Holiday Jewelry Giveaway Time!

Hi Everyone! I am having Holiday Giveaway!

I'm Giving away one of these gorgeous copper (they are 99% pure copper and fabulous) necklaces!

My giveaway is live on Instagram. You enter here
on my website. 

Enter to WIN your choice of Necklace! I'll handstamp anything for you (words only). If you win, you can select from the beautiful shapes above. Yours will be blank and I will customize for you (letters only).

To ENTER, the two first steps are the most important!

**1) Enter any greeting in the BOX, at the very bottom of the front page of my jewelry website.  That's it.

2) One lucky winner will be picked! *You have to following me on Instagram.

3) The GIVEAWAY runs from 12/17/17 to 12/22/17 11pm. PST.

4) If you repost the image from my insta-stories on your instagram gallery and my hashtag #marissatdesigns , that will give you an extra entry!

* I'll email the winner 12/23 by 11pm PST! Good luck!


Free Shipping to U.S. Entries. Any International entries will be responsible for shipping. Thank you for understanding. Your instagram profile MUST BE PUBLIC TO ENTER AND CANNOT BE A False account. Thank you everyone! You will adore this copper. I will add more photo's during the week as this giveaway runs all week, until Friday!

Be Well, Be Sparkly~

Marissa

Sparkle During Exercise, Purple Flowers & Pink Drinks!

Greetings Beautiful Readers~   (There is a surprise at the end of the entry..so keep on reading)

Summer is in full swing and I hope you have been having an awesome summer so far! On some days I feel like I live in California again. (I am originally from Southern California and lived there through college, before I moved to the east coast). Well, it feels a bit like California because we have had some very warm days in coastal Washington (on the island I live on)!  I still have to get out there and exercise; so it is a must to stay hydrated! I drink at least 8 glasses of purified water a day (always been a big water drinker). After water, I have been drinking a lot of this delicious flavored water beverage.  It comes in many pretty berry flavors, zero calories (my kind of drink). My favorite these days is the "Pink Grapefruit." Great for parties! In addition to your cocktail bar, this would be a refreshing non-alcoholic drink (for the kids too) for a fun summer outing. The colors are beautiful. 

Pink Drink, "Cascade Ice." Nail polish mentioned in next photo. Because I adore turquoise! and jewelry (& photo) well, you guessed it, by, me!

 Staying cool is essential and it's not always easy to look good while doing it! I dressed up my wrist (arm party) with my yoga & beach bracelets. They are so easy to put on and look fabulous with practically everything. I recently posted on instagram (the next picture below) and mentioned how awesome these bracelets are and how I literally throw on one or two (& a cute necklace, really, I do) before I head out to power walk (I wouldn't recommend all my handmade jewelry when exercising, but, the yoga and beach bracelets & many of my necklaces with stainless steel chain are perfect for MELLOW exercise). 

There is nothing like the feel of real (of the earth) organic gemstones on your skin. Real gemstones have such vibrancy and wonderful healing properties (according to folklore). Let's face it, they are really fun to look at and add beauty to your style, and pretty self.  I wear a lot of casual clothes (don't get me wrong, I LOVE fashion and beautiful clothes {affordable however, sales are this girls' best friend}) around the island; so adding a beautiful necklace (or two, or three) and some bracelets to my outfits really feels good & adds that extra sparkle. Do you always grab some jewelry before you leave the house (like I do)? A lot of the women I see on this island have wonderful taste in jewelry and wear it daily! I love that.

Jewelry & photography by me, Marissa T Designs. My favorite sneakers for power walks these days are, New Balance, and I'm in love with this turquoise nail polish called "Brisk Blue," by Sally Hansen. (Those lace cap hydrangea are so beautiful and blooming in my backyard)

I'm in love with all the purple, blue, and pink hydrangea growing on the island right now (not to mention the lavender & lilies). All the beautiful hydrangea in the pictures are from my home garden. They really make a statement (don't you think?) and have always been my favorite flower (it is a toss up between hydrangea and peonies). I think they may be upstaging my new necklaces (in the picture below)! wink wink. These necklaces (Druzy Quartz, Silver Spike and Circle Love Necklaces, coming to my etsy shop soon) are strung on beautiful silver stainless steel which looks like platinum, will never tarnish, and has the durability for, yes, you guessed it, power walking or mellow exercise!

I love the purple & blue palette. Here are the colors of my hydrangea flowers (the best flowers to have around the house). They are very hardy. They grew in abundance on the east coast and thrive out here in the Pacific North West. Great flower to plant! They will give you many lovely bouquets and dress up your garden beautifully!

Signing off for now. Here I am (below/Purple Druzy with Aqua Spike Quartz Necklace & Caribbean Aqua Blue Apatite Petite Earrings, available in my shop) giving you a smile, because I am happy that you are here. Send me inquiries or ask me product or jewelry questions anytime.

Thank you so much for following me. 

"Stay real. Be Kind. And above all else, Be Sparkly."

