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Today marks our second feature of our new “Designer Of The Month” series, and I couldn’t be more excited to introduce you to Dana Phillips, Jewelry Designer and Creator/Founder of Tulaa Jewelry.

I came across Dana and her company several months ago during a public discussion in one of the jewelry social media groups that we both belong to. A jewelry designer had posted an open question about how to compete with so many other jewelry designers out there who had a very similar focus than hers. She explained that she made yoga inspired jewelry, and had been feeling discouraged after witnessing the success of her competitors soar, while seeing her own suffer.

There were countless answers and suggestions made by many fellow jewelry designers, and as I read through all of them, I sensed that we all knew what we wanted to say to this young designer, but nobody was able to fully articulate that. Suddenly I saw emerge the PERFECT answer.   Someone had just posted the most selfless, genuine, loving, realistic, but empowering and oh-so-true and perfect words anyone could’ve given on this subject.

Her name? Dana Phillips, and within a few minutes her answer became the most “liked” answer in the discussion.

When you witness loving wisdom so powerfully, you want to know who this person is right away. I immediately clicked on her name and landed on her website. This is when I realized that this very special woman had not only timeless wisdom in her heart but BEAUTIFUL jewelry pieces that I could’t wait to share with you.

Now, if you’ve been reading my Tuesday’s Reveal newsletter for a while, you know that spirituality is a powerful anchor in my personal and professional journey.  It has changed my life in more ways than I could describe, but the most visible to you is VeruDesigns.  VeruDesigns would simply not exist if I had not remembered the eternal truths of happiness that spirituality brought back to me, and I know for a fact that today I would probably still be a very accomplished but very stressed, anxious, malnourished Software Engineer, working crazy hours trying to climb the corporate ladder in some large corporation, for the purpose of gaining financial and social recognition…. whatever that means

If you are a believer in the power of LOVE, which is the most powerful kind of energy, or even if you simply love BEAUTIFUL and unique jewelry, than today’s feature will be a very special Tuesday’s Reveal for you

Dana was very kind to share with me a little bit more about her personal journey into jewelry making, and what makes Tulaa Jewelry the powerful force of love and beauty that it is today.

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Veruschka: Where are you and your business located?

Dana: I live in Myrtle Beach, SC with my husband, 3 children.

Veruschka: How long have you been a jewelry designer, and how long have you had your business?

Dana: I first started as a hobby about 15 years ago. It has gone through many transformations, but Tulaa Jewelry was “born” about 6 years ago.
Veruschka: How did it happen? (What made you become jewelry designer?)

Dana: When my daughter Hali was about a year old, we had a new neighbor, Susan, move in across the street. She was a single mom with her young daughter and we quickly became friends. Susan had to work and I was a stay at home mom, so I often would watch her daughter. In return, Susan offered to show me how to make jewelry…I always admired her own handmade creations. So, we started working together, and I really loved it. I first started working with glass and crystals, anything sparkly and pretty, but really loved getting acquainted with semi-precious gemstone. Susan and I decided to do some festivals selling jewelry together, and had a really good response. But still I really only considered it a hobby, had another baby, and got busy with other parts of my life.
About 10 years ago I took my first yoga class, and everything started to shift for me. I really started to dig deep, get introspective, and learning about how energy works. I learned how to change my own energy and perspective, and got a lot happier! While learning about the human energy system, chakras, yogic philosophy I began putting it together with my jewelry designs. I always believed in the healing aspects of gemstones, but didn’t fully understand how it worked and how certain stones could be more effective for certain energies. So about 6 years ago, I intentionally designed my first chakra inspired pieces.

Veruschka: What inspires you?

Dana: As I said, my yoga and spiritual practice definitely inspires my work. My biggest inspiration though comes from the stones themselves. When I go to a gem show or find a new vendor, I get so excited! I am literally overwhelmed sometimes with ideas and feelings as I wander through rows and rows of “potential”…seeing all that raw material is just incredible!
I also get a lot of inspiration from my friends and my customers. I have a few personal muses, people I design for regularly, that often inspire a design based on what I did for them. I love also having someone come to me with ideas about something they are trying to work on, or through, in their life and want some extra support through jewelry. Love that!

Veruschka: How would you describe your jewelry’s style?

Dana: Intentional, simple, beautiful, supportive, wearable. I like the stones and the symbolism to shine.

Veruschka:  What is unique about your jewelry?
Dana: I have been given the opportunity to bring these designs to life. I have often felt that every piece I design is a “custom” piece, meaning there is a person out there who is waiting for that particular necklace, bracelet, or pair of earrings. Sometimes, I get to know who the customer is in advance, other times I just create, put it out there and wait for it to find it’s home.
I also use my training as a Reiki Master in assisting with the creative process. Although I don’t actually have a set ritual when creating, I do use Reiki at some point in the process. My home studio is also my space for my meditation practice, so there is always some kind of energy flowing in here! But, usually I use techniques I have learned in my training to help clear the energy of the stones and then also “recharge” them with the pure Reiki energy. We as human beings need Reiki treatments a lot more frequently because of our daily stressors and emotions. Gemstones always carry their own healing qualities and Reiki just helps amplify those energies, and they hold on to it better than we do!

To learn more about Dana and her beautiful jewelry, visit her website at www.tulaajewelry.com, and sign up for her newsletter! She is currently working on a new site where she’ll be sharing a lot more about gemstones energy, spirituality in a modern world, healing, and all that is currently inspiring her! She is also on:

• Facebook – facebook.com/tulaajewelry,
• twitter- @tulaajewelry,
• and Instagram as Tulaajewelry!

As someone who follows Dana via Facebook and twitter, I can assure you that you will LOVE getting her wonderfully inspired and positive thoughts of the day, wisdom and loving energy to start your day from a place of belief and power, no matter what is happening in your life and regardless of what faith you practice.  Also, when you sign up to her newsletter, Dana will send you a coupon code for 20% off your first order!

If you enjoyed this piece, please let me know by leaving a comment below and/or sharing this post with your friends and loved ones, and let Dana know by leaving a comment on her facebook page, twitter or instagram account!

Much love and until next Tuesday’s Reveal,

– Veruschka

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