We're happy to introduce our latest friend-photographer in the blog spotlight...Anna Jones!  Among other things, Anna and I have one important thing in common:  our significant others (who are great friends) have a significant (unhealthy?) obsession with fishing and hunting.  So not only did we feel a serious kinship right off the bat, we both know the joys of weekends to ourselves, leaving all the more time to pursue our respective passions.  For Anna, this is no doubt photography, and though it is now her full-time career, the love and excitement for the craft she discovered in the high school dark room has not waned.

Anna is three years into a successful and growing career with OMS Photography in Cincinnati (after graduating from Ohio University with a B.A. in Commercial Photography) where she works as an Onsite Photographer shooting specifically for HomeMadeSimple, a web-based publication and television show featuring recipes, crafts, home decor, and party inspirations.  Working in a renovated firehouse studio, Anna creates beauty shots of her assignments that are published on HomeMadeSimple.com, viewed by millions of subscribers every day.  (Of whom we are now one...and guessing you will be, too, after you have a look!)

Her day job (lucky for us!) allows her a bit of creative freedom, so Anna also has a photography site of her own, and a recent project has us equally green with envy and blown away by her beautiful talent.  A photographer friend enlisted Anna's help with his wedding (which she says was an honor and privilege--doing what she loves, documenting two amazing people start their life together, AND being paid to do so) and Anna found herself in Maui to shoot the celebration among family and friends.  Below are a few of the moments she captured in Hawaii this past June...and you'll find even more on her website.  Stunning!

When we asked Anna to photograph a pair of earrings from our Fall Collection, we knew the vintage ivory and brass drops were a wonderful fit for her...and also, as it turns out, for her neighbor Jenny, who was enlisted as the model for the shoot.  They both live in the Mansion Hill District of Newport, Kentucky, a historic neighborhood filled with winding streets, centuries-old homes, and hidden alley-entranced gardens, and after a morning of mimosas and a bit of overgrown garden "borrowing," a photo shoot was born!  (Anna also incorporated a favorite bone-bead necklace--a perfect fit for the ivory dangles!)

One of the things Anna says she loves best about photography and portraiture is capturing a subject's personality so that she can look back and remember who they were at that time in their life.  No doubt this will be the case with these fun and carefree "capturings" (especially above!)

With our maiden name, we'll love Anna forever for the image above--absolutely gorgeous!  Many thanks to Anna for her beautiful work and effort...and can't wait to see more from you!  (When are those boys going fishing again?)

[all photos courtesy of Anna Jones]

Those of you who've shopped the site since our Fall Collection launch might have noticed a fun little something extra enclosed with your jewels upon arrival.  We hope you've loved the unexpected gift with purchase--we loved planning the surprise!  

Here's the full story on the fun:  With each purchase over $100, we decided to include one of four limited-edition art prints exclusively created for our Fall 2011 Collection.  Two are prints of watercolors (one pictured above) designed and painted by Deborah Wheat--yes, sweet mama of Deb Collection fame!  (Though we think she's most famous for a multitude of other things...among them being a fantastically talented and creative artist.)  She came up with a couple of paintings this season and has MUCH more in store to see...but more on that soon.

The other two prints are of beautiful photographs (one seen above) taken by the immensely gifted photographer Jessie Kriech Higdon of Kriech-Higdon Photography during our Fall Collection photo shoot last spring.  

Without sounding too much like a cereal commercial, we do hope you'll collect all four of these beauties...we won't circulate them again, and we'll have a whole new round of inclusions come Holiday time...enjoy!

It's both formal and casual, on-the-go and laid-back, polished and rustic...all of these dualities are at play in both our lives and in fashion.  The juxtaposition of a little bit of uptown and a touch of country living exists in us all. 

So here's the situation...our Second Annual Super Awesome Sale will start next week (we'll let you know, but let's just say it starts on a day that rhymes with Shoesday) and, based on last year's excitement, it should be a rockin' good time.  Not only will (almost) everything currently on the site be featured at fantastic prices, we'll also add a handful (well, more than that, really) of new designs specifically for the event.  Think of it as a sale AND an outlet.  (Hence, the Super Awesome name.)

In the meantime, we'd like to give our fans, friends, and followers a heads-up on the awesomeness.  Starting now and ending Sunday August 14th (yes, promptly at 11:59:59 p.m. EST) you'll be able to use a special pre-sale promo code to get in early on the goods.  This is your chance to snag that Elva necklace you've been eyeing all summer...or perhaps to stock up on some early Christmas gifts for the girls.  In any case, the entire world (the entire Elva-loving world, that is) will have access to the sale next week, so you best be getting shopping now before the chaos--I mean, awesomeness--begins.

Live it up and thanks so much for being so fantastic!

PRE-SALE FUN BEGINS NOW!

Enter code 

PRESALE20 

to enjoy 20% off site-wide...now through Sunday.

Happy shopping!