~Marissa xo

COUPON CODE! Coupon code going on now in my etsy shop! Code : BeSparkly15 (use during checkout). *****Take 20% off anything in my Etsy store ($20 minimum purchase). ***** See anything here you want (and it's not in my shop yet)? Message me on Etsy, Direct message me on Instagram, @MarissaTDesigns,  or feel free to leave me a message here!

Happy Spring! Happy Bling! Who doesn't love Flowers and Jewelry!

Happy May Beautiful Readers!

Flowers Everywhere!

I love this time of year when everything around me is blooming! Flower buds are everywhere. Color is everywhere. Every plant seems to have new buds popping out.  What was sleeping during winter is waking up and saying hello to the sun. Can you tell I am loving spring time in Washington?

The Pacific North West, (my new home for the last 6 months now), has a long beautiful spring season. The enormous & gorgeous fir trees are always green too. Knowing they are there, giving color and oxygen is a good feeling. On the east coast, where I used to live, there is usually a very short Spring and a VERY LONG Winter. So, for me, to have evergreen trees literally ALL around me in the winter, is a breathe of fresh air. Spring on the east coast is unfortunately too short. You blink and then it seems as if you just survived a brutal winter and then comes the blistering summer heat and humidity. I kid you not.

  To my surprise, I had no idea flowers started blooming early here, in February and March. We had tulips bursting through back in March. The colors and varieties are exquisite. Being a flower and nature lover (and someone who lived for a long time on the east coast) I am appreciating and soaking up this special time. 

I went to the spectacular Skagit Tulip Festival (a month ago) that is very well known in Washington State. It is comprised of dozens of fields and fields of incredible tulips (Many farms are involved).You literally feel like you are in tulip heaven. There are some below and some other pictures I snapped around the island of the flora.  If you adore nature or just flowers (I don't think I know any girl who doesn't love flowers) you may find the pictures a petite feast for the eyes. 

Being a jewelry artist (& amateur photographer), nature is one of my primary inspirations for my creativeness. I have added some really lovely new jewelry pieces (I've recently made). All of which are inspired by flora and fauna. Or just simply, nature.  (Most of the jewelry listed is available for sale in my etsy shop for affordable prices).

Below are some fabulous pendant necklaces that I made. The one on top is a big gorgeous Ruby in Fuchsite natural gemstone. Like this one, many of my pieces are one-of-a-kind. The colors are like red tulips and its soft green petals. Click on photo if you wish to see all the interesting details. The middle one is not listed yet. The blue one is. It looks like a lovely feather to me. It is a natural agate druzy geode slice. I adore this one and I love bringing you luxury for less or better know as lux for less. They truly are statement pieces.

One more of the Feather necklace. It is amazing what natural organic gemstones look like. I added a cobalt blue druzy gemstone to accent the feather shaped gemstone. I believe the copper chain adds a bohemian and artistic feel to it. The warm color of the copper compliments the coffee colors in the pendant nicely. What do you think?

 These lovely earrings are very much nature inspired. Both the sea and flora are constant forms of inspiration for my jewelry designs. These natural gemstones are like looking into the sea. Beautiful flower colors too. If you look closely, they are not only blue, but have hints of purple  in them too. I added some tiny flower pink tourmaline stones as well. Click the photo for more details if you wish. 

I have always included a small handful of fresh dried lavender in organza bags (my packaging when I mail jewelry to my customers). Ironically, the last batch of lavender I had bought from Etsy and brought to Washington IS Washington grown lavender! Hmm, fate telling me something. The lavender on this island grows in abundance. Some varieties of it started blooming several weeks ago. Power walking on this island is like walking through some of the loveliest flower markets in Boston or New York City. It smells like heaven & looks like it too. I already bought some local dried lavender from our island, for future customers. There is a lavender farm on the island. 

I think two more pieces of bling are in order before I sign off. I've made this necklace with a one of a kind dreamy slice of lavender amethyst druzy. Modern. Chic. It is truly a statement piece (Lux for less). 

I sold these earrings not too long ago and made another pair. You can see below.  I call them, "After the Rain Earrings." One of my all time favorite gemstones is labradorite. It's a magical gemstone. It's grey, and when the light hits it, these amazing flashes of iridescent blue come out (a jewelry tip, it has to be very good quality labradorite to have the flashes of blue, green and sometimes even yellow and red). Modern. Simple. Gorgeous.  The spectacular intense purple of the herb, lavender, reminds me of this gemstone. If you like simple, modern, yet unique, maybe they're the pair for you.

I am off to my studio to create more pieces of jewelry. But, first, a vibrant power walk through town to get my adrenaline pumping and soak up more floral inspiration.

Smell the flowers. Wear a Colorful Necklace. Enjoy spring. You are beautiful, like a flower.

