All VeruDesigns Jewelry

July 18, 2012  by

Love and Expansion – Bridal Necklace

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With Summer at its peak here in the US, it is no surprise that flowers and nature continue to be central elements to my bridal necklace-collection. But besides flowers, there are two concepts that I wanted to share with the lovely bride that will be wearing this necklace on her big day: LOVE and EXPANSION. It just so happens that the symbolism around a “nest” and a “clothespin” seemed to be the perfect way of doing just that.

 

The inspiration for LOVE came from one of my favorite sculptures here in my hometown of Philadelphia. The well known “Clothespin” created by Claes Oldenburg is actually two people standing, kissing and embracing each other passionately and with love.  This gigantic sculpture located next to Philadelphia’s most important building is an almost perfect metaphor for a wedding: Two people expressing their love in the presence of many people who care to witness their promise.

My beautiful bride: May you remember on your day that no matter how amazing your dress is, how gorgeous you look, how much you truly feel like a princess, let the most important aspect of your focus be LOVE…your love for him, his love for you, because when you experience your wedding through these lenses, everything will be perfect :-)

A “NEST” is one of the universal symbols of starting a new home, and according to several ancient cultures, a nest, just like a marriage is the warm, secure and loving place where husband and wife have the potential of developing their relationship and their individuality to incredible heights of more love and fulfillment. And just like an egg, a marriage needs time, patience, love to develop, but must be also carefully looked after, because like eggs they can be fragile when taken for granted.

My beautiful bride: No matter how AMAZING this day will seem, know that the best days and times are yet to come! Your relationship will expand to new levels of joy that you haven’t reached before, if you both choose to nurture your union, support each other and make unconditional love your mantra.

 

 

Much love to you, beautiful bride, whoever you are :-)

– Veruschka

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I thought you might enjoy a few images of how this piece was started.

Once the idea is born in my head, it always begins with a design on paper:

And then the hard work begins, little by little with lots of love and patience! This is how it looked a little before it was ready for the oven :-)


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Our photo shoot began at 5am in the morning on an unbelievable beautiful summer day!
Before pictures are taken, my photographer makes sure to find the right spot with the best possible natural lighting for the subject. It’s always super fun!

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July 10, 2012  by

Naturally In Love – Bridal Necklace

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I’m very excited to share with you my first piece of this year’s Custom Bridal Jewelry Collection.  These necklaces are some of the most time-consuming pieces to create, and for good reason!  I take very seriously the responsibility that each of them carry, as they are not only meant to make a lovely bride even more beautiful on her day, but they are commissioned to tell a story, to visually walk you through the bride’s life journey and reflect her inner and outer beauty, her believes, her style, and at once, be a nutshell of who-she-truly-is, on the most important day of her life.

 

Today’s “Naturally in Love” Necklace was very much inspired by the remarkable beauty of wild flowers on a meadow, and one particular pink-ish wildflower that was able to “shine” among all of her sisters.

 

I created this piece for the kind of bride that KNOWS and owns her beauty. Not because she meets certain physical beauty “criteria”, but because she embraces and loves every “perfect imperfection” of hers as “stories” that were passed on to her by her ancestors.  She’s someone who has come to own her beauty by understanding that it has nothing to do with her shape, size or color. She is beautiful because she IS her mother’s daughter, she IS her father’s daughter, and from their gifts she created her own unique one-of-a-kind woman. Someone who knows and loves herself so much so, that she was able to love someone else unconditionally as well.  And yes, on this very important day she knows she is lucky to have him, but he is very lucky too.

– Veruschka

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Designing and creating a new one-of-a-kind necklace is my absolute favorite part in this whole process.

As always, it begins with an idea, that is then translated into paper.

And then, the work begins! This is how it looked close to the finish line :-)

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July 4, 2012  by

Summer Pinata – Necklace

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It has been a very long time since I was just another child sitting patiently underneath acolorful Piñata at a birthday party, waiting patiently for the moment that the birthday kid breaks it open with a large stick, and allows its precious little candies and toys rain over us children. No matter how many years go by, apparently that child still lives in me.  It only took to see a handful of Piñata photographs for the little girl inside of me to come through. I instantly felt the same butterflies in my belly as I always did just before a Piñata was about to be opened.

