An item, torn out of the May 12, 2010, New York Times asks the above question about a new line of jewelry and concludes that the jewelry is “maybe all three”.

Well, why not? And how is it that this confluence of three vital definitions do not occur more frequently in jewelry today?

This news item has sat on my work table for nearly a month now. I confess I did not want to further explore what the competition was doing! I have just now picked it up and investigated the web site of Ashley Hanosh’s trendy clothing store, Honey in the Rough (www.honeyintherough.com) that displays the work, a collection of new jewelry from Florian, called Zulu Soiree.

I was prepared to snigger, but came away with full respect and admiration for the collection, produced in Austria, home to Swarovski and cradle of Czech beads. The bib neckpiece pictured in Mary Billard’s article is, simply put, a series of circles hanging from a circlet. All of it is done in Czech seed beads, one of the least expensive materials available to bead artists.

So: so what? Why does it cost so much and why had it commanded the attention of a New York Times writer, let alone garnering a home in a Manhattan boutique? Yup: Bah! Humbug!

Thus emotionally armed, I visited the website to explore the collection, including close-up details of the pieces as well. Yes, there were those silly large seed beads I hadn’t deigned to use in years.

But there is no “simply put” about this work: there is a great deal of art present in it. Let me tell you, having put together similar pieces, that managing colors, shapes and negative space is not as easy or infantile as it appears to be. Therein is the art that so many bead artists struggle with on a daily basis:  this is what the public pays for.

I am especially intrigued with the configuration of many of the necklaces that affords the wearer different ways to wear each necklace — so interesting. I plan to schedule a trip down to the shop, between heat, humidity, snow and rain, to see this collection in person and experience up close the careful planning involved in making this art. I hope there will be some left for me to see.

Care to join me?

Seems impossible to avoid the Oscar drama, it’s everywhere! Over my morning coffee, I scanned the usual yearly projections of winners and long shots in the New York Times.

Back at my laptop, I saw a blog post entitled “How David Rockwell’s Oscar Set Makes Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin Funnier” by Alissa Walker, that discusses the role of the set and focuses on the Swarovski curtain, appropriately named Crystal.  ” . . . the star of the show is still the 100,000-Swarovski crystal curtain, but 16 additional inches of topaz crystals were added to add a level of smokiness that matched this year’s color scheme.”

Then I read the SheFinds blog,”Oscar Nominees, Take Note: Our No-Fail Guide To Black Tie Dresses” that reviewed some of the past mistaken choices, contrasting them with the hit choices.  Seemed to me that few of the stars wearing the dresses wore much jewelry.

So with all this in mind, I entertained the fantasy of each of the stars wearing Swarovski jewelry — mine of course! — in what would become a blinding television extravaganza.

Earrings seemed to be the thing during the award season Oscar run-ups, so my fantasy features the long-shot, long-necked Emily Blunt, perhaps wearing my Peacock Earrings, woven with vintage Swarovski Atlas stones, contemporary CRYSTALLIZED — Swarovski Elements beads and gold-plated seed beads.

I can easily picture the always-tasteful and regal Helen Mirren in my elegant Queen’s Collar, trimmed with vintage Swarovski beads.

And if filling a neckline is out this year, a large, sparkly bracelet, such as my Double-Sided Cuff, replete with CRYSTALLIZED – Swarovski Elements, would not be amiss, gleaming on the wrist of Sandra Bullock, touted as winner in the best actress category, as she accepts the Oscar.

Not Harry Winston diamonds, but I think these Swarovski pieces are a lot more captivating — don’t you?

My morning Google blog alert for “CRYSTALLIZED™ – Swarovski Elements” pointed to a post on FTape, The Online Fashion Resource on the exhibition CRYSTALLIZED™ “Ways to Say Black” .
Being involved in the DIY initiative of CRYSTALLIZED™ – Swarovski Elements, I had heard about the exhibition but decided to check out the details on FTape:  this is “a one-off, touring exhibition of the iconic Little Black Dress. . . .  the initiative sees this fashion classic reborn amid a shower of CRYSTALLIZED™ – Swarovski Elements at the hands of the greatest established and emerging creative talents worldwide.”

