Just a Little Holiday Test!

Pardon the intrusion, just blowing the dust off our blog and testing out some new posting capabilities. Should have things in good working order soon!

Recent Pieces

Not too long ago one of my wonderful clients, Susan Roche, contacted me about making a custom version of our Antique Charm Bracelet.  Susan just opened a stunning new studio in the beachy community of Bay Head, New Jersey that I had the privilege of seeing in person.  Light and airy, everything about her new studio and her work supports her brand beautifully.  In keeping with the beach theme, Susan commissioned a couple of seaside versions of our Antique Charm Bracelet with tiny sterling sea creature charms.  

In addition to the beachy touch, she also wanted to incorporate a symbol of a charity that is near and dear to her heart, Michael's Feat, which provides support to families of newborns who are suffering from a health crisis.  The symbol for this lovely organization is, fittingly, tiny bare feet, so I added a little sterling baby feet charm to complete the bracelets.  While I did not get a chance to photograph the bracelets that were going to mothers who are involved with Michael's Feat, I did snap a few photos of Susan's studio bracelet before sending it off to her, as well as one of her Simple Tile Key Rings.

Did you know that many of our pieces can be customized?  If you have an idea for a perfect piece, we can often rework one of our pieces or even design one from the sketchpad up to make your vision a reality.  Drop me an email to tell me what would tickle your fancy!

And congratulations, Susan, I know that your new studio will be a smashing success!

Bringing the Past to the Present

Sometimes you run across a photo of a loved one that is old, faded or damaged.  These are special photos to me and I love working on them, doing my best to restore what might be lacking so that the photo can continue to be treasured indefinitely.  I received one such photo during the holiday season -- a wonderful new customer wanted to give her mother our Vintage Merlot Necklace containing the only surviving photo of the mother with her own mother, who had passed away very young.

The photo was darling -- a sweet little baby and mother in a lovely sepia tone. However, the photo was cut off at just one side of the mother's face, making it difficult to position nicely in the charm of the necklace without looking very off-center.  It was also somewhat faded.  I decided to see if there was anything I could do.  A little time in Photoshop allowed me to deepen the tones a bit and remove any speckles and imperfections.  I then set about rebuilding the cut off side of the image, extending the background and filling in hat, clothing, and -- taking some artistic liberties while keeping in mind the hairstyles of the era -- her hair.  It certainly couldn't claim to be an exact replica of the missing part of the photo, but it allowed enough extra margins to the photo so that the image could be properly positioned in the necklace, and I was really pleased with the way it turned out.

Old, faded photos don't have to be written off as unusable.  Many times they can be restored beyond expectations.  This is certainly true of using photos in jewelry, where the small image size doesn't demand the same level of perfection that a large print would require.  Do you have an old photo that you'd love to see in a piece of our jewelry?  By all means, let us know and we will tell you how we can help.

Noir Bracelet

Just one of the many pieces that I worked on before the holidays!

Posted via email from Isabelle Chase Studios