Why is fit important?

You see the perfect necklace in the display case -- the color, the design -- you can actually feel your pupils expand. It is love at first site. You try it on and it feels as if you're wearing a choke chain. Because of the style, even one of those practical but generally unattractive extenders won't work. Defeat.

Many women who are either much smaller, or larger, than 'normal' have the experience of finding jewelry that either cuts off the blood supply or falls off.

Fit is important for a number of reasons, but the reason I like best is that jewelry is supposed to make us feel better. It glimmers, we lust, then buy and anticipate wearing it. Often it can be a sensual experience when it comes to the feel of various kinds of stones and the smoothness of the metal. It's hard to enjoy oneself or feel good in one's jewelry, if a necklace that was made to rest between the clavicles is actually a choker -- a choker that feels like it's choking us. Likewise, when one is very thin it's difficult to wear a bracelet that just will not stay on and slips off too easily. True that it's sometimes easier to make a thing smaller than to try to enlarge it, but not always.

My experience growing up was one of disappointment in bracelets, rings and necklaces (forget anklets -- lost cause), because I could just never find any that fit, and I've always refused to make myself uncomfortable trying to fit in, literally and figuratively. This is why I started making my own jewelry at the age of ten. This is also why it's so important to me that your jewelry feels good on you, makes you feel good to wear it, and that it fits just as it should.

At Adorn Me Jewelry we take the fit of your jewelry seriously, so please know that unless it says in the shop listing that it's not adjustable or cannot be made to size (a rarity, but it occasionally happens -- like with our The Birds and The Bees bracelet) everything is able to be made in your size, whether you are so petite that you find yourself having to shop in the children and young miss section (like a friend of mine has to do), or whether you are large enough to have no options of brick and mortar stores and have to shop online on through catalogs.

A dear friend had a simply beautiful multi-strand freshwater pearl necklace that her husband had given her years ago, and she had gained weight and hadn't been able to wear it for a number of years. I worked with her to design a new necklace that fit her the way she wanted it to, and we even had enough left over for a bracelet. This sort of thing can be done, and it gives new life to pieces that you either can no longer wear, or that you never really could wear for reasons of fit.

Likewise, if you see something in our shop that you love and you would like it larger or smaller, contact us and we will be more than happy to make sure your jewelry feels good on you and fits like it should.

Please welcome our new blog mistress, Devi!

Hi There and Hello!

I'm Devi, and I am the new blog mistress for Adorn Me Jewelry. I'll be stopping in to highlight new designs and announce contests and discounts! I'm a lover of all things handmade (especially jewelry!) and parrots. :-D

AMJ now has some lovely rose gold items! The Sandi Earrings feature three stacked garnet red faceted flat briolettes on rose gold filled ear wires that Tina fashioned and hammered herself. For some additional sparkle, garnet-colored Swarovski bicone crystals have been stacked on the hand-hammered rose gold-filled head pins. They swing a bit and can be worn for formal and informal occasions. Quite versatile! You can find more photos and info right here.

Another rose gold item is the Hand Hammered Rose Gold-Filled Hoop Earrings. They're 1 1/8" in circumference, are simple, and were formed and hammered by hand. These can be found here. If you would like a custom size hoop, or are interested in a custom design featuring rose gold-filled wire, drop Tina a note and she'll take care of you!

Note: sometimes Devi will update and sometimes Tina will update, though you may not always know which one of us it is. We'll keep you guessing! ;)

The next ship date is Saturday February 13, 2010.

Come visit AMJ today at www.AdornMeJewelry.etsy.com.

Thank you, thank you!

Adorn Me jewelry is pleased to announce that our necklace design, Lucid Dream, using Vintage Natural Brass has won the Vintaj Design Challenge for July! To read more about it please click here. Click the thumbnails to view the photos at their full size.

I know I already made a somewhat similar post before this, but this post gives more info on the elements used in the necklace. This necklace is basically a nostalgic statement necklace. It has a lovely Vintaj Soaring Swallow that swings free at its top by a Vintaj petite etched cable chain as its wearer moves about. Up that side is a large, darker red not-quite-round carnelian that is nestled into a Vintaj 16mm filigree bead cap. The chain used is Vintaj petite etched cable chain and Vintaj flat oval chain. Headpins used are by Vintaj, as well.

The stones used in this necklace are an amazing - huge - carnelian teardrop pendant, inverted and wrapped in a Vintaj peony filigree. From it hangs an amazonite round, a peacock freshwater pearl, a faceted Czech glass teardrop in topaz color, and it is surrounded by a drape of more Vintaj petite etched cable chain. Along one side are more amazonite rounds alternated with carnelian-colored Czech glass melon beads, and Vintaj flat oval chain. Hanging from the swallow's tail are a teardrop amazonite and a pretty little pearcock freshwater pearl.

The clasp in the back is a simply gorgeous Vintaj Large Woodland Toggle Set The beautiful etched jump rings you see are Vintaj's Etched Jump Rings, and they are used in multiple areas of the necklace - every place where I wanted a strong and beautiful connection. At one side of the toggle you can see the cluster of pretty danglies - a glass melon round, a peacock freshwater pearl and an amazonite round, with the melon and amazonite hanging from hammered, antiqued brass (non-Vintaj) headpins. Because the necklace is so substantial I decided that less is more for the matching earrings. I used the hammered headpins for the lower, smaller amazonites and Vintaj's Round Loop Ear Wire. You can find many of these Vintaj products from Sue at Blue Marble Beads and Karen at Karen's Treasures. Thanks upon thanks to those who voted our Lucid Dream necklace into the winning spot!

