April 2013

April 30, 2013  by

Project 11- The Custom Made Collection: Part 1 (of 2)

(If you haven’t yet, just CLICK on the “PLAY” button above, to watch the video!)

 

A few weeks ago I learned that I had been chosen as one of the top fashion designers to represent Philadelphia for an upcoming visit of  Senior members of the Fashion Press from New York City that were visiting Philly representing the TOP 11 fashion and travel magazines in the US.

 

To say that I was happy is an understatement. BIG hearfelt thanks go to  GPTMC, but even more-so SKAI BLUE MEDIA for the honor of inviting VeruDesigns to be one of Philly’s best designers.  Skai Blue Media is one of the most successful local PR agencies that works directly with many of the “giants” in the fashion industry helping them (among many things) identify amazing new designers.  Some of you may recall that I had a beautiful photo-shoot with the President and Founder of Skai Blue Media, the beautiful and amazing Rakia Reynolds.

 

When it came time to sowcase VeruDesigns’ works, rather than providing an existing collection, I took on the challenge of creating 11 custom necklaces, in 11 days (that is all the time I had!) for each of the Senior Representatives of the 11 Magazines, that I would give away for them to keep.  When I realized that the number “11” kept coming up as part of this project, I took it as a WONDERFUL “sign” and instantly knew that this was about to be a very special project.

You see, there is a “story” behind the number ELEVEN (11) in my private life. Maybe I’ll tell you more about its significance one day, but it is no coincidence that I have used this wonderful number before as a means of sharing the love (do you remember my post about “11 reasons to be excited now“?!).   So, when all these “11’s” started to line-up, I KNEW I had to do this!!!

 

To find inspiration, the first thing I did was to buy the latest EDITION of each of the 11 magazines.

I had NEVER created this many necklaces in such a short time. As you know, some of my necklaces can normally take several days to finish, so I knew that I had to come up with a “common” design for all of them, but at the same time figure out a way to keep each piece very much unique and individual and be consistent with VeruDesigns’ “one-of-a-kind” characteristic.

 

I ended up picking a specific “page” in each magazine, a specific outfit/model that would serve as the MAIN inspiration for each necklace.

The next 11 days were a continuous time where I don’t recall when one day ended, and the next one started.  It was a mix of continuous exhilaration,  FUN, dispersed across intense 16 hours-work days, every day, for 11 days.

I don’t recall having this much fun and feeling this ALIGNED with my Soul.   I know this sounds ridiculous, but I promise this is how it felt.

 

At the same time I was trying to figure out how each necklace would be “finished” (laces, grommets,  bead-separator’s, etc).  I spent several hours looking for the “perfect beads” that would serve as “separators” between the 3 “shard-beads” of each necklace.

Interestingly, after looking at beads for hours (including visiting two local bead-stores), I realized I would have to make them myself.   I wasn’t thrilled about this realization, but after it was all said and done I was SOOOO happy that I made this decision.   The necklaces looked FABULOUS!

 

All the while, packaging was also very much in my mind.  As some of you know, my packaging is also a CUSTOM aspect of each jewelry piece that my clients buy.

 

With limited time, I knew I had to be creative, and after several late-night hours looking for inspiration I came up with a simple packaging design that would still be very much CUSTOM made by me, but with a simpler yet modern look.

 

The idea of the “mini” CATALOG seemed pretty obvious to me.  I wanted to make sure that whoever was going to see and wear these necklaces would understand WHY and HOW it came to be, and get a chance to see the full collection (of the remaining necklaces) as well.   So, I made sure to begin taking pictures and video from the very beginning, and spent later many hours designing and creating each of the unique 11 mini-catalogs, each made of 5 pages in all!

The end result was the sweetest reward of them all.

 

Seeing the necklaces completely finished and laid-out, made it all worth it :-)


It’s funny how despite the fact that these necklaces are clearly part of the same collection, each piece allowed me to play with completely different colors, textures, methods, and ways of finishing the piece.


They key about choosing “leather laces” (instead of choosing metal chains or other kinds of laces/strings), was my attempt at trying to keep the focus on the shards (beads) and have the laces ENHANCE its look, while adding a modern feel to them.   Another advantage I realized right away, is that the beautiful, long laces allow you to wear the necklace as a “pendant” (long) or a true necklace (short), and adjust its length based on your unique height, neck and chest.


Am I happy with the result? ABSOLUTELY!

 

As of 2 days ago, I can disclose that I received feedback stating that each representative of the Fashion Press absolutely LOOOOOOVED their necklace!

If you wonder what this means, the answer is something that I hope to disclose to you in a few months (YAY!!). We are in the early stages of very exciting conversations :-)

 

I hope you’re enjoying today’s display too!


Don’t miss PART 2 of this post (CLICK HERE TO SEE IT!!), where I finally share with you images of the ACTUAL INDIVIDUAL NECKLACES, as well as much more detailed information in the form of images and video.

 

Thanks so much for visiting today! If you enjoyed this post, PLEASE “LIKE” it on facebook, share it with your loved ones, and come back next week!

 

I would LOVE to read your thoughts and opinions as well.  Did you enjoy today’s post? Was it too long? Too many pictures? To few? Did you enjoy the video? It’s VERY important to me that you’re getting the enjoyment that I’m intending to give you every Tuesday in this small way, and I would so appreciate it if you could let me know what you think.

