order took so long because, I think, they had to create a custom mold for my necklace. My own monogram is "cRa" ("C" for Catherine, and yes, I do go by Katie. I don't know why exactly my parents went with this approach...). There were many loops in my initials and places where they could interlock, so I was excited. We got the necklace back and at first I, honestly, wasn't thrilled. I thought that the letters were too hard to decipher and I was just like "ehhh...". I have since begun to wear this necklace all the time. It's about the size of a quarter and falls right in the middle of my clavicle.
My mom said that she thought last night was the first time she'd seen me wear it! I couldn't believe it! I LOVE this necklace now because it is so different. No one really knows what it is until I tell them its my monogram and then I get so many compliments. I think the fact that it's hidden makes it special. No one else I know or have ever seen, besides Cat Deely, has a necklace similar to mine. This is definitely a cool buy and great for the holidays!

xxKatie

Current Desire

So as you all know, I'm at college. While not having your entire wardrobe at your discretion, you remember the things you really love. Not to mention, the weather here is a bit silly, with yesterday being chilly and torrential downpour and today's sunny and 80 degrees! Since I haven't been at home, I've realized how much I try different jewelry on with clothes. Normally each day, I wear simple post earrings (generally pearls, silver pearls, faint pink pearls or pearl/diamond combo studs) and one of two silver bracelets given to me as gifts as a reminder of my fam. Recently, I've been looking at other types of earrings and I've decided that my two top choices are from KEP Designs (ahh who doesn't love them) and Fornash (a hometown-ish brand)!! My mom has a wonderful pair of diamond starfish earrings from a tiny boutique from here in Columbia! Ever since she got those, I've been looking for similar ones myself. Another family friend has a pair of starfish earrings that have pink diamonds and they're beautiful! I love these KEP Design starfish (however, they're WAY above budget):


These earrings are so fabulous! We sold some KEP floral earrings and necklaces (a cheaper version of Van Cleef and Arpels) and they sold out as fast as we could restock them! KEP Designs are always fabulous! There's another size that I think are ideal for jewelry wear-ers like me who like small earrings for just around $120!

Next on my list are two pairs from Fornash. Fornash has a great little store right in Georgetown that is full of preppy pink and green trinkets!


And this great combo in pink too!

These pink and white starries run just around $45, much better than the $400 KEP ones! How cute would any of these pairs be with a black turtle neck (a piece in my winter collection that I can't live without) and jeans or a crew neck and flats? These starries will definitely be on my Christmas list for '09...is that bad I'm already starting a list!

What jewelry do you wear all the time? Is there something (besides a wedding ring...) that you seem to wear all the time?

xxKatie

PS. Aren't you guys just loving the new Blogger features for posting?! I know I am!

My Graduation Gift

My parents gave me my graduation gift like the night before my graduation, but it wasn’t the right size. They gave me a gold and pearl Pandora ring (that I actually posted about when I got back from spring break…funny story: my mom didn’t really like it because she thought “I was hitting her over the head” by saying how much I liked it, so in turn, I deleted the post.) and I absolutely love it! It has 4 teeny tiny pink sapphires in the sides of the “crown”. When we were in Phoenix, the saleswoman told me that it was part of Pandora’s princess collection. How fab? Well, anyway, mother had ordered a size 7, which I’m guessing is like typical ring size. The 7 easily fell off my hand though, causing a slight wearability problem. It fit on the middle finger of the hand I write with, and even that finger has a huge knuckle that it fit over. Needless to say, I needed a much smaller size, so we headed back over to Smyth to get a new one. After ordering the size 6 (and being properly fitted) it finally arrived a few days ago!

I’m still getting used to wearing a ring, and I tend to fidget taking it on and off and on and off. It does turn fairly often, so I find myself turning it back because of the texture (you can see the little balls on the photo). Also, to take the close up pictures (pardon the hair, my mom seemed a little grossed out, but I didn’t think twice about it) I used the digital macro setting on my camera for the first time! I upgraded my camera around Christmas time and I still am not sure how everything works yet! It took incredibly clear VERY close up photos of the ring. I decided to take the picture ON my hand because you can see the pink sapphires the best. Who even knew that sapphires could come in any color besides blue?! Well, they come in the fabulous shade of pink too!

Ever get any special graduation gifts? This is definitely one I’ll remember!

xxKatie