There will be more Vintaj Statement Necklaces (and more sedate items, too) in the near futire, and as always, you may find us our Adorn Me Jewelry store at Etsy. :)

Rustique, our new line of Cowgirl Chic jewelry

Contrasts really appeal to me, whether it's color contrasts, texture contrasts (either physical tactile or optical eye-feel textures), size -- so many things. I think it's part of why I have such eclectic tastes. Or do I have eclectic tastes because I love contrast? No matter. A new line of jewelry is born: Rustique.

"Rustique" airs a mix of old and new, rustic and refined, smooth and rough. It's all about contrasts: like cowboy boots and pearls, rough tweed and soft satin, chocolate and hot chili powder. Take our Rustique - Cowgirl Chic, Vintage Etched Glass and Hand-wrought Copper Necklace, for instance.

This Refined Cowgirl necklace pairs 10mm Vintage 1950s creamy white West German etched glass beads with hand-hammered pure copper eggplant-colored rings. These rings have been oxidized to give them a mix of eggplant purple-to black, and reddish rosey copper colorings and a sort of visual texture. The rings are 20mm (approximately .8") in diameter.

The beads have a twisted, ridgey texture, and do show their age in a few little spots that you can see in the photos. I haven't tried removing the spots, but you might. I figured it wasn't up to me to try to erase their history. :)

The rings are held together, by vintage copper chain links that have a rough-hewn look. The clasp is hand made from pure copper wire, the jump rings are antiqued copper, and the headpins are ball-end eggplant copper. This necklace also has matching earrings. More photos and info here.

Rustique - Cowgirl Chic, Smooth Vintage Bisque and Hand-wrought Copper Earrings

From our new Rustique collection, which pairs a mix of old and new, rustic and refined, smooth and rough. It's all about contrasts. Color, too, in this case -- like, say, orange and blue.

Now, these earrings don't have a pure orange color in them. But the copper rings that hold these Vintage 1950s West German Deco style bisque drops aloft do have some lovely rosey-orange copper tones. That really sets off the blues of those drops.

The drops are 20mm (approximately .8") in diameter. They have a smooth, ridgey texture, and do show their age in a few little spots that you can see in the photos. I haven't tried removing the spots, but you might. I figured it wasn't up to me to try to erase their history. :)

Take a look at these gorgeous hand-forged rosey copper rings. You can see from the photos that they have beautifully rich and varied colorations (depending upon the light cast upon them) and some great eye-feel texture. The rings are about 23mm wide. The lever back ear wires are antiqued copper, as are the jump rings. For more photos and info, click here.

More pieces will be added very soon, just check Adorn Me Jewelry at Etsy.

We have a winner!!

Well, our first giveaway contest is over and was what I would consider a great success. Thanks so much to those of you who entered. I'm pleased to announce that our winner is the lovely and wonderful tanyeshka! Ms. tanyeshka has won our Aqua Sakura ring, which will be mailed to her in just a couple of days.

Thanks to my darling husband, who was a great help with the contest, and who also pulled our winner's name out of his bowler hat. :)

Our next contest prize will be for a Gift Certificate for Adorn Me jewelry. I'm not sure when that will be -- perhaps in May or June. I will announce it to our mailing list (to join the list, go to: www.adornmejewelry.net/contact.php and choose the "Add me to your mailing list" option), Twitter and a few other places.

To see what new items we have in the store right now, please visit Adorn Me Jewelry at Etsy.

Ring giveaway!

Starts today, Friday, March 27th and runs through Thursday, April 2nd! Friday is too late, so enter before then to win! Don't forget to post your email address so I can reach you if you win. :)

Adorn Me has participated in many giveaways, donating items for charity and other things. One of the teams I'm on has had a giveaway recently and AMj participated in that one, too. I kept meaning to do a giveaway here and decided now is the time. So....

From today through April 2nd I am holding a contest right here on this blog. The prize is one handcrafted Aqua Sakura adjustable ring. The ring is made using an aqua carved celluloid Sakura flower (Sakura is Japanese for Cherry Blossom). The ring portion itself is a very comfortable adjustable shank. I normally don't like adjustable rings, and I wore one of these comfortably all day. I wear a size 9.5-10 and it was perfect for me. It can go larger or smaller, too. You can see more photos and info right here. Another aqua Sakura ring like this one, only on a filigree, has been featured on the front page of Etsy.

What seems to be the standard method with blog giveaways is to ask you to go to the Adorn Me Jewelry at Etsy shop and look through our items. Come back here and in the comments section of this post let me know which item is your favorite and why. But don't forget to leave me your email address, so I can contact you for your snail mail address if you win, as I will be mailing the ring to our winner from NY on April 4th.

I will then have my husband pick a name out of the hat, so that way there isn't anyone who cannot participate, and I will have nothing to do with the process of who wins except to write the names down on bits of paper. I will mail anywhere in the world, though there are some places that are problematic as far as lost mail goes, so I cannot guarantee delivery; the only thing I can guarantee is my effort in making sure it gets to the post office properly addressed and sent off via the guy or gal behind the counter. Good luck!! :c)

Adorn Me now offers Bridal and Special Occasion jewelry

For your day to remember -- be it a wedding, prom, important first date, or just because you love it. :)

It's your special day and you want your jewelry to be perfect. It's been in the plans to have a Wedding & Bridal section for a while, but one can only squeeze so many hours out of a day. Starting small but building, we will also be offering bride's maids gift jewelry, as well.

Please visit our Wedding and Bridal section and also check out the many eclectic new pieces of jewelry recently uploaded as well, to Adorn Me Jewelry at Etsy shop.