Adornments Closing Sale: July 1st-17th

Well folks. The end is near… for our beloved little shop at the Factory in Franklin, TN that is.

*sniffle* *sniffle*

We will closing our doors July 17th. I know, it’s a cruel world that just got a little darker, right?  Fear not that the light will go out entirely!  Our lovely website will remain a shining beacon of beauty and your access to the arts and crafts of our talented artists!  *eyes shining with unshed tears*

However, in honor of the closing of our store, we will be holding a grand closing sale from July 1st through the 17th.  We will be open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10am to 6pm and all our inventory of one-of-a-kind, handmade works of art will be on sale for up to 40% off!  So, now’s your chance to say farewell and take home a few more final treasures from our home at the Factory At Franklin.

*sob* *sob*

See you soon!  We’ll miss you!

*dissolves into sadness*

In Nashville -

June 5, 2010    6:00 – 9:00 pm   First Saturday Art Crawl Galleries in Downtown Nashville  sponsored by the Nashville Downtown Partnership.  A listing of this month’s galleries and shuttle maps can be found on their website  Click on their logo to visit their site.

http://www.nashvilledowntown.com/

Franklin and Williamson County -

June 4, 2010  1:00 – 9:00 pm   Art Fusion 2010   The Factory at Franklin  Fine Art and Fine Craft from over 50 artists, wine, munchies……what’s not to love?  If you want to know more about this fun event before coming you can visit their website by clicking on their logo.

June 5, 2010  10:00 am – 4:00 pm Art Fusion continues   The Factory at Franklin

June 11, 2010  6:00 – 8:00 pm   SouthGate Studio and Fine Art   The Factory at Franklin

Featuring new works by Dawn Whitelaw, Jody Thompson, Pat Thompson, Paula Frizbe, Jim Frazier, Catherine McMurray, Lori Putnam & Jean Gauld-Jaeger, Brenda Siegel, Ed Routon, Cynthia Vowell

June 11, 2010  11:00 am – 1:00 pm Brown Bag Lunch Bunch Williamson County Public Library  This month’s program is a photography workshop by Eric L. Hansen, Adjunct Professor in the Art Department of Belmont University.  For more information visit the website of the Arts Council of Williamson County

Project Runway Season 7 Eps 12 Design by Jay Nicholas

For this unusual look, the Adornments’ design team decided to add a sophisticated twist on a whimsical clown collar.  Formed entirely from hammered metal, this collar is both glamorous and fun!

Project Runway Season 7 Eps 12 Fashion Design by Jay Nicholas, Jewelry Design by Laura Dugger

Episode 13 begins the Finale and we begin to see the runway ideas of our finalists.  From this group we again chose Jay Nicholas’s design (what can we say?  They’re great clothes and they leave us room for jewelry!)  This ultra modern mini dress features stitched seam texture and tiered pockets all with slinky clean lines and a sexy silhouette.  (click on image to see pictures from the runway)

Project Runway Season 7 Eps 13 Fashion Design by Jay Nicholas

With this dress, we’ve paired a macrame pearl-studded silver choker.  This elegant piece adds a touch of brightness and lacy femininity to the smoothly contoured lines of the dress but remains true to it’s edgy modernity.

Project Runway Season 7 Eps 13 Fashion Design by Jay Nicholas, Jewelry Design by Alexis Anbari

Pearl Macrame Choker by Adornments' Designer Alexis Anbari

Let us know what you think as we draw ever close to the end of Project Runway, Season 7!  Leave a comment and/or take our poll!

I recently wrote a post on shopping for Diamonds and the 4 C’s, and since that article was so technical, I thought I’d take a different tact with this one. So here are some fun facts about diamonds!

• Diamonds are the hardest natural mineral on earth, by a lot! They are four times harder than next hardest mineral, corundum (sapphires and rubies).
• They conduct heat 4 times better than copper (this fact is used to test for diamond simulants).
• Round brilliant cut diamonds have 58 facets.

