Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Follow Me As I Create a Custom Jewelry Set for a Maui Wedding ~ Part 4

Today is their wedding so, to celebrate, I'm unveiling the finished pieces!! Ready?

Custom Dolphin Necklace, Earrings and Bracelet for a Wedding
Custom Dolphin Necklace, Earrings and Bracelet for a Wedding Custom Dolphin Necklace, Earrings and Bracelet for a Wedding
Custom Dolphin Necklace, Earrings and Bracelet for a Wedding Custom Dolphin Necklace, Earrings and Bracelet for a Wedding
Custom Dolphin Necklace, Earrings and Bracelet for a WeddingCustom Dolphin Necklace, Earrings and Bracelet for a Wedding
Custom Dolphin Necklace, Earrings and Bracelet for a Wedding
Custom Dolphin Necklace, Earrings and Bracelet for a WeddingCustom Dolphin Necklace, Earrings and Bracelet for a Wedding


I'm happy to say that Julz was thrilled with her jewelry. I was honored to be the one she selected to make her wedding jewelry and had quite alot of fun doing it! And, in the process of emailing back and forth about her jewelry, Hawaii and a host of other things, we found out we have alot in common and have become friends!

Congratulations to Julz & Joe on this very special day! I wish you a lifetime of love and happiness ♥Aloha♥

And I hope you've all enjoyed following this project. I wanted to show you how easy it is to have jewelry custom designed for you ...whether you live around the corner from me or around the world. I hope I've succeeded and next time you want something  special I'd love to hear from you!

♥ Debi

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Follow Me As I Create a Custom Jewelry Set for a Maui Wedding ~ Part 3

Ready to see photos? There were 2 steps of approvals for this project. The first included a photo of 4 possible earring designs and one of a section showing how I was planning to string the bracelet and necklace...

 


The next round of approvals came when the jewelry was almost finished to be sure she was pleased with everything and didn't want to make any changes.

the bracelet...


the necklace...

close-up of necklace center...

and the earrings finished in the design she selected...

She was thrilled with everything and gave me the ok to finish them up. So next time I'll have the photos of the finished pieces. And I think I'll reveal those in celebration of her wedding day... this Wednesday ♥ So be sure to check back :)

♥ Debi

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter

Just want to quickly wish all of you a very Happy Easter and a wonderful day with your families!
 (\ /)
 ( . .)
c(")(")

♥ Debi

Friday, April 22, 2011

Personalized Keepsake Bracelets Make a Perfect Mother's Day Gift

Hello!

I know that for many of us this is Easter weekend, but Mother's Day is also not far behind. Have you gotten something for your Mom yet? Still trying to decide what to get? My Personalized Keepsake Bracelets make the perfect Mother's Day gift. They come in 5 Designs, 12 Styles, 90 possible bead combinations, a range of prices and can be a single strand or up to four strands. Choices, choices, choices!!

You can find them on my website in the Personalized Keepsake Bracelets Boutique. You can also find them in my ArtFire Studio (look under Studio Sections on the right side ~ the top 5 choices are the Keepsake Bracelets in various designs). Want a quick peek at each? Ok...

The first design is the Name/Birthstone Keepsake Bracelet. Here's a sample of one of the Isabella Styles:
Personalized Keepsake Name Bracelet ~ Isabella Style Sterling Silver

The second is the Pet Name Keepsake Bracelet ~ can't forget the Pet Moms!! Here's a sample of one of the Kiara Styles:
Pet Name Keepsake Bracelet ~ Kiara Style Sterling Silver

The third is the Couples Keepsake Bracelet. Here's a sample of one of the Karen Styles:
Couples Keepsake Bracelet ~ Karen Style Sterling Silver

The fourth and fifth options are wonderful ways to include an entire immediate or extended family in birthstones on a single strand. The fourth is the Family Keepsake Bracelet and includes Mom, Dad and Children. Here's a sample of one of the Ali Styles:
Family Keepsake Bracelet ~ Ali Style Pearls

