For the upcoming July wedding of my daughter Ashley to Dan, I made an engagement necklace that reflects my feelings for them and the life they are going to share together. I started this tradition with my Goddaughter, Chelsea when she got married. For Ashley, I created a necklace that used the birthstones of both bride (Amethyst) and groom (Peridot). On the necklace, I have Dan meeting Ashley; the two sparkling stones hanging right next to each other. The starfish symbolizes their life ahead searching and finding joy and treasures. Underneath the starfish is a garnet and moonstone drop embodying their love and dreams which will always be at the core of their lives. The smooth silver pendant with a diamond inlaid represents their engagement ring, which is lovely beyond measure.

As your eye moves up the chain, there is a station with both a peridot and amethyst surrounding a silver inlaid Swarovski rhondelle, denoting their wedding vows and rings they will wear for life. At the end of the chain are two golden hearts signifying Dan and Ashley’s love together. The second necklace is icing on the cake!

If you are thinking of making an engagement necklace and bridal jewelry, feel free to email me at “janice parsons at yahoo dot com” (remove all spaces) with your questions and ideas. Do you have pics we can post of the wedding jewelry you have made?

On behalf of everyone at TBS, we wish you the best of holidays and, if “Congratulations” is in order, please think of us at your next toast!

Warmest regards,

On Saturday afternoon, November 10th, Naomi Fujimoto came to our shop to teach techniques from her new book, Cool Beads for Teens. It turns out the book is perfect for every age! Naomi told me she “likes things simple. Just the beads without spacers or extra beads; I like how the jewelry turns out when each bead is just on its own”.

Here Naomi is hard at fun with Becka, a long-time TBS student and customer, putting together earrings with dangling pearls from each loop. The project is quick (about 20 minutes) and the cost is less than $15 for sterling and freshwater pearls.

Naomi and I have different styles, but I can see how her style speaks to her creativity. Thank you, Naomi for visiting us. It was a super afternoon!

I am so excited to welcome Naomi to our shop on Saturday, November 10th from 3-5pm. Naomi will be signing her new book, Cool Jewels Beading Projects for Teens and doing some demos. Like many of you, she learned about beading in a class. This is what she has to say:

“I took my first jewelry class in L.A. at Ritual Adornments because I wanted to learn something I could finish in one sitting. (I was having writer’s block while working on my Master’s at UCLA.) After I moved back to Milwaukee, I started selling jewelry at boutiques and salons. Through a sorority connection, I joined the staff at BeadStyle magazine when it launched in 2003. Things have just taken off from there! I wrote a book for teens because I wanted to get younger people interested in jewelrymaking as a hobby.”

You can also email me if you have any other questions. Thanks!
N.

There is so much to celebrate! I have brought Vicky Nguyen in as my business partner. After 26 years of solo, it’s nice to have such a creative, smart fun person to lean on. It’s about time!

If that isn’t enough to toast to, Vicky went to Italy in September with her sweetheart, Wade Eva, and became engaged in Caraglia by a century’s old spring near a property owned by his family. What can get more romantic than that? She has set the date for May and we are all so excited for her. Congratulations, Vicky!

I have some huge news to share with everyone and I can’t wait to “spill the beads”! My daughter, Ashley, became engaged to her special guy of almost two years, Dan Jablow. It is so adorable; he asked her after a beautiful dinner in Sonoma at The General’s Daughter. She called me and said she was “over the moon”. It was so sweet the way Dan asked both Ashley’s father and me for permission to ask our daughter for her hand in marriage. It was in August so I had to hold my breath for way too long! The families on both sides had to keep quiet until Dan picked out the ring and had the moment planned. Ashley was completely surprised.

Now the fun for the Mom of the Bride begins! My first project is an engagement necklace. What is an engagement necklace? My take on it is it’s a gift of great importance to both the bride and the groom. It has meaning and charm. It is meant to hold their secret love. I will share it with you in my next newsletter I hope you will fill us in on your stories. We can blog together about wedding jewelry, beads, questions, recipes (both for beading and cooking!), etc So, join me for some online connections, when you have some time.

In celebration of our great news, we at The Bead Shop and beadshop.com would like to extend a sale on Bridal Combs and Tiaras for 30% off this week only.
(Sale ends Monday, November 5th at 4pm pst).

Stay in touch,