• The tradition of wearing engagement and wedding rings on the 3rd finger of the left hand dates back to Ancient Egypt. The circle of the band represents eternity, and the ring finger contains the “vena amoris”, the vein of love which runs directly to the heart.
• The word diamond comes from the Ancient Greek word, adamas, meaning unconquerable. The Ancient Greeks believed diamonds were splinters of stars fallen to earth.
• Diamonds are believed to represent strength, courage, and invincibility (not surprising considering their durability!).

The Great Star of Africa was set into the Royal Scepter of King Edward VII of England in 1907. It's now kept in the Tower of London.

• Until recently, the largest cut diamond was the Great Star of Africa, weighing 530 cts. It was cut from the Cullinan 1 diamond discovered in 1905 in South Africa, which was 3,106cts and yielded 105 cut gemstones.
• Currently the largest cut diamond is the Golden Jubilee, a fancy yellow brown diamond of 545.67 cts.
• Diamonds come in a wide range of colors besides white (or colorless). One of the most famous fancy colored diamonds is the Hope diamond- the largest deep blue cut diamond.

Michelle Pfieffer wearing the Hope Diamond.

• In India, one of the largest cutting centers in the world, about 3 million people work in the diamond industry.
• 25% of Israel’s total export earnings come from diamonds.

Workers polishing diamonds.

• It’s estimated that only about 500 tons of diamonds have ever been mined in recorded  history so far.
• Only 1 diamond in a million weighs more than a carat.
• 250 tons of ore need to be blasted, crushed, and processed to yield just one carat of diamond rough.
• Diamonds lose approximately 50% of their weight in the cutting and polishing process.

In episode 9, the  designers were tasked to create two looks inspired by a distinct NYC neighborhood. There were some truly fabulous designs,  and we chose this one by Jonathan  . Even though it wasn’t one of the winning designs, we instantly had a vision for some jewelry that could be paired with it.

Click on the picture to see the original dress! 

This particular dress features some complex contruction with patterned cut work in the bodice.  We’ve echoed the cut out pattern of the fabric in these earrings, made from sterling silver wire with a smoky quartz drop.

We also designed a hand fabricated link bracelet in silver with interspersed smoky quartz beads to coordinate. While we usually focus our designing talents on necklaces- this installment is all about earrings and bracelets. 

Here’s the final look!

 In episode 10, the designers had to design their own fabric to create their look. The winner of this week was Emilio and we had to agree that his finished piece was stunning! Here’s our artistic rendering of the dress, click on it to see the original.

One thing these two designs had in common was that they were complicated. While we love to design big, show stopping jewelry, we tend to feel that if you have a show stopping dress, the jewelry should be more on the subtle side (of course the opposite is also true! Nothing makes a better statement than a simple black dress with some amazing jewelry!).  Here’s a simple, slightly domed silver earring design with a hammered texure to play with the light.

Once again, with a matching bracelet- a bangle this time!

For a truly polished finished look!

Well, we’re nearing the end of Season 7. Just a few more episodes left. We hope you like what we’ve done so far! Let us know, leave us a comment!

(Click on the image below to see the original design as it appeared on the show)

Project Runway, Season 7, Episode 7, Design Jay Nicholas

This ultra modern and eye-catching look is complemented by an equally edgy woven silver collar featuring lapis lazuli.

Project Runway, Season 7, Episode 7, Clothing Design by Jay Nicholas

Check out these details from a similar piece by Adornments’ designer Alexis Anbari!

Woven Silver Collar with Lapis Lazuli Cabochon by Adornments' designer Alexis Anbari

Woven Silver Collar with Lapis Lazuli Cabochon by Adornments' designer Alexis Anbari

Episode 8 saw the designers attempting to incorporate the elements of nature: Earth, Air, Fire, or Water into their designs.  Mila’s design calls to mind the minerals of the earth with all their varying texture.  Her striking tone on tone vest is the essence of sophistication.

Project Runway, Season 7, Episode 8, Clothing Design by Mila

This pendant echos the cut-outs of the vest while adding a flair all it’s own.  Nestled in the center of this this serenely balanced piece would be an obsidian cabochon.  This volcanic glass has unexpected depth, beauty and richness of color while remaining true to the designer’s vision of earth in her fashion.