And the fifth design is the Generations Keepsake Bracelet where you can put Grandma, Grandpa, Children and Grandchildren all on one strand. Here's a sample of one of the Melania Styles:
Generations Keepsake Bracelet ~ Melania Style Sterling Silver


If you're not sure what to do for a Mother, Grandmother, Nana or Godmother for Mother's Day stop over and take a look... one of these bracelets might be just the thing. They're a wonderfully meaningful gift that will be treasured for a lifetime. The easiest place to start is with the Personalized Keepsake Bracelet Ordering Guide that I put together because it will guide you through selecting the design, choosing your options, price lists, etc. You can check out the Personalized Keepsake Bracelets Gallery to see some of the ones I've done and get ideas. And, of course, if you have questions or need help, I'm right here..... Contact Me anytime.

Have a Happy Easter!

(\ /)
( . .)
c(")(")

♥ Debi

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Follow Me As I Create a Custom Jewelry Set for a Maui Wedding ~ Part 2

Hello!

Ready to see the spec sheets for the wedding jewelry? In addition to a lengthy email explaining my ideas, I sent these spec sheets with photos to make it easier for Julz to visualize her options and make her selections.

The first page shows the original bracelet and earrings that she saw labelled with my ideas for hers:

The second page has photos of some of her options for adding white beads into the design, each strung with four different colors of seed beads: 


The third page shows more seed bead choices, natural shells, clasp choices, earring style choices and a dolphin charm: 


The last page is a copy of the necklace design I sketched labelled and showing different design elements I thought of using:


We continued discussions by email to fine tune the design, more photos were sent when I found beads I thought she would like to use and once all was agreed on, I ordered the parts I didn't have in stock and started stringing the designs on temp wire to get her approval before starting the final product.

Next time I'll be showing you the photos that were sent for Julz's approval...

Hope you're enjoying following the process. Thanx for reading :)

♥ Debi

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Follow Me As I Create a Custom Jewelry Set for a Maui Wedding

Hi!

Since I specialize in custom orders, I thought you might find it interesting and helpful to follow me through a custom design project and see how easy it is to have me design jewelry for you. I just completed a wonderful project... a necklace, bracelet and earrings set for a wedding.

It all started when the bride-to-be... looking for dolphin jewelry for her upcoming wedding on Maui... found my "Dolphins Roaming the Ocean" bracelet and matching earrings and sent me an email.

Dolphins Roaming the Ocean Sterling, Cats Eye & Crystal Bracelet


We chatted by email about colors, beads and design elements... gathering all the info I needed to begin. I was excited about the project and ideas just flowed. Before I knew it I was sketching, stringing together samples and putting spec sheets together for her.

In my next post, I'll be showing you the spec sheets I put together..............

I hope you enjoy following this project :)

~ Debi

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Calming Ocean Waves Bracelet Featured in Collection on ArtFire

Hello!
I'm so excited to have my "Calming Ocean Waves" bracelet featured in this collection on ArtFire today! Thanks to AuntiemBoutique for including me :)


Isn't it great? The colors are wonderful. I love the ocean and the photos she included in the collection are beautiful... I can hear those ocean waves. Very soothing collection I must say.

The bracelet she included is actually one of my Jewelry for Charity Bracelets. I made that one to raise money for a man in my community who was stabbed in the back for no reason by a 16 year old boy. This man who was the picture of health is now a paraplegic, confined to a wheelchair in excrutiating pain. The bracelet is still available for sale. You can find out more about it on my website:  http://www.designs-by-debi.com/jewelry-for-charity-piece-aug-2010.html.

Well, I'm off to watch a rerun of Hawaii Five-0 .....anybody watch it? I love, love, love it!! I look forward to it every Monday. The whole cast is great but seriously.... Alex O'Loughlin and Hawaii... could there be a better combination?!?! OMG!


Need I say more??

♥ Debi

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

"Sending Healing Aloha" ~ April 2011 Jewelry for Charity Piece

Hi!