Oh well, so they didn’t ask me but now I could understand why – the little black dresses were commissioned by established and well-known fashion designers from France, Italy, the UK and the USA.  I only design jewelry using their collection of contemporary and vintage elements.

But then I got to thinking:  these dresses are one-of-a-kind, iconic museum pieces that will ultimately be auctioned off to very high bidders.  The likes of you and I may only observe and delight in the marvelous photos of the dresses and perhaps attend one of the exhibitions – Paris, Beijing and New York City – to see them in person.  But to own one!  Not likely.

We each have our LBDs and it is possible to cash in on the cachet of the exhibit by dressing them up with jewelry handcrafted with CRYSTALLIZED™ – Swarovski Elements.  For instance, light up yours with my handwoven Crystal Jet Bib appliquéd with vintage Swarovski margarita beads.

For my son’s wedding last October, the bridal party all wore LBDs.  Being the mother of the groom, my dress was not little, but long, and appliquéd at the bodice with discreet little Swarovski Elements that sparkled in the light.  To accessorize it, I designed and wove a set I call “Collar and Cuffs”, a ruffled choker with matching ruffled bracelets, woven in various hues of black Swarovski Elements.  All very low-key but sparkling!

What will you wear with your LBD?

I was pleasantly surprised last week by this post about me, by Judy Goss, in her blog “Over 40 Female Movement” http://bit.ly/5LhH8o.  My true age was now out – I started a business 3 years ago, at age 62!  Yikes!

At the same time, another article from the Wall Street Journal Online, by Christina Binkley, caught my attention: “The Forgotten Market Online:  Older Women” http://bit.ly/7jqkU0.  The sub-head of the article is “New Fashion Sites Target Youth — Though Most Web Apparel Sales Are to Women Over 35”.  The salient point for me was in this article:  “65% of online apparel sales go to women over age 35” while “the fastest-growing sales are to women between 55 and 64 years old”.  This demographic represents a “boomer population that has always been known for its willingness to indulge”.   Research points to the fact that this population is the most fertile market online today.  Online sales to women aged 25-34 fell 8% in the year that ended in March 2009, while sales to the older demographic rose 11%, despite the recession.
As it had been established and made public, I am officially “an older woman”.  So, I was intrigued and googled (it is a verb now, isn’t it?) “online marketing to older women” and found a few other pieces about this issue.

I found a newsletter article (also printed in More magazine http://bit.ly/60ag0m) from the National Association of Baby Boomer Women (we even have an organization!) entitled “Sell Us Something. Please!”  http://bit.ly/8orSeA The lead sentence says it all:  “Baby boomer women are the healthiest, wealthiest and best educated generation of women to ever hit midlife.”

This group has money to spend but apparently no one is marketing to them.  Models in magazines are tiny, thin, unwrinkled.  In reality, nothing fits us or is fitting for us:  “Women’s Apparel Sales Off Because Nothing Fits” in an interesting blog post from Retaildoc.com  http://bit.ly/7bC6Mk .

Well, this all certainly applies to me: I’m a full-figured woman!  And it is hard to find something that fits which wasn’t designed with the lovely 25 year old population in mind.  Online or in person.

Believe it or not, googling (gerund?) the web revealed more info.  I found a blog on eHow.com entitled “How to Wear Fashion Accessories for Older Women” http://bit.ly/7bC6Mk This blog corroborates all I had read so far:  “The fashion industry seems to focus on youth with styles and trends.”  It suggests that older women should implement the latest fashion trends by using accessories to update a classic, fitting wardrobe.

So it’s come to this point:  there’s always pearls to brighten up an older face, large vintage earrings, and stacks of sparkly Swarovski bangles to wear all together.  And these are available online to try one and return, if necessary.  Have a look at http://www.msturman.com for brilliant options to light up your life-worn, lovely, older face!

