DiVanityDesigns

The Enchanted Forest Necklace

2010-11-08T05:13:00.000-08:00

The Enchanted Forest is a place where all of your wildest dreams become a reality; a place filled with beauty, magic and intrigue. The Enchanted Forest necklace features a lot of intricate sterling silver wire wrapping and vivid Forest Green Apatite and Quartz. All of the stones are clear (without inclusions) and are of gorgeous quality. This necklace is luscious yet can still be worn with the right casual outfit.

The focal of this necklace is a beautiful, large Forest Green Quartz; all the tiny clusters are made of green Apatite. All findings are sterling silver and the necklace is finished off in the back with a little green apatite dangle. The length of the necklace (including the pendant drop) is 24". The pendant is 2" long and the chain can be clasped wherever you desire for various lengths.

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2010-11-04T15:49:00.001-07:00

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Huge Summer Clearance Sale!

2010-07-24T09:12:00.001-07:00

I never have sales, but I'm feeling extremely generous and so I've marked down almost everything in my shop! As my work shifts and grows and I am clearing out older inventory to make room for the new. Enjoy!

DiVanity Designs on Etsy

DiVanityDesigns.com

DiVanity Designs on 1000 Markets

A Chance Encounter on the Interstellar Highway

2010-07-21T05:52:00.001-07:00

A Chance Encounter on the Interstellar Highway - The Earrings

These earrings are all about being in the flow...letting yourself go where you want and just following your creativity and allowing magic to show up. These earrings turned out nothing like their original design but I just flowed with it and this piece practically created itself.

"A Chance Encounter on the Interstellar Highway" is also about romance- that chance encounter that leads to love while just flowing along with your life. You know, you are just driving around (or flying around- it is the Interstellar Highway you know!) and then you just happen to meet someone; that special someone who, whether for a short period of time or for the rest of your life, sparks romance, passion, and love.

In case you are wondering how Outer Space is coming into play, well, the swirls and twirls of the wire work make me think of some intergalactic highway; an almost inter-dimensional road that allows traveling in layers with all sorts of fun twists and turns.

These earrings have stunning salmon-peach chalcedony in 4 different shapes and sizes, deep purplish-pink rubies, deep red garnet, and plum zircon. They hang 3 3/4" long and are 2" wide at their widest; they are about 1.5" wide in the middle of the circle.

The earrings are available in my Etsy store or at DiVanityDesigns.com

The Medusa Necklace

2010-07-13T18:52:00.000-07:00

~Medusa Necklace

I am continuously inspired by Greek Mythology, and Medusa is quite the monster, so she should, of course, take center stage in one of my pieces.

Medusa was, before she was turned into her monstrous form, one of the most beautiful maidens in all of Athens. But we all know how outrageous beauty can go to one's head and she was eventually turned into her monster form by the Goddess Athena. Stories differ as to why this occurred- she either bragged about her beauty in Athena's temple or had sex with Poseidon in her temple. Either way...bad move on Medusa's part; you really don't want to tick off a Goddess! She was turned into the snake haired, fanged, lethal creature that we are all familiar with and that creature is the inspiration for this necklace.

The pendant focal of this necklace is a lovely combination of coiled sterling silver (to mimic her snake hair), teal chalcedony, quartz, apatite, and a druzy focal within the coils. Notice the quartz fangs? Yeah...those are Medusa's teeth.

Above the focal is a row of AAA Swiss blue topaz nuggets and blue quartz, which are reminiscent of the Aegean Sea. The necklace finishes off with sterling silver chain and a chalcedony onion at the clasp. All findings are sterling silver.

The necklace length (when clasped, hanging straight down) is 15" but can be clasped farther down on the chain to hang shorter. The total length of the chain (opened) is 22" and the length of the pendant is 3.5".

~ Coiled Pendant Component based on the tutorial by Gailavira.

It's for sale here: DiVanityDesigns.com Or in my Etsy Store

Photo by Boris Vallejo

2010-04-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

I posted this gorgeous Azurite piece for sale- I love Azurite (I am obsessed with teal in case you haven't noticed; my favorite stones are turquoise, azurite and chrysocolla). I made a little video but I don't have good skilz in this department yet- forgive the shakiness. I thought this would be more interesting than pics.

Why on Earth would I match my jewelry to my eyeshadow?!?