Well, better late than never, I finally got the April Jewelry for Charity Piece up on the website today! It's a beautiful OOAK Hibiscus Lampwork Necklace... yup, necklace this time... first time I do a necklace for a charity piece. AND I did it in gold... another first (I don't tend to do very many designs in gold.... I prefer silver and copper).

Sending Healing Aloha OOAK Jewelry for Charity Lampwork Necklace


I made this piece to raise money for Friends of Keri to help a high school friend of mine who slipped and fell into a pool last summer breaking her neck and leaving her paralyzed from the chest down with only limited use of her shoulders and arms. All the money raised by Friends of Keri goes directly to Keri and her family (husband Kevin, son Kyle and daughter Paige) to help with the extraordinary medical bills and the cost of conversions they've needed to make to their home. You can read more about the necklace and Keri on the April 2011 Jewelry for Charity Piece page on the website.

~ Debi

P.S. Don't forget... next Facebook fan giveaway is at 200 fans... just 17 more to go at last count :)

Friday, April 1, 2011

Carmen's 2nd Chance Auction ~ Help a Little Girl in Need of Treatment

Hello!

I'd like you to meet Carmen...

Carmen's 2nd Chance

Carmen is a sweet little 2-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who needs stem cell therapy that is, of course, not covered by insurance. A friend of her Mom has organized an auction taking place on Facebook starting today to help raise some money so Carmen can get this life-changing treatment. A network of artists and crafters are pulling together to help. I've donated a Mint Green and Crystal Lampwork Jewelry Set for the auction and there are over 100 items you can bid on.


I'd really appreciate it if you would stop by the auction to see if there's anything you'd like to bid on to help them reach their goal. The auction is being held on Precious Pretty's Tutu Boutique's facebook page via one of her albums. This link will take you right to it... Photo Album Auction Page at Precious Pretty's Tutu Boutique.

There's also a Cause Page on Facebook for Carmen... Carmen's 2nd Chance. You can read all about little Carmen's story. And there is a FundRazr tab on the page set up for anyone who would like to donate money (through PayPal) to help Carmen.

Here is a little bit of her story, told by her Mom...

"Carmen was born with a congenital heart defect called double inlet left ventricle. She needed open heart surgery when she was only 26 days old. Without this surgery she would have died from heart failure. The surgery was a success but the night of her surgery she went into cardiac arrest. She received CPR for 151 minutes before being placed on life support. Carmen's brain didnt receive adequate oxygen during the 151 minutes of CPR which caused her to have significant brain damage. Her doctors claimed that 90% of her brain had died due to the lack of oxygen. Her doctors said she would not survive this injury, but she did. Due to the brain damage, Carmen cannot sit alone, crawl, walk, talk, or even eat anything by mouth. She receives all her nutrition through a surgically placed feeding tube in her stomach. She suffers from seizures daily. She cannot control movement of her arms and legs. Her neurologist diagnosed her with cerebral palsy by the time she was 9 months old. Twenty years ago Carmen's condition would have no hope for improvement. She would never walk, talk, crawl, or even be able to give her mommy a hug. There is hope for Carmen today. There is a doctor that treats cerebral palsy patients with stem cells from umbilical cord blood. This therapy is not covered by insurance and can cost up to 24 thousand dollars, depending on the prescribed therapy. Me being Carmen's mother, I feel that it is my job to provide Carmen with this therapy. This therapy could enable Carmen to walk, talk, crawl, and play like other kids her age. Unfortunately, I do not have 24k sitting in a bank account or a piggy bank. I have 5 children and work as a nurse. It would years if not decades to save 24k.I have a plan though and that plan is to raise the money through fundraisers and donations. The younger the child, the better the outcome of the therapy.Carmen is 2 years old now. She will get the best outcome from stem cell therapy if she receives it before she is 3."
Let's all keep Carmen and her family in our thoughts and prayers and help them any way we can :)

Thanks for reading this post and letting me share Carmen's story with you ♥♥

~ Debi