Meanwhile, I’m going to wear something classic and black with a really gorgeous handwoven crystal beaded necklace!  Join me?

I’m looking over a four-leaf quatrefoil – I mean four-leaf clover.  A quatrefoil is a symmetrical shape formed by the outline of four flowers, sometimes with less overlap and at other times with more overlap, and sometimes with the outline of a square between the lobes.  And it seems to make people happy, just like the famous jingle.

In heraldic terminology a quatrefoil is a four-leaf clover – the French “quatre” for four and the “foil” is middle English for “flower”.  It is a motif that has been used for centuries in architecture, art and design, reaching its peak during the Gothic Revival and the Renaissance.  The quatrefoil element can be seen in tracery in the windows of Gothic cathedrals and in architecture in the north and the south doors of the Baptistry in Florence.

An excellent discussion of the use of the quatrefoil motif in design – housewares, architecture, and, of course, jewelry, can be found online in the blog, Matters of Style, Crazy for Quatrefoils!  June 16, 2009:  http://www.mattersofstyleblog.com/2009/06/crazy-for-quatrefoils.html .

I researched “quatrefoil” in order to introduce to you my own necklace design using one.  When I made it, as with everything I make, I merely was puzzling out how to use four vintage Swarovski cabochons that I had bezeled with gold-plated seed beads.  I moved them around my worktable – should I attach them each to some sort of cord for a necklace?  Should I make a brooch?  Sets of earrings?  Well, I’d done all of that and wasn’t interested in doing any of it again.  I had four of these and usually in jewelry design all we use are uneven numbers . . .  what to do.  I then pushed the four cabochons in together and considered joining them into a pendant motif, which I subsequently did, added a bail and placed them on a necklace of CRYSTALLIZED^tm – Swarovski Elements crystal pearls, finishing with a closure of margarita crystals.  Then I named it “Quatrefoil Necklace” http://bit.ly/80daUb

I’m nearly too embarrassed to mention that I have a BFA as well as an MFA, with a specialty in Renaissance art and architecture.  And, I had no (conscious) idea when I made my Quatrefoil Necklace about the history of the quatrefoil element or its use, furthermore, in contemporary jewelry.  I’ve seen my daughter-in-law wearing her Alhambra necklace from Van Cleef and Arpels for years and I understand now that David Yurman has made earrings using the form.

Well, such is designing – the visual unconscious rising up.  Have you ever done anything like this?

I had a design in my head.  I had a colorway in my mind’s eye.  I had a package in my mailbox — from Artbeads.com.

What a wonderful resource these folks are!  It took Artbeads no time to get me my order, while it took me awhile to get into my studio and work out that design in my head into the Pearls and Flowers Necklace you see here.  

I have always loved crystal pearls, Article 5810, from CRYSTALLIZED^TM – Swarovski Elements and the necklace I designed uses two sizes of them, as well as the popular standbys, bicone crystals, Article 5301.  You can find all sizes of crystal pearls and beads, including the new Xilion bead, Article 5328, and the full range of products from CRYSTALLIZED^TM – Swarovski Elements by accessing the Artbeads.com site at http://www.artbeads.com/swarovski-crystal-beads.html

I’m already planning new colorways for this necklace, and perhaps a smaller closure.  When I began weaving the piece, I was playing with 3-D shapes and put together the large buttons at the closure, which can be worn either in front as a focal or in back as usual.  I’m thinking that a simpler closure, using CRYSTALLIZED buttons, might be more effective.  Which necklace closure would you use?

Weaving a bangle bracelet to accompany the necklace, as well as earrings, are also taking shaping in my mind.  Can you see it?

For many years, I have been creating my M. Sturman Jewellery statement jewelry with CRYSTALLIZED^TM – Swarovski Elements.  Last year, I was invited to become a part of their prestigious CREATE YOUR STYLE Ambassador program, a group of about 28 artists, each an expert in the field, who work with CRYSTALLIZED^TM – Swarovski Elements in various ways – not only beads and beadwork, but also in the areas of wiring, gluing/decorating paper, ironing, and sewing. 

