IL MARE ATELIER
{please visit il mare atelier here}
Here at the Bright Side Project, we are big fans of art. We are big fans of jewelry. We are super big fans of the melding of the two. Jewelry is, after all, wearable art and speaks to the core of each of us in regards to what we find beautiful about nature, color and ourselves.
Su Tan, artist and owner of Il Mare Atelier, draws upon this marriage of jewelry and art with her uniquely stunning and versatile collection of earrings, necklaces and bracelets. Tan is inspired by her Singapore environment. The rich pinks and reds on the Spring Blossoms earrings drop delicately like flowers and the bold, deep purple highlighted between glimmers of gold on the Violets necklace would look just as good with a formal dress as jeans and a t-shirt. Then there is the Posy necklace. I would wear this one with my birthday suit, it’s that stunning. The mission at Il Mare Atelier is to “create art you could hold in your hands.” Mission accomplished.
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Miss Krista, our Weekend Editor, is a mother, a lover and a big believer in the power of a cupcake. she loves double entendres but is not a fan of the high-five. She blogs about the corners of her heart at my life as i see it.
The very first piece of jewelry I remember having was a jade necklace. I called it “cheerio” for its shape and never, ever took it off. When I was 7 and my sister 2, she wanted to see it. I, being the loving and gracious older sister, took it off for her to see. Of course she promptly dropped it in an air vent! (I know… my bad!) I still miss it to this day, over 15 years later. I remember how proud I was to wear it, and how proud I was that it had come from Vietnam, where my family is from. Oh, how I miss you, my little cheerio.
In preschool I had a necklace that I wore all the time because I liked it so much. It was a tiny metal dragon fly with periwinkle wings.
Candy necklaces. I used to love them!
I’m sure I had jewelry before this piece, but this is the first piece of jewelry that I can actually remember. And that’s what makes it special right? if it stuck with me all of this time it must have been amazing and might as well have been the first. So I had this long strand of plastic beads that were white on one side and bright pink on the other. It reached down to my tummy, I could wrap it to look like two necklaces if wanted. The best part? It matched a pink and white striped dress I had. I put the necklace on everywhere I went!! And it was captured in my 1st grade school picture. Awww cuteness.
P.S. Beautiful Jewelry!
The first piece of jewelry I ever owned was a tiny baby’s ring with my birthstone — sapphire. It was given to me by my grandmother and step-grandfather. Obviously, I did know what it was for several years and by that time it did not fit my finger any longer. I wore it for many years on a chain until I unfortunately lost it in college — I wish I still had it to pass on to one of my daughters.
I don’t know about the first, but I remember some of my early jewelry that is still important to me. I have a little golden necklace with my name engraved on it that I remember wearing. I also have two necklaces, one with chewbacca and one with R2D2. I love them because I can still wear them but when I was kid and I wore them the were so long they hung down to my waist.
My parents have bought me some very lovely jewelry over the years to mark important events and dates. But the most memorable gift from them was my first piece of “real” jewelry: a string of pearls. It was my test…if I could manage to not lose it and take good care of it, my parents knew that I was ready for the real stuff. I passed the test and have a nice little collection of gifts from my parents that I will never, ever part with!
My 1st jewlery would have to be gold earings my mom gave me when I was just 1 month old. I still have them in a drawer. Very antique, very beautiful :)
The first piece of jewelry I owned was a gold ring with a blue topaz (my birthstone) heart in the middle. It was from my grandparents.
My earliest piece of jewelry I remember loving, was a necklace with a purposely broken heart locket from the movie Annie. It was just like the one in the movie that her parents gave her. I still have it. It may not be my first piece of jewelry, but it’s the piece I remember having the longest.
the first piece of jewelry i ever owned was a silver charm bracelet from one of my grandmas. it featured a string of lil charms including a heart, four leaf clover, and a babie lamb. i still have it, tucked away in one of my drawers under the bed for safe keeping.
a seed-beaded talisman type native American circle thingy with fringe. The necklace part finally fell apart and my mom sewed it to a red ribbon. I still have it and I’m almost 50.
I never used to wear much jewelry like I do now – I think it was a small pair of stud earrings
My first piece of “real” jewelry was a pair of earrings with “aquamarine” stones, my birth stone. I ended up obtaining a necklace to match and I have worn them both only on special occasions. However, that does not mean I am not in love with jewelry. Mostly, I love statement pieces that present vibrant colors and shapes. I usually wear bright colors, so colorful jewelry is always fun to buy and wear.
Pop beads was the very first and trust me they went with every thing and every color .
