Get A Real Golden Glow For Summer

Just a little touch of gold jewelry can create a very striking summer look. Think Jennifer Lopez. You can look drenched in sunlight wearing just one or 2 gold baubles along with the perfect summer hairdo and bare skin with a perfect skin tone.

Then you’ve got it: The “Golden Goddess” look for summer.

A lil’ bit of gold jewelry accentuates the ethereal look of sunlight captured on skin, especially under certain light conditions like at the beach and the indoor nightclubs.  The key is not to overdo the look by wearing too many gold pieces-too much is aging. 

Here’re the locations where the summer golden look is noticeably exotic-looking:

• At the beach bar in a bikini
• Lounging poolside in a little cover-up
• Clubbing on the hottest night of the summer in a maxi dress that’s just “barely there”
• Driving a convertible wearing a tube top
• Date night with hubbie 

Get the Golden Goddess look wearing gold jewelry pieces like these --

• Larger ball studs,
• Long thin chandelier earrings or large thin hoops
• A thin omega necklace, try it without a pendant
• A delicate bangle plus
•  A demure anklet

The jewelry’s color is key: High polished with a bright but bronzed gold color is probably better for the Golden Goddess look. Just don’t forget to wear a little gold sparkle in your waterproof makeup, too.

My Father’s Gifts

“YOU don’t have to give me any gifts” that’s what my Dad told me more than a couple times.

But he gave me incredible memories. He built battleships during WWII. He worked himself to death giving our family a comfortable life. He was on the picket lines for civil rights in America.  He campaigned for Nelson Mandela’s freedom before most Americans recognized the name.

 Once for Christmas, Dad gave me a chemistry set, another time a log cabin set. He never bought me dolls.

He went to John Wayne movies but supported full rights for Native Americans, especially after Wounded Knee.

Everywhere Dad went, we went too (except for work). He organized family reunions. He gave us the gift of his time.

I still have his retirement watch, cufflinks, and a tie tack. That’s all the jewelry he and other men from the “Greatest Generation” ever wore.

I still have his pocketknife too.  One of the ivory inlay pieces came off a few years back.  I started to glue it back on, but I put it in my Jewelrystash instead.

Yesterday for some reason I was thinking about ivory.  I even looked at a couple of antique pieces of ivory jewelry on the internet.

Then this morning, it hit me:  Make a pendant out of those ivory inlay pieces from Dad’s pocketknife-maybe to look like dog tags. Yeah... because my father gave me the  gift of a fighting spirit.

Serena Williams Wins 2013 French Open Title, Defeats Sharapova

Wearing a simple A-Line navy tennis dress, accessorized with a discreet gold “circle” pendant necklace, Serena Williams worked hard to beat Maria Sharapova to become the 2013 French Open Champion.  Here’s a video clip with Serena wearing the necklace.  

Her necklace is so demure it’s barely visible under her hair.

 Get This Jewelry Look!

Serena's circle necklace has a very high polish and may be 18K yellow gold. The necklace itself is almost a choker. The circle pendant is just the right size: not too large and not too small. Note that the gold necklace chain is very delicate.

Free The Artists In Chicago!

Here’s video of John Henry’s “Big Blue” sculpture in the yard of  a luxury Chicago home.

The homeowner, John Novak, is fighting City Hall to keep the art in his front yard. 

Let there be more sculpture pieces in out-of-the-way places, not just on the downtown museum campus (with its outrageous parking rates).   John Henry’s “Big Blue” sculpture is not a public nuisance. 

Here's evidence that Chicagoans need to demand more art:

• Neighborhood art murals are "accidently" painted over-literally 'whited-out' frequently. 
•  Art courses have been removed from Chicago's public schools.
• Fine art painters are still fighting the city to paint, do their art, on public streets just like they do in Paris! 

Honestly, Chicago needs more art for everybody's sake.

Antique Timbuktu Books Saved During War

Mali's book lovers saved thousands of antique manuscripts from destruction by smuggling them out of Timbuktu with help from international NGOs according to a June 2013 BBC news report.  Here is the link to the BBC Report Timbuktu Books Saved.

Timbuktu’s libraries were purposely targeted for destruction, according to the BBC.

Timbuktu has been a center of African learning for centuries.

The “unfortunates” of every race, color, religion, political persuasion and ethnic group all hate books. Never forget that.  I’ll never forget  Ray Bradbury's book and movie Fahrenheit 451 about book burners.  Here's a clip:

Resistance is never futile.

How Pearls Make A Statement… Necklace!

Puka instead of a strand of pearls for summer?

Mae West never wore pearls.  No, pearls mean  June Cleaver types, corporate executives and royal jewelry style a la Elizabeth I’s masses of teardrop-shaped natural pearls.  Even Elizabeth II, our contemporary, wears pearl studs topped with tiny diamonds for a  casual, everyday jewelry style. 

But occasionally, someone comes along wearing pearls so dramatically different and looking so sexy.  Take Rihanna for instance! She looks so sexy in ropes of pearls just like Coco Chanel used to wear.

Pearls are June’s birthstone and they come in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes. 

But in the end, a strand of pearls is still a strand of pearls always an old stand-by for the wardrobe.

Frankly, they can be boring and occasionally too formal to wear, leaving me feeling like Jacqueline Kennedy instead of Marilyn Monroe.