Project Runway, Season 7, Episode 8. Clothing Design by Mila

Think we’re on the right track?

Leave us a comment or take our Project Runway Poll!

This dress, by designer Anthony, is fun and frisky in a vibrant turquoise with a unique ruffling that has nothing to do with prom!

(Click on the image below to see the original dress from the show)

Project Runway, Season 7, Episode 5, Dress Design by Anthony

To add to the dresses flair without distracting, Adornments’ designer, Laura Dugger, chose dazzling earring featuring diamond-shaped fresh water pearls suspended from a chain in the midst of a shining silver spiral- simple, elegant and fun!

Project Runway, Season 7, Episode 5, Dress Design by Anthony

The second design that we selected was that of Jay Nicholas’ fairy tale-esc confection.  Light and flowing without losing it’s sexy edge, this dress is feminine and dramatic.

(Click on the image below to see the original dress from the show)

Project Runway, Season 7, Episode 5, Dress Design JayNicholas

This stunning necklace design by Adornments’ designer Laura Dugger features cut silver flowers with garnet centers on sinuously twisting silver vines balancing the flowery ruffling and complementing the overall femininity and drama of the gown.

Project Runway, Season 7, Episode 5, Dress Design JayNicholas

Like what you see?  Hate it and want us to stop these posts (say it ain’t so!)? Let us know what your think!

Leave us a comment or take our Project Runway Poll!

We decided the dress would be perfect and much more interesting with a different look on the belt.  So, we cut the jet buckle off using our handy dandy wire cutters and replaced it with a sterling silver brooch made by Laura. (Click on the link to see more of Laura’s jewelry.)

Lovely black dress with jet buckle

Lovely black dress with silver brooch

This sterling silver brooch was constructed from a single piece of continuous wire specifically for this dress.  This brooch is one-of-a-kind and contrasts stunningly with this simple black dress taking it up a notch without a lot of time or reconstruction.  Best of all, she can change the look of the dress by changing the brooch making it much more versatile.

Here is the finished product.  The entire transformation took very little time and people at the wedding commented on her unique and very pretty dress.  We smile and say “Mission Accomplished”.

Alexis in the lovely black dress

In Episode 3, the designers challenge was to create a high-end signature look and a look-for-less inspired by another team’s design. For this episode we were drawn to Anna’s sleek, classic jacket and dress.

Anna's Design from Episode 3

This dress seems to want just a touch of embellishment at the neck, so we designed a modern pendant using complimentary colored gemstones. This is a sterling silver pendant with a large, angular snowflake obsidian as the focal point with a smaller accent cabochon above.

Design by Alexis Anbari

Here’s what the snowflake obsidian looks like!

Pretty stunning just on its own!

Here’s the design drawn on the our sketch of the dress so you can get an idea of how they fit together.

For the 4th episode, the designers created a signature dress for the Campbell’s AdDRESS Your Heart program. For this week, we chose Amy’s fun and flirty dress.

Amy's design from Episode 4

In keeping with the theme of the challenge, we designed a heart pendant to coordinate with this dress. This is a sterling silver pendant with red and white gemstones.

Design by Alexis Anbari

And with the dress.

So, once again, we implore you- let us know what your think! Leave us a comment or take our Project Runway Poll!

Open House!!

Mark your calendars! That’s right! The amazing ladies at Williamson County Weddings are hosting an Open House on Saturday, February 27 from 3-6 pm.

At this event, brides and socialites can:

View the 2010 Invitation Collection

Sample cake flavors by the Bake Shoppe

Get a sneak peak at the new event pavilion opening at CJ’s Off the Square in April

Mingle with CJ Dickson, Amy Parman and the rest of the amazing crew behind Wilco Weddings!

Click on the invitation above to register!

If you’re in the market for an event location, invitations, or a coordinator- I can’t recommend the staff at CJ’s highly enough. I (Alexis) was married at CJ’s with the help of the spectacular Amy Parman- who came back a year later to help my sister (Laura) get married too! They did an amazing job with both weddings and are absolutely wonderful people to work with.