My mother gifted me with the most beautiful gold and diamond Tiffany’s watch that took my breath away. She had worn it for like 20 years and decided it was time that I start wearing it. It’s almost TOO beautiful to wear. :)
I remember having my initial in gold on a chain with my birthstone from my grandmother.
I had a gold ring and bracelet when I was an infant.
when i was born, my dad bought me a pair of tiny pearl earrings. (mom had my ears pierced when i was 3)
The first jewelry that I know was mine was a little gold heart with a piece of jade in the center of it. My grandmother gave it to me (and she did not give “nice” presents to children, so I knew it was special. I had forgotten it until last year when I found it in an old treasure box. I inherited set of jade beads that were on a choker from her, so I had those beads, and some pearls made into a set of prayer beads (malas). I had the little gold heart with the jade attached on these malas to remind me to keep my heart open and to remember how precious I am. My “Granny” is with me everytime I sit to meditate and pray.
When I was a young girl, my mother gave me my first piece of real jewelry. It had been hers and bore my teething marks on it. It was a round locket of gold with two ruby chips that looked like eyes at the top third and a diamond chip in the midline. It looked like a smiling face and I was always fascinated by the fact that it could be opened. The fact that I had bitten it as an infant always makes me smile!
I’ve been a “Jewelry Junkie” for as long as I can remember!! The very first piece I remember from my childhood was a bracelet with the cutest tiny glass birds dangling from it. I still have a few of them in my stash! My first piece of real grownup jewelry was my Grandfather’s gold signet ring which Grandma gave me while I was in high school. I wore it daily for years until the band finally wore through. I’m still hoping I can have it repaired someday!!
For my tenth birthday my mum bought me a little opal ring, opal being my earth stone. For months and months when we saw opals in a store my mum would tell me how special and magical they were. When I finally opened the little box on my special day and saw the ring within it I would have been as exciting me then as it would be for someone curing cancer now! I still wear it on my pinky and still believe it is magical, beautiful and incredibly special!
A tiny gold & pearl necklace and bracelet set given to me by my grandparents at my christening. I was too young to wear it then, but I grew into it and always cherished it. A few years ago, my apartment was broken into and all my jewelry, including that set, was stolen. I still keep my eyes peeled at second-hand shops in hopes that one day I will be reunited with those items that I lost.
The first piece of jewelry that I owned was a little gold locket when I was a baby. I also had a gold ring and a bracelet. Sadly, all of them disappeared over the years, though I do have a photo of me as a baby wearing the locket. That was taken 66 years ago!
In honor of my first communion, my aunt Ginny gave me a delicate strand of tiny pearls with a small diamond clasp. My mother thought it was the oddest gift to be given to a seven year-old girl – but I loved the necklace which I was only permited to wear on Christmas and Easter. Fifty years later, the delicate cream pearls still reside inside the gray satin box. My daughter wore the necklace on her first communion and I have no doubt, her daughter will do the same when her time comes.
A little gold bracelet when I was a baby girl. There’s also a marvelous gold ring with a pearl that was my grandmother’s. Perhaps the most memorable (and I’m not sure if it was the first), was a locket that my grandfather gave me for my first Christmas. Luckily the chain was massively too long, and I was delighted to wear it for my wedding.
I cannot remember a time when I didn’t have my butterfly necklace. It has gorgeous blue (plastic) beads and beautiful plastic butterfly beads in all the colors of the rainbow. All the colors except the red ones are so faded you can hardly tell what color they are! But oh, I remember. It has long been too small for me so a few months ago I took it apart and made it bigger. It is so beautiful! And now I can wear it again. Ah, recycled childhood memories…
…1971, 7 yrs old, just moved to Pakistan, given a 24kt goldengolden bangle, also promptly landed in trouble!…passed that shiner around the bus and gave it to a friend who liked it best!..not what momma intended..aww it was returned by the friends mom so all better..yes!
My first piece of jewelry was a plastic ring from a Cracker Jack’s box! I loved the anticipation of opening that little package! Imagine my disappointment when it was flat, knowing that it contained some sort of puzzle and not an adornment for my hand.
A wee gold baby ring, given to me by my parents …as with all my favorite jewelry, it grows more precious with each passing year …
A two-legged dragon pendant, given to me by my mother. As I was given it during my clumsy phase in middle school – I was often bumping into things – the poor necklace got nicknamed the ‘bad luck dragon.’ I still think it’s adorable.
a round stone,orange with a hole in the middle.a circle
black silk cord necklaces with anything I could attach and tie around my neck.
I still have this: a heart-shaped piece of amber (Amber is my given name) that my grandmother bought before I was born. The doctors said I was a boy, but my grandmother knew better and named me.
