Posted on

How to pick Mother’s Day gifts

mother's day gifts selection

Mother’s Day is on May 14th this year, a little less than a month away, but you are still on time to find that perfect gift for your mom, mother in law or the mother figure you want to honor.

I have curated below the best Mother’s Day gifts according to your special mom’s style, for each budget, for new moms and also personalized jewelry ideas.

Gifts for Every Mom’s style

First you have to consider what kind of jewelry she usually wears: is she more into necklaces, earrings or rings? What color metal does she typically go for: silver, yellow gold or pink gold? Is she more into statement pieces or is her style more on the dainty side? Once you answer these questions you can further refine your selection by interests. I have compiled a non exhaustive list of ideas per mom’s style:

The Green-thumbed mom

The sweet-toothed mom

The animal loving mom

The active mom

Gifts for new Moms

When you are a new mom, it is very common to feel overwhelmed and tired because there are so many new habits and responsibilities to undertake. It is a very vulnerable time in a woman’s life and I would focus on things that would make her life easier and give her a smoother transition into motherhood: some me-time with a massage, comforting nursing pillows, cozy outfits or gift cards to meal delivery services. As for jewelry, I would stay away from rings and necklaces that could get in the way when caring for baby and opt for nap friendly hypoallergenic earrings.

Mother’s Day gifts for every budget

Under $50

Under $100

Under $200

Under $500

Sending Love to Mom


Personalized Mother’s Day gifts

Customize with her favorite color

Virginie hand enameling jewelry

As you probably know, I mix the pigments and hand apply the enamel on all colored jewelry pieces myself so I can create custom colors too. If you don’t see your mom’s favorite color in the options, please get in touch and I would be happy to create that special enamel tint that makes her heart swell.

Personalize with birthstones

Birthstones are a great way to symbolize each kid’s birth month in mother’s jewelry. Depending on the number of kids and if the partner’s birthstone is added to the mix as well, you can pick jewelry with either:

Number of gemstones

Personalize with engraving

You can surprise your mom with a secret personal short message and have it engraved inside a ring or more prominently on a bar necklace. My “no crying’ necklace is a cheeky mom’s favorite for obvious reasons but you can always contact me if you have another saying in mind for her.

Bespoke jewelry for mom

If you want to wow your mom with a completely bespoke piece of jewelry please get in touch ASAP and fill in my bespoke form inquiry here. Examples of bespoke work I have done are:

I hope this Mother’s Day jewelry gift guide inspired you and remember that the most important thing is not the gift itself but the intention, so if jewelry is not in your budget this year, a card, a flower and a hug will win her heart for sure.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms!

Posted on

The Year of the Rabbit

Year of the Rabbit

I recently added a new member to the 3D puzzle menagerie: enter leaping… the Rabbit!

lucky rabbit magic

The initial request came from bunny pet owners who wanted to wear a unique piece of jewelry representing their bond with their beloved animal.

It just so happened that shortly after, the official Year of the Rabbit began on January 22nd 2023. Some prototype tweakings later, I am ready to release the beast into the wild just on time for Easter!

I did some research about the cute-faced furry critter and gathered some information about its symbolism regarding these two celebrations.

The Easter Bunny

The symbolism

Rabbits are well-known for their prolific breeding so they traditionally symbolize fertility. Eggs are also representative of new life. It thus seems natural that they both embody Easter and the new beginnings of Spring.

When did it start?

The first official mention of rabbits in association with Easter was made in 1722, in a folklore book written by Georg Franck von Franckenau, a German writer. One of his stories mentions an Easter hare that hides colored eggs for children to find, the very first written mention of an Easter egg hunt!

German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania in the 1700s, brought their tradition of the Easter Bunny in the US. Their children made nests for the hare to lay its colored eggs and they often left out carrots for the bunny in case he got hungry from all his hopping business.

http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/easter-symbols

The Year of the Rabbit

On January 22nd 2023, the official Year of the Rabbit began. Let’s explore a bit further this festive tradition of the Chinese new year. I created the Lucky Rabbit necklace for the occasion!

