Birthstone Gemstone Jewelry -- A Thoughtful Custom Made Gift

My friend Lesley had the brilliant idea to give her nanny a necklace and a pair of earrings using the nanny's birthstone and the gems of her awesome daughters.  Since then, I have been creating these lovely, thoughtful gifts for other beloved nannies!

Here is one I made for a wonderful nanny with a May birthday that takes care of two girls with birthdays in November (citrine) and January (garnet.)

The process:

When I get the custom request, I lay out a variety of options.  This first photo below was ideas for the bracelet ideas. The second was for the necklace ideas. This customer combined some ideas together and we settled on the above.  She was super easy to work with too, which I think lends to a better finished product. Good happy vibes, good happy product.  Maybe?

She will be receiving her gift for her birthday in May. I hope she enjoys her one of a kind necklace and bracelet set that represents so much appreciation and love.

One necklace recycled, upcycled, modernized into multiple pieces

I am still very close friends with my freshman year roommate from college. When we say this, many people raise an eye brow. I assume this means that many are not still in contact with that person they shared a dorm room with the nerve wracking first year of college.

Noelle and I are still besties and she is one of my biggest supporters. As is her mom.  Here is a photo of a necklace that her mom used to wear a lot but then became tired of.  She sent it along to me so that I could re-use the beads for other projects.

I smelled a challenge :)

I decided to re use all of these beads and create new pieces but trying to use only the beads available (and adding when necessary.)

So here is the before:

And here are the afters:

Here is the complete collection.

I still have two beads left that I wanted to make rings out of but ran out of steam.

I sent all of these to Noelle as a surprise and happily enough, they are all going to find new homes this Mother's Day.  

What a great feeling that not one bead was wasted!

Amethyst Necklace Re-fashion -- One Gorgeous Piece Becomes Two

A friend of mine asked me shorten this beautiful amethyst necklace. 

How gorgeous! She thought it was a bit long and wanted the pendant to hang at about 18 inches.

Easy enough, just a little bit of wire wrapping and viola, a fix.

But what to do with the rest of the gorgeous amethyst left over? 

I took the left over pieces, added some citrine, a pearl pendant and gold chain and made this choker for her.

Here is a photo of the two new necklaces out of the original.

Here is a close up of the new necklace made from the left over amethyst chain.

Kuri Yasuno Designs at the GBK's MTV Movie Awards Gifting Suite

So excited to announce that my asymmetrical baby blue jade and pyrite necklace was included in the gift bags handed out to press through The Artisan Group!

What a great experience.  I sent 10 of my necklaces out to The Artisan Group and they distributed among the many press that came to visit at the gifting suite!

But wait! there's more!

The Examiner mentioned The Artisan Groups "little black bags" in a recent article and mentioned Kuri Yasuno Designs as one of her favorites!

How flattering and exciting!

Here is link to that article

http://www.examiner.com/article/gbk-mtv-gifting-lounge-2015-everyone-s-a-winner

Here is the necklace I gifted. If you are interested in one for yourself, here is a link to it at my Etsy shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/226465710/modern-asymmetrical-pyrite-jade-silver?ref=shop_home_active_10

Here is the necklace I gifted. If you are interested in one for yourself, here is a link to it at my Etsy shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/226465710/modern-asymmetrical-pyrite-jade-silver?ref=shop_home_active_10

Updated (5/7)

More press for Kuri Yasuno Designs on http://www.laplash.com !!

http://www.lasplash.com/publish/Entertainment_Celebrity_Gift_Suites/gbk-2015-mtv-movie-awards-celebrity-gifting-lounge-review.php

Thanks again to Valerie at The Artisan Group and all that she does to get us press and recognition for hand made goods!

Kuri Yasuno Designs on The Vampire Diaries

In 2014, I was invited to join "The Artisan Group."  http://theartisangroup.org 

"The Artisan Group^® is a premiere entertainment marketing organization, and we are on a mission to introduce Hollywood to the best of the handcrafted movement."

Through this group, I was able to place my bracelet on the hit CW show, The Vampire Diaries!

My bracelet was worn by the character Bonnie Bennet (Kat Graham http://vampirediaries.wikia.com/wiki/Bonnie_Bennett ) in the Holiday Episode, December 2014.  She was given the bracelet as a secret santa gift from her bestie, Caroline.  Bonnie even mentions the bracelet and says "I love my bracelet."  

What an incredible high to see my jewelry on a TV show!

Since then, this bracelet has become my best selling item.

If you would like to purchase one, here is a link to it on my Etsy site:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/207767460/as-seen-on-tv-the-vampire-diaries-silver?ref=shop_home_feat_4

This has been a fun opportunity as a few other sites have also featured this bracelet.

Here it is on www.pradux.com

http://www.pradux.com/kuri-yasuno-designs-silver-beaded-bracelet-with-hearts-and-flowers-37573?q=s3

Was also mentioned on www.spylight.com
http://www.spylight.com/shows/the-vampire-diaries/episodes/the-vampire-diaries-season6-episode10

Thank you to The Artisan Group for making me a Vampire fan!

To see other pieces (and mine) placed on this hit show through The Artisan Group, visit:
http://theartisangroup.org/blog/2015/03/as-seen-on-the-vampire-diaries.html