My first piece of jewelry was a tiny beaded elastic baby bracelet, it was pink and white and had my name on it. I remember being young and wanting to wear it, my mother would never let me, she was afraid I would break it and I to this day remember being so angry with her. When I turned 16, she re-beaded the bracelet onto a beautiful white gold chain. It is my first and favorite piece of jewelry.
The first piece of jewelry I ever owned was a delicate gold chain with a gold heart on it, from my grandmother. I wore it all the time, and it was always my favorite piece of jewelry. My grandmother passed away one year ago, and I was very sad that I had lost the necklace a few months before. A month after she passed, I got a package in the mail, and she had mailed me a necklace just like the one she gave me when I was a kid- the timing was beautiful, and I never take it off. I plan on giving it to my future daughter :)
When I was an infant I had a little gold ring. I think it was given to me at my baptism.
The first piece of jewelry that was given to me was a delicately engraved sterling silver solid bracelet, that opened at a hinge and had a tiny security chain on it. It was also the first piece of jewelry that my grandfather gave to my grandmother around the time of their engagement (probably over 75 years ago now). My grandfather, a new Canadian from Latvia, worked at a lunch counter at a busy corner in Montreal (a restaurant still stands there today). Out of the giant front window, he watched a truly beautiful young woman pass by, and after watching her a few times, he worked up the guts to run outside and catch her as she walked by and ask for a date. I’m not sure how he scraped the money together for such a luxurious gift, but one way or another, he did… and many, many years later in the midst of a (still) happy and romantic marriage, they gave this bracelet to me. I wasn’t even 10 years old, but I remember cherishing it then (as I do now), far more because of the story of love it told, than the actual silver bracelet. Neither of them are alive any more, and the message they engraved inside never seems to tarnish like the rest of the piece. I hope to give it to my own daughter one day, and tell her the beautiful & unlikely love story of two gentle people.
my first real piece of jewelry was a ring my mother gave me when i was 12. her mother had given it to her when she was 21, and it had 21 tiny diamonds (or diamond like objects…to a 12 year old, all the same) that i loved to count over and over. i love all the jewely on the site, it all looks so fantastically delicious!
I think mine was a simple faux gold necklace with a heart that opened up
so a photo could be placed inside. I had a photos of my mom & dad.
That would be my yin-yang friendship necklace that I shared with my best friend, Danni. It was truly a hideous beast, but it was a bond.
The first piece of jewelry I ever owned was a necklace I made of dry macaroni noodles.
I distinctly remember my Poppa taking me to a large toy section of a department store and buying me a ‘gold’ ring with a ‘ruby’. I thought I was so grown up, I was about 5 years old. It even came in a red ‘velvet’ box. After he was killed I couldn’t bear to part with it. I came across it recently as I was going through old boxes and I’m going to wear it on my wedding day to keep him in my memories on the special occasion.
a necklaces with a little heart. I love it because is a bond with my parents
The first piece of jewelry I ever remember owning was a pretty silver antique child’s watch given to me by an elderly neighbor who’d become quite close to my family. It had little silver bows on either side of the delicate watch face–and, perhaps best of all, it came in a little velvet green case that opened like a little treasure chest. I’m sure there must have been a story behind the gift–which was certainly not new, and had to have been handed down from someone–but it’s been lost to me now. Still, years after my family moved to a new city, long after we learned the kind neighbor had passed away–and even longer after I could fasten the tiny watch around my growing wrist–I kept the little box on a little shelf under the mirror on my dresser, and would now and then lift open the hinged lid, and remember, and smile.
Ha! A Tinker Bell ring that my grandfather gave to me! I still have it!!
Hmm…I believe the first piece of jewelry I owned was a gold ring with a topaz in it, my birthstone.
When I was twelve – about 50 years ago – I got a basketball and goal. And, a birthstone ring that I LOVED . . . aquamarine.
Oh my goodness I wish I had a picture to share. It was a pair of giant dangle CLIP ON earrings. I thought they were fabulous (I mean let’s be serious here what elementary school girl wouldn’t think giant clip on earrings were the best thing ever), my sweet grandmother bought them for me when I just had to have them. She would let me wear her heels around with those big old earrings on, and I thought I was hot stuff. They probably weighed nine pounds but oh man was it worth it. I wish I still had them because while I haven’t thought of those earrings in a long time, they remind me of her and the special bond between grandmothers and grandchildren over all things fabulous (that are too ridiculous for your mom to buy you!).
A tiny gold cross on a simple chain, which was a gift from my grandfather when I was about 3 or 4. I still have it and wear it on special occasions.