Swearing off long lines and crowded shops, we thought we'd offer a respite from the typical Black Friday madness with a little sale of our own...from the comfort of home or office and at your convenience when you can carve out a few minutes to yourself during the weekend.  Starting today and continuing through Monday the 26th, we hope you'll enjoy an extra 20% off all sale items by entering code BACKINBLACK at checkout.

You'll notice some new designs and perhaps some old favorites, from stocking stuffers to statement styles...happy shopping and thanks for supporting a tiny, independently-owned handmade business this season!

If you've not yet heard of The Sparkly Life, with one visit to this fun and fashionable blog, you'll be smitten (stylishly) and giddy (gorgeously) over its musings and messages on beauty and fashion.  Your love of The Sparkly Life will no doubt have everything to do with the blog's founder and creator, Alyssa Hertzig, who immediately won us over with her cheerful, helpful, and oh-so-approachable attitude and style. 

With The Sparkly Life, it's as if Alyssa, who by day is a successful magazine beauty editor living in New York City, becomes your best friend in beauty, dishing familiarly but knowledgeably about the latest lotions, the most fabulous foundation, or some incredibly fun hint about creative nail art.  She's generous when sharing her experiences, and we also love introductions to her industry friends who, in turn, are kind enough to pass along their own beauty secrets. 

She is, in essence, a lovely gal, and we're thrilled to introduce her as our latest Leading Lady!  We knew from seeing her inspiration board, which she compiled on Pinterest for our project, that we were in for a glamourous creation, heavily inspired by Art Deco designs in emerald and diamond.   

Though we didn't want to influence her design right off the bat (we love showing our clients and collaborators all of the materials we have that might work, allowing them to see what appeals most, rather than forcing our preferences on them to start...) we immediately thought of a rhinestone belt buckle we'd had in our vintage collections for a few years.  It seemed stunningly perfect, but we stuck with our plan to show Alyssa an assortment of beads and vintages for consideration.  (Yes, it was hard to hold our tongue!)

We were nothing short of overjoyed when she honed in on the buckle (seen at the top of the trio above) amongst the green and white jeweled brooches and baubles we sent via digital image (though she also really loved the eye-shaped brooch, too.)  And she liked the clear beads on either end best...but when we tried them with the buckle, which would serve as the necklace's clasp, they seemed off-scale. So we opted for a cut-glass style, mixing in bits of green and silver for extra color and sparkle to tie in the buckle's glam factor with the strands it would adorn.

And we tried two versions using the buckle and beads--a more dramatic drape of the strands:

and a more ordered, closer-together arrangement of the strands:

Ultimately, Alyssa decided she preferred the strands closer together, with the buckle clasping them at the side.  (Though the jeweled beauty may be worn anywhere she pleases in this design.)

And then we sort of panicked for some reason.  It seemed like the whole design came together so quickly and easily--which would, in most non-neurotic worlds seem dreamy and fun--but for a designer with a bit of crazy compulsion in the mix (full disclosure, friends!) we sometimes just can't help ourselves.  So we sent one last proposal image using the alternate materials Alyssa had liked from our initial selections.  

And, though we felt better after sending it, Alyssa confirmed our instincts: the buckle was it.  She loved it and didn't want us to change a single thing about it.  So--no more second guessing--we enjoyed how seamlessly the process flowed, how easily it all fell into place...and we sent it along to her happily in time for a trip to California.

We think Alyssa looks lovely in her Art Deco-inspired jewel--and though, being a beauty editor, hair and make-up are always spot-on, we were equally enamored of her ensemble...what wonderful contrast in color and texture.  Gorgeous!  Many thanks, Alyssa, and enjoy your new necklace!

  

 

We're not sure when we first began following (read: swooning over) Cassandra LaValle's beautiful style blog coco+kelley, but one thing is certain: once we started, there was no stopping.  We're pretty sure her philosophy/mantra has everything to do with the success of her lifestyle company and blog:  "Life is in the details.  Style accordingly."

From musings on color palette, fashionable picks, and foodie suggestions to interior inspirations and entertaining hints, coco+kelley's cassandra and team have you stylishly covered--in fact, their thorough and thoughtful features often leave us inspired to add a bit of meaningful style in unexpected places.  Perhaps this attention to detail is what drew us to the blog in the first place--Cassandra is a kindred spirit in that sense, and it was a thrill to finally meet her in person last fall at the Grand Opening celebration of C. Wonder's flagship in SoHo.   (And, yes...she's as beautiful, kind, and intelligent in person as she seems in her photos and posts!)  