Lucky Rabbit necklace side view 14k gold micron plated bronze
Lucky Rabbit necklace side view 14k gold micron plated bronze

The Chinese Zodiac animals

The 12 zodiac animals are, in order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Each year has an animal sign according to the 12-year-cycle. Each animal year is further associated with one of five elements — wood, fire, earth, metal, or water. 

2023 is a year of the Water Rabbit, starting from January 22nd, 2023 (Chinese New Year), and ending on February 9th, 2024 (Chinese New Year’s Eve). 

Chinese Zodiac

The Rabbit zodiac sign

Rabbit is a symbol of longevity, peace, and prosperity in Chinese culture. 2023 is predicted to be a year of hope.

Rabbit is your Chinese zodiac sign if your year of birth is 2023, 2011, 1999, 1987, 1975, 1963, 1951, 1939 or 1927. People born in a year of the Rabbit are called “Rabbits” and are believed to be vigilant, witty, quick-minded, and ingenious.

Lucky rabbits

lucky rabbits

In Chinese culture, the rabbit has the unique characteristic of waiting for an opportune moment and then leaping into action. More than any other zodiac animal, they symbolize luck. In the zodiac origin story about the Great Race, all of the animals who would go on to become zodiac animals needed to race across a wide river.

The bunny crossed the river by jumping from one stone to another in a nimble fashion. Halfway across, it appeared to be losing the race, but was lucky enough to grab hold of a floating log that later washed him to shore.

The Rabbit and the Moon

In several East Asian cultures, the rabbit is said to be seen in the moon with a mortar and pestle, constantly pounding the elixir of life for the Moon goddess.

When people from a number of different ancient cultures gazed at the full moon, they saw in the shadows of moon’s craters a shape that looked like a bunny:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_rabbit

If you enjoyed this article don’t miss any new release by signing up for my bi-monthly email updates here and if you fell for the lucky rabbit it is hopping over there!

Posted on

Snowy mood

I know it’s February 2013 already and I don’t dare looking at the date of my last post but you know what? Since Nemo – the snow storm – hit New York last Friday, the city covered by a white coat brings me back 2 month ago in the Holiday mood! At the time I was exhibiting at One of a Kind show in Chicago presenting for the first time my little winter friend that had been ready for almost a year now, let me introduce to you Rudolf the reindeer!

reindeer Continue reading Snowy mood

Posted on

My jewelry in context #2

The sweetness of the slightly acid lollipop, the bright colors of the balloons rising in the sky, the afternoons in the garden spent to make up stories, the cold of this chocolate ice cream on the teeth, this dizzy feeling after hours on the swing… These childhood memories will never die.

Tim Walker, one of my favorites photographers, knows particularly well how to keep this extraordinary sense of imagination and staging only a grown up creative child could have. I try not to include all his photographs because it’s impossible to choose. To see more of his amazing work, here is his official website.

This context illustrates my jump rope necklace as a wink to childhood and as a drop of carefreeness in our busy lives. The necklace is available in silver or gold plated version in a wide range of enamel colors. Feel free to email me for any custom made request.

From left to right and top to bottom:

Image 1 by Tim Walker, image 2 by The Groovy Baker, image 3 by Peggy Wolf , image 4 by Tim Walker, image 5 is my jump rope necklace, image 6 by Simplymodernmom and image 7 by Shehitpausestudios

Posted on

My jewelry in context #1

Hi!

Since I have been browsing a lot lately through the online creative community, I came across a lot of beautiful pictures, prints and artwork that I started collecting. As I was naturally seduced by the themes encompassing my own jewelry, I decided to create a new kind of regular post on my blog: my jewelry  in context.

You will find hereafter its first edition and the sources for all the pictures after the composition. Hope you will enjoy it!

From left to right and top to bottom:

image 1 by FFFFOUND!, image 2 by Amanda Jo, image 3 by Weheartit.com, image 4 by Eyeful, image 5 is my Green hot air balloon necklace, image 6 by Goshandgolly , image 7 by Nick Tassone and image 8 by Mmim