Each of us help to promote CRYSTALLIZED^TM – Swarovski Elements in our own field of expertise and write about it on the online community of users at http://community.create-your-style.com/  We teach classes all over the globe and during the annual CREATE YOUR STYLE in Tucson Show held in 525 N. Bonita Avenue, Tucson AZ 85745 the first week of February each year, during the month-long Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show there.

I wrote a blog entry posted on the site that introduced the current new products, entitled  Innovations Launch Spring/Summer 2010 – Be Inspired!  In it I discuss the new elements and the possibilities for using them in designs.

This summer, I also was asked to design a project to introduce the new Xilion Bead Art. 5328, to be rolled out in September.  The only stipulation was that the projects submitted for consideration contain at least 70% Xilion beads.  This new bead basically replaces the most popular, most used CRYSTALLIZED^TM  — Bead Article 5301 or bicone — a big move for the company.

The design I submitted was approved and the necklace I wove, The Over/Under Necklace, is posted on the CREATE YOUR STYLE website and shown here – not a professional photograph, but I assure you it is grand and sparkling.  I used more than 70% of the Xilion beads, in several sizes, and in my favorite color, Crystal Golden Shadow, to weave a necklace of petals that fall above and lie beneath one another.

Have you visited the CREATE YOUR STYLE website yet?

As I’ve said in past posts, I love color – working with it, looking at it, playing with it. So I naturally was delighted to hear that the new report was released and I went directly to it for a look.

In February 2009 at New York Fashion Week, Pantone asked designers “to identify the 10 most directional colors.” The result, for Fall 2009, offers a wide and diverse color palette reminiscent of painter’s masterpieces in the subtlety of the tones presented.

Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute® feels that “Designers recognize the desire for fundamental basics that speak to
current economic conditions”. You can view the top ten colors for 2009 here: http://pantone.com/downloads/articles/pdfs/PANTONE_FCR_FALL09.pdf

Typically, “Iron” is the “new black” but whenever is black replaced? The designers surveyed in the report all identified black as the “color” to buy and wear to get through difficult economic times. The timeless, seasonless “little black dress” can be updated with colorful accessories – such as a shining cuff made of sparkling CRYSTALLIZED tm – Swarovski Elements?

Which of these new colors appeal to you most? How would you accessorize them?

After a salad lunch with a jewelry colleague last week on W. 57th Street, I suggested we have “dessert” at Bergdorf Goodman – specifically a leisurely tour through the jewelry department. We were amazed and delighted at what we saw: Statement Necklaces! Bold bracelets and earrings! Huge Chains! Chunky textures! Layers! Triple Strands! Bibs and Collars! Lots of large beads, stones and Swarovski crystals, some prong set, some sewn on and appliquéd with seed beads.

Since both of us are designers of hand woven jewelry, we were interested to see that many jewelers represented in this department are using ribbon ties in place of the usual findings as closures for their necklaces – nothing new actually, but now the silk ribbons were holding up large weighty necklaces and so added an airy femininity to the pieces!

Most of my work is also large and bold, incorporating large, rough-cut stones and natural beads, such as the 19” Ebony and Chalcedony necklace with a modern sterling silver clasp, chunks of chalcedony and ebony beads, three of them with woven “jackets” of chalcedony lozenges. Such a blend of materials and textures works well with any of the new fashion trends in the upcoming season.

My particular passion is for vintage beads and Swarovski crystals, such as the Diorissimo necklace, a bold bib style necklace of vintage Swarovski cabochons that would fill the plunging neckline of any little black dress. Can you see it? 

This Diorissimo necklace is made from cabochons ordered by Dior from Swarovski either before or after World War II — vintage in either case.  I bezeled the stones and created a chain with 14k gold-plated beads.  Very dramatic.

Will you make a bold fashion jewelry statement this fall?