 

After that feeling a little over a week ago I haven’t been able to take those pictures and emotions out of my mind. I knew that my next piece would be an attempt at trying to replicate the happy “feeling” that a Piñata always brought to me, but it took me quite a while to figure out how to translate that into shapes.  I finished several designs, and even though they all felt “good” none of them felt “GREAT”, which is how I always like to feel prior to beginning my work.  And so, after almost a full day  working on my necklace based on my final design, an image popped into my head! … out of nowhere!! I knewTHAT was the design of my necklace.

I didn’t mind starting from scratch when it feels this good.  Hopefully this fun Summer Piñata Necklace will have that same effect on you ;-)

Are you having a lovely Summer yet?

Much love to you!

– Veruschka

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June 26, 2012  by

Charango Laughs – Necklace

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It’s not the first or last time that my homeland’s unique musical instruments inspire me to create something that radiates with as much joy and love as how Bolivia makes me feel inside, especially when I’m thousands of miles away from home.  The bolivian “charango” is almost always present in music that originates in the highlands of Bolivia.   To me, the Charango’s sound is that of a heartfelt cry or laugh.  It’s what makes a love song one of lose or joy; and since I get to choose what I focus on when creating a necklace, I chose JOY!

 

The abstract representation of the tiny charangos in this necklace are meant to remind you to LAUGH heartily as your day unfolds, and allow through its fun and vibrant colors remember that nothing should be taken too seriously… “Laughter is the Best Medicine!”.

Much love to you,

– Veruschka

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This necklace may look simple and easy to make (easy comparatively to the other pieces I make), but it wasn’t! Because I don’t use any other tools by a small razor blade and my fingers, all the straight, perfectly flat areas needed a lot of massaging and contouring with my hands.
It was super fun though!

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June 19, 2012  by

Spread of Color – Necklace

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As some of you know, among the many things that inspire my jewelry is interior design. It is such a BEAUTIFUL art form.   To me, decorating a home is a distillation of our interests, of who we really are, and I strongly believe that –as designer Rafael de Cardenas once said– “Our homes are a mirror of ourselves: If one is happy in life, our space reflects that”.

 

You know by now that color resonates with me strongly. It moves my feelings up the emotional scale to an even more positive place, every time! Sometimes it brings peace, laughter, and even giddiness, and many times, such as when I saw this lovely living space, it inspires me beyond emotions, and makes me grab some clay and manifest those feelings in physical form through a piece of jewelry.

 

If these images triggered an internal smile inside of you, please share the love (or the smile!)!

Much, MUCH love to you all,

– Veruschka

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Colors!!!! Aren’t they just fabulous!?!
This BEAUTIFUL 100% handmade and one-of-a-kind necklace started with an idea in my head… Granted: When I started drawing the idea, it didn’t look as good as it turned out….but isn’t it fun!


… And then of course, is when the real work begins :-)

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June 11, 2012  by

Grapefruit Party – Necklace

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There is a well known chinese proverb that says “A picture is worth a thousand words”, and today’s necklace could not be more of physical manifestation of that.  Colors and shapes are powerful and have the ability to emanate beauty, happiness, aliveness, smell and flavor quite vividly and at an emotional level with just one look.

 

This is certainly what happened to me when I saw the beautiful outdoor summer lunch table image you see in my inspiration picture. The three GORGEOUS bead-like chandeliers are the obvious key elements that guided the design and creation of the Grapefruit Party Necklace, but what drove me to want to create this piece was the sensation I felt as soon as I saw this image: My mouth watering as I saw the image of a deliciously juicy grapefruit right in front of me. Don’t ask me why, but that is the first thing that I felt and came to mind :-)

 

Making this particular necklace reminded me one of the many reasons I do what I do: VeruDesigns allows me to re-create beautiful ideas, emotions, designs, PLACES and TASTES through my necklaces. I so hope that those of you who live in a part of the world where summer is about to begin get to enjoy the warmth of the weather, the color of our surroundings, the sounds of nature, and the deliciousness of summer’s fresh squeezed fruit juices with your loved ones. I shall do the same!

Much love,

– Veruschka

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June 4, 2012  by

Blue, Red and Yellow – Necklace

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The first time this color-combo became one of my favorites ever was when I was 7 years old.  I was watching “Superman” (with Christopher Reeve) for the first time at the movies with my little brother Chris, and the moment that Clark Kent came out wearing his super Blue, Yellow and Red suit, I thought I had found my future husband.

 

So, yes. I have had a love affair with these colors for a long time…and no, as you’ve figured out I never married Superman. I got even luckier! and found the love of my life instead:-) Not in Metropolis but in beautiful Philadelphia!

