VOTE jewelry to jazz up doing your civic duty.

September 22, 2020

It’s clear that VOTE jewelry is one of the biggest trends of the fall, which is understandable, since the upcoming 2020 US presidential election is – what’s the best way to say this? – a big one.

VOTE jewelry to jazz up doing your civic duty.

If you’re a US Citizen over 18 and you have any interest in how the US is run, you shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to make your voice heard by voting.

Today is National Voter Registration Day, so this is the perfect moment for you to nail down your 2020 voting plan if you haven’t already got it all figured out. I just requested my mail in ballot a couple days ago and I’m so glad that it’s taken care of. Now I just have to keep an eye out for when it arrives so that I can mail it in nice and early!

It’s okay if you haven’t figured out your voting plans yet, because today is a great day to get it done. I’ve gathered together some useful links below:

To check and see if you are registered to vote, click here.

If you need to register to vote, it’s easy!
Click here.

If you need to request a ballot to vote by mail, click here.

For general information on voting in 2020, click here.

If you tried the links above and you still didn’t find what you need, please let me know and I’ll be happy to help if I can.

Please remember that if you’re voting by mail, you first have to request a ballot and that deadline is sometime in October for most states. October…as in next week. This varies state by state, but you don’t want to miss it. The online ballot request form for Maryland took me maybe 3 minutes.

It’s your right to vote and I say it’s equally your right to be well-accessorized when doing so!

Let’s look at some VOTE jewelry.

If you want to show your enthusiasm for the polls directly on your head, you can’t do better than this badass VOTE hair clip from KITSCH.

This beauty is also pictured at the beginning of this post. It’s bold and sparkly and oh so fun. You could probably also pin it to the side of an open cardigan or jacket lapel, if you’d rather wear it as a brooch.

The original vote jewelry, as seen on Michelle Obama. Vote necklace from BYCHARI.

Here is the original iconic VOTE necklace of fall 2020: this is the exact piece that Michelle Obama wore at the 2020 Democratic Convention while giving her incredible speech.

This design is by BYCHARI, an independent Black woman-owned jewelry designer based in LA. It is simple and perfect.

The original vote necklace from BYCHARI, as seen on Michelle Obama.

The BYCHARI VOTE necklace comes in silver, gold, and gold with diamonds.

This piece is being copied left and right, but if you love the design and you want your VOTE jewelry to match the true OG, Mrs. O, then you’ve gotta go BYCHARI.

VOTE jewelry; gold vote charm from Workhorse jewelry.

If you love the concept but the BYCHARI style isn’t right for you, don’t worry: there’s plenty more gorgeous VOTE jewelry out there in the world.

This sweet little gold charm is by Workhorse Jewelry. I love the font of the “VOTE” – it has such an old school signage feeling that seems to fit perfectly.

Tiary custom jewelry gives you what you want.

April 15, 2020

I don’t know if you know this about me, my darlings, but…I’m picky. I know what I want and what I don’t want. When I shop for jewelry, I often find myself wishing a certain piece was half an inch longer or a quarter inch shorter or a slightly different color.

Tiary is a dream for particular shoppers like me. Every single piece of jewelry they offer is handmade and customizable: you can order it exactly as it is, or you can tweak almost every one of the piece’s details. It’s a whole library of already cute pieces that you can change slightly until they’re precisely what you want.

Let me show you.

Tiary was kind enough to send me a gift card so that I could try out their service for myself and I was extremely impressed by the entire process. The only downside was that it was really, really hard to choose just one piece.

After rampaging through the Tiary website and putting together 8 or so pieces of custom jewelry, I finally narrowed things down to my final choice: the Drops of Jupiter necklace. (You can see this piece’s listing in the screenshots above.)

I’ve been wanting a neutral-ish colored gem layering necklace, and I loved the movement and festoon-ish vibe of this particular design. I customized the length to 18 inches, the stone to simulated blue sapphire, and the metal to 14K yellow gold.

I was especially impressed by Tiary’s customization options that make it possible for most pieces to vary greatly in price.

Choose lower karat gold or silver and simulated gems and you can easily bring a piece’s price down by $900 – and if you choose all the lowest price options, there are quite a few Tiary designs available for under $100 and tons for under $300.

