Jewelry Gift Alert! (also featured as Oprah's Favorite Things 2022!)

Ok, so, everytime I travel I think how badly I need a decent jewelry travel case. Not too big, not too small... looks cute, and nothing that rolls up, please! Those just never work for me. 

Well, I have found a great option... and it's in VELVET! Finally a jewelry case hits all of the marks and is available in lots of yummy colors. 

I am loving this Emerald Green:

Yes, you can get it on Amazon :) right here.

 

                  

Here is the link on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3AtBnE4

 

 

Another Find:

This is one luxe Jewelry Travel Organizer that I am in LOVE with- this studded mosaic zip case is at the top of my Wish List...

Gold studs, cream leather, AND anti-tarnish lining! Swoon. Now I just need to find a place to go... (Wayfair $149)

Happy Gift Hunting this Holiday Season!
xx- Laura

 

*post may contain Amazon affiliate links

Many don't know this, but even before Jewelry was my love for... Photography.

It was my very first creative outlet as a child and I can vividly remember the "click" of the shutter, the feel of the film, and especially the winding sound announcing the last shot had been taken. A bittersweet moment only made better knowing that I would get to see what would be unveiled.

The anticipation of opening the paper packet to reveal which images (hopefully!) turned out sans any orange over-exposure lines or dust dots would eventually give way to the exhilaration of learning my way around a Darkroom. The opportunity to creatively manipulate the film made Photography even more exciting to me and the mystery of watching the film take shape was all too satisfying.

 

But suddenly, just as quickly as it was learned... the Digital era arrived, erasing the need for the Darkrooms and pushing me into other avenues like Jewelry Making that could satisfy my cravings  for a more tactile experience. This would go on for years until I started to notice things again in nature that I felt I just had to capture. My eyes would fixate on certain branches of trees, the way a winding road was canopied just so that it created a feeling of mystery and I wanted to somehow document that moment. My surroundings were telling me a story that I wanted to remember if not pass along to someone else... and I began to photograph these moments once again. 

 

Embracing the "Digital Darkroom" as I call it of today has been a journey that I put off until I could no longer ignore. So disheartened by the idea of not being in the Darkroom  I had simply shelved a pastime that I had enjoyed so much. But, I finally came around! I am excited to say that I have found there is a way to do both. The Digital platform actually offers many creative avenues, in fact too many at times( !) for me to delve into, but I am certainly enjoying this process and embracing it. It's worth it to me to give Photography, something that was always waiting in the wings for me, the time it deserves. 

 

I once came across an article titled "Scents of Adventure" written by Mary Louise Parker detailing a trip to a custom perfume house in Paris she took with her daughter. A few weeks after their trip, MLP opens the bottle her daughter created and the memories of their time together in The City of Light washes over her. She wonders if her daughter will respond like she does to scent with memory being so closely tied to it that she "...even followed a woman down the street because she was wearing my mother's perfume (Shalimar)...".

                                                                                              -Olivier Royere to MLP

Her musings resonated with me since I have for years described my tether to jewelry as more than just Shiny Object Syndrome. The enchantment of Jewelry is also very Memory-based for me. For instance, I can think of some of my earliest childhood friends and remember Vanessa's Aquamarine studs; Brandy's Emerald ring; Sarah Bisland's Opal band; McClean's Star Ruby ring... and even their memories of who gave the jewelry to them (McClean's parents brought hers back from a trip to a land faraway...India, I believe- her ring was my first time to ever see a Star Ruby or learn the word "Cabochon"!). 

Maybe we are all wired this way to Memory in some shape or form, but MLP's story gifted me with a recollection from over thirty years ago to my late Grandmother, Ruby Frances McCharen's love for Quelques Fleurs by Houbiqant. I can hear her recite the name right now in her thick, deep Southern rasp that I can only compare to Dame Maggie Smith - sans the European accent. I can picture that slender frosted bottle of "faaanntsy" perfume on the nightstand and from there on I get to travel further down Memory Lane: to my Grandmother's bedroom and into the kitchen... flour (as always) on the black and white tiled floor and a sizzling cast iron skillet on the white enamel stove. The blue Crisco can close by promises her famous fried chicken with rice and gravy. It's Mississippi, afterall. 

Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane, Mary Louise. I am glad your piece prompted me to pull an oldie out of my memory vault. If we don't talk, we forget  ...and I am glad you are talking. 

Yours,

Laura S. James