Another jewelry look that’s incredibly sexy is a long strand worn backwards over a backless dress.

Saucer size shell statement necklace

That what I’ve always wanted from my June birthstone: dramatic, lush and sexy-looking.  So instead of a strand of pearls, I stretch out and wear the following summer jewelry styles for a casual look with just a hint of a pearl look:

• A massive saucer size oyster shell jewelry design
• Hawaiian puka shell anklet or necklace
• Whimsical mother of pearl carved designs of flowers or animals 

  

  Carved mother of pearl birds

These are traditional, tribal jewelry designs, just right for summer jewelry statement necklaces to wear to the beach instead of the office.

Ancient Egyptians Made Meteorite Jewelry

Ancient Egyptians made beads from meteorites according to a research report in the May 2013 issue of  the scientific journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science.

Here is the scientific citation for the discovery:

 Johnson, D., Tyldesley, J., Lowe, T., Withers, P. J. and Grady, M. M. (2013), Analysis of a prehistoric Egyptian iron bead with implications for the use and perception of meteorite iron in ancient Egypt. Meteoritics & Planetary Science. doi: 10.1111/maps.12120

For more information and images of the ancient  Egyptian meteorite beads, here is the link to the research report on Wiley.com:  Egyptian meteorite beads

Meteorite jewelry is still wildly popular today-4, 000 years later and is highly collectible. There's a large selection of rings and pendants made from meteorites for sale at online stores.



When It's Not Right To Give Jewelry Gifts



Younger People use iPads or other tablets to manage their personal finances



When one of my younger cousins sent out the invitations for her recent wedding, the couple requested cold hard cash for a home down payment instead of gift like a crystal bowl. That says it all about the economic times we are living in now.  The couple would have gotten plenty of cash anyway but I guess economic realities could not allow them the luxury of looking at a bunch of gift-wrapped baubles instead of money.

I think that the same thinking applies to gifts for new college graduates given the burden of college loans and a less than stellar job market.  Let’s be real!



Balancing a checkbook



Whatever gift you do give to the happy couple or new graduate, here’s one more that you must give: Personal financial and wealth creation education.

Many high schools and colleges no longer have Home Economics courses, where the hands-on basics of personal finance, budgeting, getting a home mortgage and wealth creation were taught prior to 1980.  Give this gift of knowledge to make-up for this gap in public education.

Give insight and direction to financial experts, books and websites. Let them know ways to maneuver their financial life in a stalled economy.

Best of all, let them know ways to be ready for when the economy honestly heats-up.  Then, maybe the young couples and new college graduates will be in a financial position to buy jewelry gifts  for you.

Safeguard Your Wedding Gown’s Bling and Glitz



A Gown's Sequin Detail



Make sure that your bridal gown remains as lovely as you remember on your wedding day.  Sequin and bead embroidery with the French tambour beading technique is a worthy investment for any wedding gown.

Why Couture Beading Is Better

Beads and sequins that are embroidered with a special needle in the tambour technique have a longer life than glitz applied with hot glue or heat transfer. Take this into consideration while shopping for your gown.

Beaded  Applique Pieces

Tambour beading is an old technique that is still used in many couture Chanel garments. I understand that 75 year old women living in the French countryside use tambour embroidery to make Chanel’s designs.

Sequins, beads and crystals applied with glue or heat can rub-off much too easily.

I recently purchased a casual top with a crystal design.  Some of the crystals came-off when I removed the size tag taped on the front of the garment.  It was a gift for someone very special and I was so disappointed that some of the crystals came-off before I could present the gift.

Special Dresses Deserve Special Embroidery

Robert Haven is a specialist in theatre costumes and a professor at the University Kentucky.  He loves tambour. He demonstrates the tambour technique on this video:

Embroidery with the tambour beading technique can help make sure that your wedding gown remains your treasured keepsake with no missing bling.

Ciara’s Refined Chunky Gold Look

Ciara makes some hot sultry moves while wearing  big bold  gold jewelry with a distinctive couture designer look in her video for “Body Party”.

 Take a 2nd look at those max hoop earrings with the attached diamond studs-I've never seen that look that big before.  Ciara's gold jewelry style is very polished!

 In fact, the costume design for the dancers and other cast members includes chunky neck chains and bracelets that looks like  a  mix of big bling and couture jewelry styles at the same time.

Diamond Robbery Victim – Liar, Liar



Earlier this week, an elderly woman claimed that she was robbed of $100,000 worth of jewelry when she left Saks Fifth Avenue in broad daylight on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. The woman claimed that a gang of 6 to 8 young men robbed her of the jewels which included a $50,000 diamond encrusted bird brooch. She lied.

Her story didn’t match-up with police video surveillance on Chicago’s Mag Mile, according to UPI. Police are “considering” charging her with filing a false police report.

When the liar’s story was first reported, I remembered wondering ‘Why would anyone wear $100,000 worth of diamond jewels just to go shopping at Saks?’

When A Child Makes A Commitment

A girl's 1st Communion

It's the beginning of a love affair …. Here’s a tip: Keep a child’s faith jewelry like the little cross pendants, crucifixes, rosaries and other mementoes of that 1^st big day displayed in a shadow box.

Don’t lock it away in a chest.  



A child is Baptized

Help your child to remember that

they are always loved!