 

Aside from Superman though, I genuinely love how these colors work together. I’ve seen so many beautiful expressions of these colors put together: From beautiful designs and man-made pieces of Art, to some of the most beautiful flowers and expressions of nature.

 

This necklace was an “excuse” to use these 3 colors…(along with some soft whites and light grays to brake it up a little). This is also one of many small tributes to my little brother Chris, who LOOOOOVES Superman even more than I do.

 

Of course I did some “test driving” too! I can assure you it is as comfy as it is gorgeous! Disclosure: Be ready to get TONS of attention!! (of the good kind ;-)!)

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it,

Much love to you all,

– Veruschka

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May 29, 2012  by

Strawberry Love – Necklace

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This lovely necklace is the second addition to my “Spring/Summer 2012 – Sampoña Collection“

 

I’m always amazed how color, and even more-so “a combination of colors” has the power of inspiring me in a matter of seconds.  I love Spring and Summer for so many reasons, but one of my top 3 reasons is COLOR.  Happy colors can inject the observer with excitement, with giddiness, with hopefulness, with big smiles , but more than anything with BOUNDLESS ENERGY.  And Energy is of course what Ideas are made of, and what spurs desire, purpose and action.

 

As soon as I saw these coral-strawberry shoes, this is exactly what happened. Unfortunately I have no idea who the beautiful woman is in these gorgeous summer heels, light blue cakis and killer denim green jacket.

 

Whoever you are: Thank you gorgeous! You made my day :-)

Happy Tuesday!

– Veruschka

 

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May 7, 2012  by

Gran Sonrisa – Necklace

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I’ve been falling in love with this season’s “happy colors” that I can’t stop noticing in fashion, interior design and home decor every time I walk by my favorite Philadelphia boutiques and furniture stores.  I’m particularly mesmerized by the gorgeous happy-greens,  the bold orangy-pinks and the soft purples that my eyes –seem– to have learned to notice everywhere, bringing a HUGE smile to my face :-)

 

The “Gran Sonrisa – Necklace” (Huge Smile -Necklace in english), is the first jewelry piece of my  Spring-Summer 2012  “Colossal Beads” collection.  Each of the beautiful one-of-a-kind beads was individually designed and manually crafted with as much love as my heart knows to give.  This newest baby of mine will be part of my soon-to-be-re-launched online store, and I’m already pretty jealous of the lovely lady that will own it very soon :-)

 

… Do you know what has been (surprisingly) the best part though? How wonderfully unique this peace of “love and clay” made me feel today, as it rested on my chest.


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This was SUCH a delightful necklace to make!! Many of the amazing fellow artists that I’ve come to know and am honored to call friends of mine, always ask me why don’t I use more tools to automate and accelerate the process (cutting, shaping, mixing, etc, etc), aside from the fact that many of these tools make everything look “flawless”, in the sense that machines make everything perfectly “even” and “flat” and can repeat “sizes” perfectly, not to mention that machines make everything automatically FASTER!

 

And yet, I LOVE that exact process! I love making the details one-by-one, with my bare fingers. And I love for each of my pieces to show the “imperfections” that are magically created by the imprint that my fingers leave. It IS what makes my pieces VERUDESIGNS pieces! It is so much about the journey of creating them. Yes… I love what I do, and I so hope you enjoy the results as well 😉

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April 20, 2012  by

Kiss of Lila – Necklace

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Many of VeruDesigns jewelry pieces were directly inspired by women I’ve never met. Women in books, movies, magazines, wearing the most beautiful ensembles, rich in colors, texture, contrasts, and what I call “simple loveliness” to the eye.

 

This is how, as I was getting dressed the other day for a gorgeous day at the beach, I realized how much I appreciate the simple pieces that are part of my small closet.   Furthermore, I LOVED my ensemble so much, that I suddenly felt this all familiar “spur” of inspiration that normally happens when I see something “outside” of me.

 

The “Kiss of Lila” Necklace is my first piece inspired on MY OWN personal style. The style that (for now) suits my soul perfectly.    This is also the first piece of my upcoming “Spring/Summer 2012 – Sampoña Collection“, which was based on the original prototype that I shared with you a little while back.

Friday is almost coming to an end: May you all find even more beauty in the simple every-day moments of your weekend, wherever you are.
– Veruschka 

 

 

 

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