 

HAPPY TUESDAY! And as always, MUCH love to you,

– Veruschka

in BLOG / Inspiration / News and Events / Videos 5 comments
April 22, 2013  by

Featured Designer – Cathrin Striffler

I’m soo excited and honored to have Cathrin Striffler as the very first “FEATURED Jewelry Designer Of The Month” of our new Designer of the Month series, by VeruDesigns.

 

As a jewelry designer myself, I’ve come to know many other designers over time whose works I genuinely love and appreciate.  And so, in the spirit of “sharing the love” the idea of shining a spotlight on these beautiful creations and the amazing women and men behind them makes complete sense to me.  I believe that anything that is good and beautiful, anything that brings about a smile and inspiration ought to be shared a lot more.  We get enough bad news on TV, and there is plenty of jealousy and competitiveness spreading around. Why not share the BEAUTY, the expressions of love that are being created every day?

 

So… without further due, let me introduce you to the amazing Cathrin Striffler, a Germany-based jewelry designer that specializes in handmade miniature food jewelry. If you’ve been a subscriber for a while, you may recall Cathrin’s works from a prior post, but this is the first time that Cathrin and her pieces are the stars of our “Tuesday’s Reveal”.

I’ve been a fan of Cathrin’s work for a while! I just loooove the perfectly real-looking (and TINY!) world of deliciousness that she creates through her jewelry.  Notice the coin and matchstick in most images that will give you a better idea of the small scale of each piece.

 

But aside from being an amazing Artist, I’m also a fan of hers as a human being.  She might be the only person who I have never met in person, but have a complete “knowing” of this fact.

 

You see, around two years ago,  VeruDesigns was just beginning to exist in my life and Cathrin and I connected through social media as a means of admiring our works.  Suddenly tragedy knocked my door, and I found myself in the most devastating and personal moment of my life.  As a result I stopped everything I was doing and within a day I left the US and flew back home to Bolivia to be with my family and face whatever came our way.   The next 12 months were probably the hardest of my life, and aside from a very, very small number of people, for some reason I never shared what had happened in our family with anybody else, not even some of my lifetime friends.  I just couldn’t speak those words.  The death of someone you love has that effect sometimes.

 

Yet somehow, this beautiful woman from Germany who had never met me in person and knew nothing about me or my life, somehow sensed that something was wrong, and without knowing why I had disappeared, she sent me the most loving message of support I’ve ever received.

Her letter felt like the biggest “hug” in the world,  and allowed me to cry for the first time since it all had unfolded. Tears of relief, tears of  knowing that, “it’s all going to be ok“. . .

 

I guess this is how “soul-friendships” happen!

 

This gives you an idea of the woman behind the Art.

 

Cathrin and her husband Marc, live with their 2 children Mia 7 and Ray 4, in Waldenbuch, Germany; which is a town known best for being the home of “Ritter Sport Chocolate“, the world famous chocolate brand popular in all 5 continents.

 

As with most Artists, Cathrin didn’t “choose” to be an artist. Art chose her.  From the time she can remember, the arts were not only her means of expressing her creative energy, but was what made her feel the most. . . her.  Her home today is filled with her own Paintings and Art. Oh yes, besides a jewelry designer she is also a painter (I’m hoping to be able to showcase some of her “other” Art in a future post!).

 

But as it happens often, the “reality” of life makes us do, or better said makes us “believe” that the Arts are not the most reasonable career-pursuit in life.  So, as with many amazing talents out there, she did what she thought was “the right thing” by choosing a different career for as long as she could bear doing it.   But  then when her children came into her world, everything changed in a sense.  Motherhood seems to do that, and I’m sure many of you who are mothers can relate to that.

You love these little people sooo much, more than you could’ve ever imagined being capable of loving, and all you want is for them to be happy, healthy and fulfilled human beings. That becomes the most important pursuit in life.

It’s interesting how life guides us back to the real truths in our Soul.  It certainly was the case for Cathrin.  The love for her children was the catalyst that gave her the courage to focus her attention from a career that never was her calling, to just LOVE.  But when your main focus is LOVE, other wonderful things begin to emerge.   Becoming a stay-at-home-mom gave her the opportunity to re-discover her love for the Arts, and this is how her artistic career was born.

 

Like myself, Cathrin is a complete self-taught Jewelry Designer. Around 4 years ago she discovered clay (polymer clay) almost by chance and from the moment she held this medium she fell in love with it.  It didn’t take her long to realize that miniature food jewelry was something she was not only good at, but extraordinarily so.  And when skills meet passion, wonderful things are bound to happen.

Today, Cathrin shares her work through facebook. If you haven’t visited her page yet, you can do so NOW!

Just click HERE to visit her facebook page and if you enjoy her pieces, make sure to “LIKE” it and say “hi” to Cathrin yourself!  Let her surprise you  as she surprises me (every time!!), and be delighted with her always intrinsic and beautiful jewelry pieces.

Her pieces are also a perfect and very UNIQUE gift to someone you care about.  To visit her online shop, click here!

To contact Cathrin directly, visit her page on FACEBOOK and send her a direct message.

 

Let me know what you think about today’s reveal, and most importantly SHARE the love with those you care about if these pieces made you smile!

 

Much love to you,

– Veruschka

in BLOG / Featured Designer 3 comments