Did I mention their packaging is gorgeous? Custom jewelry is a really fun self-purchase, but this package is so luxe and satisfying that it would also make a really impressive gift. I’m fully delighted with my Tiary necklace and I can’t wait to keep layering it with everything I own.

Tiary is also woman-owned and offers free shipping, free returns, and free sizing within two weeks – even on custom jewelry. This is unusual and a really fantastic feature and so unusual for custom jewelry, which is usually final sale.

Did I mention how much I love my Tiary necklace? Again, it’s the Drops of Jupiter design in blue sapphire. I went for synthetic sapphires, because I’m trying to keep to a budget, but they’re still an utterly gorgeous blue. I’m wearing it here with my opals from Diamondoodles and a vintage gold chain from Stay Gold.

If you follow my IG closely, you’ve already seen this piece in my #JewelsoftheDay story posts. I tried to wait until after this blog post to debut it…but it’s too perfect to keep on pause.

The business model of an online jewelry store that offers customization isn’t new, but it’s rarely accomplished this successfully. The Tiary designs are genuinely cute and pretty and they’re on trend enough to feel fresh and exciting without sacrificing timelessness. The designs are just distinctive enough to give Tiary the feel of a cohesive brand, while still providing a whole collection of versatile, customizable pieces that can layer with anything.

The Tiary site is also really, really, really fun for browsing. Whether or not your jewelry budget has any wiggle room at the moment, it’s very satisfying to tweak the Tiary designs until you have the perfect piece of custom jewelry in your cart.

Tiary generously sent me a gift card for their website, but my opinions remain my own.

Susan Elnora helps you embrace your demons.

April 8, 2020

I first discovered Susan Elnora’s Embrace Your Demons collection when the designer posted this image on her IG with the following quote:

Don’t fight your demons. Your demons are here to teach you lessons. Sit down with your demons and have a drink and a chat and learn their names and talk about the burns on their fingers and scratches on their ankles. Some of them are very nice.”

— Charles Bukowski

I’ve always had a weird fascination with/love for gargoyles and these cute little articulated Susan Elnora demons give me the exact same ugly/cute dangerous fiercely protective vibe. I loved the designs at first sight – but then I read the Bukowski quote and I felt it all the way in the depths of my heart.

If there’s anything I’ve learned in my 34 years of life, it’s that everyone has certain demons that they’ll have to battle with again and again over the years.

You know about some of mine (like my chronic pain), but, like pretty much everyone, I also have other more secret struggles that I don’t share with most people. I don’t necessarily accept the idea that the hard things in life are meant to be lessons, but I do believe that our ongoing demons are something that we need to learn to live with, whatever that means for us.

As much as I loved Susan Elnora’s demons when I first saw them, I forgot about the collection until I happened across Susan Elnora at the Baltimore American Craft Council Show in February. I always love visiting Susan at this show; her designs are so much fun and she always has something new to love!

The demons are SO CUTE in person! Fully irresistible. I can’t get enough of their charismatic little faces, their asymmetrical shapes, their unique wings. Each Susan Elnora demon starts as a freehand sketch drawn by the designer and then individually made by hand, and it shows.

I’m ashamed to say this year I took almost no pictures at Susan’s booth because I was too busy playing with her Embrace Your Demons collection (these pictures all come from Susan’s Instagram.)

The Susan Elnora Embrace Your Demons collection has expanded since its inception to include pet demons, which can even be custom ordered to match your pet! I particularly love the kitty cat demons. (I’m very allergic to cats, though, so maybe I just see them as slightly sinister.)

Don’t fall in love with the demon on the left, because he’s mine!

I’m not just calling dibs – I’m wearing him right now, with my pajamas. He came home with me from the February show. I’m passionately in love with him, from his flashing orange sapphire eyes to the tips of his pointy ears. He’s my little buddy and he hangs out on my neck to protect me and remind me that I’m strong. I’ve already taken to wearing him for extra strength I have to do something particularly nerve wracking.

I’m also no stranger to Susan Elnora’s darkly adorable mythical designs – I’m already the proud owner of one of her unicorn skull necklaces. I’ve also shared a few other of her creations on IG, including this other unicorn and this narwhal.

What do you think of Susan’s demons, my darlings? Is this collection resonating with you too?