2010-04-20T15:59:00.000-07:00

The other day a friend and I were joking around about matching jewelry (I prefer an ecletic blend rather than matching) and she asked "do you ever match your jewelry to your eyeshadow?", to which I replied "of course not! That would be ridiculous.". Then I realized I had matched, at least a little. I was wearing gray and silver that day and I had on neutral eyeshadow but I had put a line of turquoise eyeshadow underneath my lower lash line which matched my huge turquoise cocktail rings. Accident? Yes! Bad Idea? Well...not necessarily. Sometimes we learn from our accidents, don't we now?

I like to think of my makeup as just another form of my creative expression, so I play around with colors just like I do with my jewelry. So I snapped a little pic of my eyeshadow yesterday, which was a combo of light pink, rusty peach, shimmery peach and purple (yeah, I know- it's hard to see!). I was wearing peach and gray so I wasn't about to wear peach jewelry. Usually with this particular ensemble I wear rose quartz, black or sterling, but I decided to grab some purple earrings to see how it looked. Result? It worked! I didn't end up wearing purple because I wanted to wear some crazy necklaces instead, but here are some pics of the jewelry that would go with my eyeshadow.

So it wasn't such a crazy idea after all....but would you do it (eclectically, of course)?

Chrysocolla Mixed Metals Bracelet

2010-04-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

I am loving Chrysocolla right now...the colors are so striking and deep. I got these great nuggets that have a gorgeous blue-green color, and I mixed sterling silver and gold fill together. The result? Striking, edgy hotness!

Buy it here: http://www.divanitydesigns.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BraceMixedChrysocolla

Spring Sale for Facebook Fans only!

2010-04-05T06:48:00.000-07:00

If you are on Facebook then you'll want to become a fan of DiVanity Designs- there is a special sale going on this week, April 5-9 for fans only! Happy Shopping!

http://www.facebook.com/DiVanityDesigns

If you are not on Facebook then send me a message through my website to find out about the sale!

What's in a name?

2010-03-27T08:20:00.000-07:00

In September of 2008 I went to a retreat where I spent 5 days in silence. (Yeah, I'm into fun stuff like that!) I figured something really interesting would come out of the experience- but it wasn't until months later that I was see the full effects. About 3 days into the experience I felt very strongly that I needed to finish remodeling my dining room (a little backstory- in February of 2008 my fiance and I gutted the room and redid everything but when it came time to furnish it my fiance suddenly lost interest, so it sat completely empty for 7 months). So I made a little note to get it done and when I came back from the retreat I created an beautiful plan for the dining room, told my fiance to be prepared to pick up furniture, and finished the dining room in October. Less than a month later, I was sitting in my first jewelry class, and the rest, as they say, is history! While I told myself I was going to take it slow, (I never do, by the way!) I was hooked right away and began my jewelry business in November of 2008. (Ah, I didn't really make a clear connection here- I make all of my jewelry in my dining room!) In those 5 days I learned how to shut down the chatter of my mind and connect to my creative, driving force. I also learned the importance of following through on the little thoughts I have telling me to do (or not do) something.

What is my jewelry based on? What does my jewelry say to the world? It's about following instincts. Trusting one's intuition. Being who you are with reckless abandon. And of course, looking amazing! The visual aesthetic should never be underestimated. ;-) I named my business DiVanity Designs because my jewelry is the marriage of the Divine and Vanity. It is glamour, confidence, and trusting oneself, all expressed through a visual aesthetic.

I'm a gemstone lover so of course they are in almost all of my designs, but I love big chain and heavy metal. Sometimes I'm a little bohemian, and sometimes I'm a rocker chic, and that is evident in my designs. I have a hard time sticking to a theme, both in jewelry and in life!

I always follow my instincts when making jewelry and that infuses my work with passion and love. That's DiVanity!

(The earrings featured above are entitled "Vampires at a Black Tie Affair", by the way. The silver shimmer of moonstone and blood red garnet make me think of vampires, all dressed up and being glamorous!)

High Kickin' It at The Moulin Rouge

2010-03-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

~High Kickin' It at The Moulin Rouge

These earrings are designed after French Boudoir- the colors of black, silver and hot pink hanging like a chandelier... I designed and hand forged the sterling silver earring components to resemble a chandelier from the Moulin Rouge days. The gemstones fall down off of sterling silver chain just like you would find in the chandelier and blend romance, glamour and bold style. These are smokin' hot and sassy, just like the Moulin Rouge!

I used black tourmalinated quartz, mystic spinel and hot pink quartz. All findings are sterling silver.

I plan on making a video of these babies so you can get even more up close and personal with them. Stay tuned!