hello wedding - non.diamond wedding rings:

74

June 30, 2010

for today's wedding wednesday, i thought i'd share a list of engagement / wedding rings. i know diamonds are really the standard when it comes to engagement + wedding rings, and that's fine - they are timeless and beautiful. i just decided that i didn't want a diamond in my engagement ring but when i looked for other rings, i couldn't find any alternative rings. so hopefully this is helpful for the ring-searching bride.

sometimes i see really beautiful diamond rings, and wonder if i should have got a diamond. sometimes when i show my engagement ring to people though, i get an "oh, thats .... nice." or literally no comment at all, lol. but i wouldn't change my engagement ring story for anything: i love that nicholas made me a ring and then later found me a really sweet ring on etsy.

anyway, i didn't mean to go into a whole explanation, and i hope i am not offending anyone but not putting any diamond rings in this list :) maybe i will post another list later but for now, here are fifteen beautiful non-diamond rings:

Lust for life by artisan look

Stylized Brass Leaf Wrap Ring by Brilliance Found

Rutilated Quartz Ring by kate szabone

Monogram Ring by bittersweets new york

Hydrangea Blossom Flower Ring by Patrick Irla Jewelry

14k Palladium White Gold Simple Hammered Band by esdesigns

bow ring by zoe chicco

Peacock Topaz - Gold Ring, Hammered Band by Clare Stoker

Sea Anemone Stacking Rings by Kira Ferrer

18k yellow gold heart atop a sterling silver ring by chris parry

Lemon Quartz Twig Ring by Sarah Hood Jewelry

Vintage Swarovski Bling Ring by jorgensen studio

Bow Tie ring by becca bobs

Silver Forget Me Knot Ring by White Fly

Natural Rough Diamond Ring by Janish Jewels

note: this has a diamond but how neat is the

raw + uncut aspect of this ring?! love love love.

lots of other beautiful rings here and here!

hope you enjoyed the list! xo.

inspire: lovely.

31

June 29, 2010

do you ever wonder what we would do if we didnt have photographs?

i really can't imagine.

we wouldnt be able to capture beautiful things like this:

esdesigns

source unknown. please comment if you know it! :)

weekly giveaway - beauty spot:

212

June 28, 2010

i really like jewelry :) when i came across the jewelry shop, beauty spot, it really stood out to me. this beautiful jewelry is created by polina & sergey - they make their jewelry in the lovely country of Kiev, Ukraine. their pieces are all so sweet and special, many pieces feature original artwork from ukrainian artists. this week's giveaway is a generous $50 gift certificate (excluding shipping) to anything in polina & sergey's shop! and they're offering a special reader discount too: read below for more details!

shop | flickr | deviantart

win: $50 gift certificate to

beauty spot!

Hello, please tell us a little about yourself + your beautiful shop: Well, we are jewelry-makers. And it's hard to add something because it's all we do:) Polina used to work as a cinema director and Sergey was a graphic designer. So we transformed our skills into a new form of creativity and and this is where our jewelry comes from. Now we run a small studio in Kiev, Ukraine. Till the may 2010 we worked only locally, but now we've opened EtsyShop too.

How did you get started making your lovely jewelry? One day we just couldn't find gift for our friend. We were looking at web, at shops, everywhere. And finally we figured out: "We can make it ourselves". Then we made our first earrings, then an another pair and more and more. It started just as a hobby two years ago, but soon it became our full-day job. It was not an easy to quit our previous jobs, but it was a right choice.

What inspires you day to day? Every piece of our jewelry is a little story. And these simple stories are all around us. It could be words from book, beautiful shots from different photographers, something from a movie we liked or anything around us. That's why we often make jewelry in different styles, we love vintage and modern at the same time and we try to put all this love into our works.

Any advice for aspiring small business owners? We are great fans of friendly customer service so our tips are all around it. We have three simple rules:

1. Be nice to your customers: If they ask you for something try to do your best. Always be ready for a dialogue with them. Don't hesitate to make a gift or give a discount.
2. Make buying from you a pleasure: Make it easy to find you. Make a great presentation of your items. Make it easy to buy. And ship as soon as you can:)
3. Don't be lazy: Sometimes people think handmade business is easy. But it's not true. It's a hard work 24/7. Even when you sleep;) So you should be ready for it and really love all things you do.

receive 10% off your entire order!

beauty spot has kindly offered a special exclusive discount for oh, hello friend readers. receive 10% off your purchase, good till july 9th! simply enter code "ohhellofriend" at checkout and you'll be refunded after purchase.

3 chances to win!

( COMMENT TO WIN )
simply visit beauty spot and leave a comment
with your favorite item from their shop.

( +1 EXTRA ENTRY )
twitter, facebook, or blog about this giveaway.
come back & comment with the link! if you twitter, please
tag it with @ohhellofriend so i can track your tweet!

( +1 MORE EXTRA ENTRY )
become a twitter / blogger follower or a facebook fan,
leave a comment letting me know which site you follow for an extra entry!
(note: please only comment once for what site you are a follower of)

giveaway ends on monday, july 5 at 8am, pst
please check back next week to see if you are the lucky winner!

happy friday:

24

June 25, 2010

wow, it's friday. the week totally flew by! i wish i had a time machine... if i did, i'd pause time and do all the things i want to do now but don't have enough time to do. i'd plan our entire wedding, then since everything would be ready, i'd just have the wedding tomorrow. ;) i'd go back in time and meet jesus. i'd want to see what it was like when jane austen lived too. hehe. i'd go back and spend time with my dear friend who passed away from cancer (next weekend would have been her 25th birthday) i'd go back and remember the first time nicholas and i met. and i'd go forward just to see what the future is like. what would you do if you had a time machine? ;)

well we are in milwaukee, wisconsin this weekend for a wedding, and in missouri visiting nick's family! i love the midwest: good bbq, good thrift stores, and good company. what more can a girl ask for? see you all next week! oh, and don't forget to enter the silhouette giveaway!

xo.

a silhouette tote project:

27

June 24, 2010

so in case you missed it, there is an

awesome silhouette sd giveaway going on this week!

i thought i'd post another project of things that this wonderful machine can make. i had some navy tote bags leftover from another project i had and i wanted to make a friend a tote bag. she loves horses, so i decided to just use the hello, friend tag line, "you are loved" and add the horse beneath.

silhouette has this great heat transfer material -- you just make your design and insert the paper into your silhouette and it cuts out whatever design you want!

just click below to see the simple step by step instructions

for the silhouette heat transfer process.

so with the silhouette, there are different caps for the adjustment of cutting. since, i am using the flocked heat transfer, i have to use the pink cap.