Fast forward to this fall, and we were overjoyed to have the opportunity to enlist Cassandra as our September Leading Lady--we knew it would be a collaboration in every sense of the word, and we couldn't wait to see the process unroll!  When she sent along her inspiration board, we geared up for the challenge...detail would be key, no doubt, and capturing her strong sense of style while staying true to Elva would be a fun and interesting mix.  Off we went!

With green as her signature color, selecting some bead options was a solid start...and taking a cue from the natural elements included in her choices (the beetle and fly, specifically) for the vintage selections led us to a few insect adornments we had in our collections.

You can see Cassandra's preferences above...and we couldn't help but favor the two little green guys toward the bottom of the image that she liked.  We'd had one of the brooches for a couple of years (yes, years,) but when we found a second identical one just weeks before we began our project with Cass, it seemed a sign to incorporate them together in her design.  Partners in crime, they became the highlight of what was to come!

Next, we sent along some images of some very general proposed layouts...just to get the ball rolling to see how Cassandra was feeling about various pairings...and you'll see her notes on a few below.

 

These seemed to be missing something--we both agreed on this--and we decided to wait to proceed until we returned from an unexpected buying trip for beads to see if we might find just the right fit for the design...turns out it was worth the wait.  We sourced strands of the most gorgeous gray-green crystal that were the perfect bridge between the darker green and the beautiful antique aqua glass seed bead strands.  With the new palette in mind, we sent along the latest selections to Cassandra.

Then, based on her direction and our instincts, we jumped in with a "rough draft" design for her to see and consider, breaking up the green bicone glass beads with some golden pewter and the new crystal beads.  We also added a bit of vintage chain to layer amongst the strands of antique glass seed beads to lighten the green's heft slightly...

But it wasn't quite right.  As much as we loved it, the overall effect was darker than it should have been...with not enough contrast to let the pair of bug brooches enjoy some much-deserved attention.  Cassandra wondered if using fewer of the darker green and more of the gray-green would offer a solution...so we tried it out:

This seemed much closer to her original vision...and we loved the pale, drippy sparkle of the crystal and glass together.  We couldn't help but think back to her inspiration board's inclusion of the gorgeous beaded backs on the dresses, their strands a delicate but stunning fringe.  Yet something was still missing, and when we mentioned the option of utilizing more vintage chain, Cassandra realized what she was hoping to see.  We decided to remove a few of the crystal bead strands to accommodate a few more lengths of chain to compliment the golden wings of the brooches, adding a bit of edge to the design's feminine feel.

Bingo.  It was just what the necklace needed, and the insects seem to delight in the addition.  (And we did, too!)  We love the layered textures and colors, the hints of glimmer, the subtle sparkle, and the whimsy of the bugs resting happily amongst it all.  We couldn't wait to see Cassandra wear it.  So we finished up the design and sent it to Seattle for her to style...

...and we were speechless at the results.  Giving it her own stylish touch by twisting the strands in a lovely, graceful drape (those details are her signature and make such a difference!) Cassandra simply glows gorgeously in her new necklace.  We loved working with her and know the jewels will have a wonderful adventure with such a stylish gal!  The details made all the difference.

A lifestyle brand with some of the most interesting, beautiful, and effortless clothing around and founded in 2002, we first fell in love with Geren Ford a handful of years later.  We're not sure if it was that adventurous, elegant-yet-approachable spirit channeled from founder and designer Geren Lockhart we loved best...or the fact that we have an eye and heart for simple silk styles (one of their fluid silk dresses is a longstanding favorite in our closet.)  What's clear is that we're not the only fans.  With inclusion in stores and boutiques around the world (from the independents to big names like Barney's, Neiman-Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue) the Geren Ford brand has established itself as thoughtful, intelligent, and entirely wearable, and we always love hearing about their latest travels, ventures, and, of course, collections.

Needless to say, when an email arrived from their Los Angeles-based headquarters asking if we would be interested in loaning jewelry for their upcoming photo shoot for the Spring 2013 Collection, we were speechless...for about 15 seconds before we replied "Absolutely!"  A few phone calls and emails followed to learn more about the project, and we were thrilled to hear the spring line had been inspired by LA artist Ed Ruscha--we knew the colors would be phenomenal and the mood fun, yet sophisticated and stylish.  Based on the pop-art creations and with a very west-coast aesthetic, we sent a selection of necklaces and earrings for the shoot.  You can read Geren Ford's version of the story with outtakes from the shoot on their blog, and the resulting Look Book photos below send us over the moon.  It was nothing short of an honor and pleasure to have our jewelry included with fashion designs we love and adore, and we thank everyone at Geren Ford for their kindness and generosity.  Now...to wait until spring to snag that striped dress...

[all images courtesy of Geren Ford, Inc.]