Avian Fashion Fever: Handmade Jewelry

A top trend in fashion for 2007 has really taken flight. The emergence of the bird motif earlier this year has been readily accepted, and designers have been responding with new ways to wear your wings. Part organic form, part simplistic shape, the image of the bird is an excellent choice for accessories. Many jewelers have incorporated feathers, charms, metal cuts, and other bird images into their work. These small and delicate creatures lend a sense of whimsy to otherwise serious necklaces and earrings. Whether cut from metal or etched into porcelain, many pieces combine a vintage feel with modern simplicity. We’ve sorted through our favorite designers and pulled out the best handmade pieces to showcase this popular trend.












Olivia earrings from Bellissima Jewelry Design $41. Sterling silver with olive green swarovski crystal.
Hummingbird Hoop Earrings from Alex Monroe $218. Sterling silver or gold-plated silver.
Fred (Peace in Swedish) Necklace from Madame Bijoux $32. Hand-drawn on acrylic with sterling silver.
Flying Bird Necklace from Dreams and Jewelry $76. Copper with sterling silver.
Loop Sweet Baby Bird Necklace from Sweetberrybird $20. Brass with an aqua chalcedony briolette.












Soaring with Pearls Necklace from ERM Originals $17. Antique brass with pearls.
Swallows Journey Necklace from All Those Threes $30. Brass with turquoise.
For more see Avian Fashion Fever: Anunciação Winter 07 Collection.

Sea Glass Jewelry

There’s something so magical about walking along the beach and spotting shining droplets of bright blue or green glistening in the sand. Sea glass is one of nature’s forms of recycling, taking bottles and glass tossed on the shore and then breaking them down and smoothing them over to create small jewels. The waves and currents act like a giant rock tumbler. Also called beach glass, these small finds usually appear along highly populated ocean shores, bays, or lakesides where there is enough current and wave action to grind the glass smooth. Not only is sea glass an exciting beach treasure, it makes lovely jewelry.

For over 15 years, Linda and Jim Jereb of By the Sea Jewelry have specialized in sea glass jewelry. Located first in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and now in Sebastian Florida, Linda collects her glass from all over the world. In the years past, it was completely uncommon to have bottles and cans made from plastic. Everything was made from glass. Now that so many more of our consumables come in plastic packaging, it is becoming more difficult each year to locate the little glass treasurers that wash up on shore. In response, many people have begun manufacturing their own sea glass in rock tumbling machines. By the Sea Jewelry specializes in using only real sea glass or beach glass for their pieces. They offer pieces like necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and pendants. We love their rings, including this rose colored End of Day ring and the stunningly colored Electric Teal Ring. Each ring displays an antique glass droplet collected from a site in England where a Victorian glass manufacturer would toss the remnant end-of-the-day pieces over the cliff and into the ocean. Rings are set in a sterling silver base.












Linda, of Beach Bum Jewels, has spent many days taking long walks down the shore of Lake Michigan. Using authentic naturally tumbled glass, this necklace has small pieces of cornflower blue and sea foam green glass paired around an abalone focal pendent and suspended on a sterling silver hoop.














Erika Brask of Simple Stones loves the unpretentious beauty of rocks and sea glass. She loves bringing nature closer to people, and her jewelry doesn’t include beads and precious gems. Her recycled glass choker is made from 15 pieces of blue, turquoise, and clear glass hand-wired together into a choker.












Twigs and Heather have another great piece in their sea glass cobblestone necklaces. They collect glass from their hometown of Nahant, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. This Atlantic Ocean glass was combined to make these modern cobalt colored necklaces, perfect for a little sea-breeze inspiration during a day at the office.

Coming from the Pacific Ocean, San Clement, California-based iSea offers this sleek Trinity necklace. A combination of cobalt, emerald green, and aqua colored sea glass drops are bezel set into fine silver. Polished to a high-shine finish, this ornament is stunning.













Finally, artist Jessica Lee also works on the West Coast, finding inspiration from Glass Beach near Mendocino on the Pacific Coast. The sand-smoothed pieces of glass featured in her sea glass bracelet are a superb example of the diverse glass treasures the waves will wash up. The vivid earth-toned colors show how versatile sea glass jewelry can be. This piece is hand bezel set in sterling silver.

Look Lovely in Leaves

Summer is here, and there’s no better way to celebrate than by taking on nature itself as an adornment. With sleek elegant lines and simple shapes, these necklaces are stylish but simple. Each one is a unique statement and the perfect add-on to any breezy outfit. Not only is summer the perfect time to be inspired by nature, leaf necklaces and decorations look stunning this season.

Starting off with the classic organic shape, Patagonia Gifts has a very refined real Zarzaparrilla leaf dipped in a 24K gold plate. Dreams and Jewelry’s cast sterling silver leaf is an excellent compliment for a simple black evening dress and a stroll at dusk.

Coquito Designs adds a little whimsy to their take on the leaf necklace. This piece from their Summer 2007 “Alloy and Earth” collection features a pink enamel leaf resting between a rose quartz briolette, a pink topaz briolette, and rubies. I love Elizabeth Scott’s ES Jewelry line because her pieces always seem understated and yet very sophisticated. Her silver mint pendant is not different; it deserves a place on any girl’s neck.

Jill Hawkins’ Bold Simple jewelry collection really does make a quiet statement, and her leaf outline necklace puts a twist of modernity into the classic form. And finally, for a slightly different spin on the nature theme, Twigs and Heather offers a pendant necklace made from a maple seed hand-cast in sterling silver.