kensington bliss: The Bold Necklace

Growing up, I was more into playing sports, climbing trees, and creek-exploring versus barbies, dolls, and princesses. However, I have always had a girly love for jewelry. Perhaps I was originally inspired by the interesting pieces found in my mother's and grandmother's jewelry boxes. I am not referring to the glitzy, Cinderella-esque, diamond-clad variety; rather, the one-of-a-kind pieces I imagined were acquired during traveling adventures to faraway lands. These pieces may or may not have had any monetary value. More importantly, they were unique and had an interesting design quality about them. They could have been designs of African heritage, Southwest American (turquoise, coral, sterling silver), Asian-inspired, art-deco, etc., and were made from various materials such as gemstones, pearls, crystal, gold, silver, wood, horn, and resin.

After college, I traveled with my Mom to Santa Fe, New Mexico, a haven for art and jewelry lovers. I was in awe of the beautiful surrounding designs in architecture, sculpture, painting, pottery, jewelry, and landscape. During this trip, I wore several necklaces that I had designed and made as a hobby. After receiving many compliments, I decided to start my own little business, Claire Marie Jewelry. I designed and created a website, and started selling my pieces through local markets, boutiques, charity events, and home shows. However, after several moves and the arrival of our three little babars, I had to put my little jewelry biz on hold for a while. My earlier post http://kensingtonbliss.blogspot.com/2012/01/claire-marie-jewelry.html includes examples of Claire Marie pieces.

Incidentally, Etsy is a wonderful website that hosts similar home-operated business ventures. I love that it offers a centralized, community site for local homegrown businesses including textiles, clothing, jewelry, art, vintage pieces, and home wares. This site allows the millions of creative and talented people who do not have the resources (time and/or funds) to otherwise launch a full-scale business, an opportunity to market and sell their goods.

Although I am no longer designing, I am still a huge fan of interesting, bold, funky, statement jewelry...not in a materialistic, pretentious sort of way, rather, an appreciation for its aesthetic/design/work of art. I particularly love some of the most simplistic designs (such as large freeform turquoise stones, or chunky coral nuggets) that are derived and inspired by the organic nature of the gemstones themselves...the bold colors, the organic versus geometric design, the repetition of colors or shapes, the juxtaposition of materials...I love how such pieces can be worn casually with jeans and a tee, or dressed up with the iconic LBD (little black dress). I decided to get a little creative fix through browsing various sites, including Etsy, Endless, Shopstyle, NM, Nordstrom, Anthropologie, and other boutique/designer sites. Below are a few favorites I stumbled upon today. Enjoy!