Oh yes, and above all else, please don't forget, 

Be Sparkly~

Marissa T. xo

My Love Affair with the Sea & Jewels. Part 2

Hello Beautiful Readers~

I had blogged recently about my love affair with the sea. Part 2 here we go. I can blog about this topic forever! Why? It is my main inspiration for my jewelry designs and I have such a special love for the ocean that I need to share it with others out there who I know can relate. Among many things, it is also a zen or yoga like experience for me. (Yoga. next blog topic).

Island County, Washington/One of my favorite beaches. 

There is something magical that happens to me when I'm near the sea. It's as if it's calling out to me. I always reply when it does. I have read about water and its healing benefits and have found a lot of interesting tid bits. One being, that the ocean has restorative powers that has been recognized for centuries. It's no wonder the Greeks bathed in springs to cure disease and simply, as way to help people come alive and gain strength. These days, it's amazing to read, how many spas all over the world, use water therapy.

Salt water, it wakes up my senses. I must have been a mermaid or dolphin in a past life. In a future life, I would like to come back as a mermaid (or a character on "Downton Abbey," well, that's a whole other topic).  The pure joy I feel, from swimming in the sea, is surreal. I feel my limbs move through the cool salt water and I am invigorated. I am completely immersed in the moment. Me and the sea. If I'm lucky, this usually happens to me, when I meditate or practice yoga. I become more present and alive, in that moment.  The feeling of swimming in another world (the underwater world) is pure bliss. I feel calm. I feel wonder. I feel joy. There is something to be said about the healing effects of water. It can help you spiritually and physically.

Snorkeling is something I don't get to do enough of , but, I LOVE it. I recall a fun vacation in Aruba not too long ago, with my husband, Daniel, and my brother. Every day was "Explore a New Beach Day," for us. I remember one afternoon, I went out to snorkel and I think I may have been in the briny sea for more than two hours. Was I water logged? No! On the contrary, I could have stayed longer! Being in the seawater is intoxicating (for me) & experiencing all the spectacularly beautiful tropical fish, up close is surreal. I can swim and frolic for hours on end. There is nothing like swimming and floating through a school of thousands of  blue fish. If you haven't experienced this (and you love swimming), I highly recommend it. It is truly a magical underwater wonderland.
 

A beach in Aruba. I snorkeled here for hours!

I  feel renewed when I swim in the ocean (or power walk next to it). Do you experience this bliss too? I would love to know. I can't wait to swim in the sea where I live now (Pacific North West, U.S.). I hear I need a wet suit because of critters in the sea (jellyfish). I think I would wear heavy scuba gear if I had too. Some say the water is cold here. I used to swim in the ocean all the time when I lived on the East Coast. The cold water and I mix well. Recently, on a warm spring day, I went down to the beach to feel the water and it felt amazing. I was ready to jump in! It was calling me. When the sea calls out to me, I always answer it.

Aruba. The wild side.  The color of the water is unreal.

Aruba. The water is really that blue. 

I must leave you with some of my NEW jewelry pieces (designed by me & available in my etsy shop) that are all about my "love affair with the sea." Beachy. Boho. Chic. This necklace might make you feel like a fashionable mermaid.

Inspired by the Sea and Fashion. All these necklaces in ocean & sunset hues are available in my etsy shop.

Let me tell you about a special shipping promotion that I am having. If you buy 2 or more pieces from my etsy shop, you get free shipping! Last through Spring 2015! (applicable in U.S., Canada, E.U., U.K. and Mexico).

See you soon. Be well. Be in the moment. and above all else. 

Be sparkly~

Marissa T.

Why I'm starting a blog! Hello from a Jewelry Artisan living on an island in the Pacific North West. U.S.

 

Hello Blog World!  My name is Marissa T.

Before I jump into the main reason I started this blog (My Passion for jewellery design and the jewellery I make & sell). I'd love to give future customers (& jewelry lovers) a glimpse into my life and what has brought me to blogging (& all forms of social media) at this time in my life.

I'm a very visual person. So here are some pictures of me and my husband to start off.

Me and Daniel.

Me. In Washington.

I'm a self taught independent jewelry artisan from California. Why am I starting a blog? I'm a jewelry designer and creator. Did I say that already. Very excited about it all. I'm a independent jewelry artisan who's been making jewelry for about 10 years now. I have an extensive background in teaching language to adults and children (I taught Spanish to children for the last 10 years). With that said, I now have the opportunity to focus all my energies on making and selling my jewelry online (& retail/local as well)! Very thrilled! A little scary! Of course. Starting anything new is. Speaking of new! My life has changed so much in the last year! I moved, another HUGE change in life again, across the United States! Back to the West Coast (United States). But, am on a new coast, with my husband, and furry baby (our 14 year old chocolate Labrador), the Pacific North West! (practically in Canada). Starting brand new lives! Getting dizzy! I know the feeling.

I'm from California (I went to university in a coastal town about 2 hours from Los Angeles-California). Then I moved to the East Coast (Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.) and lived there quite some time. By far, the best part about the East Coast, marrying my awesome husband, buying our first home and starting our married lives together. He's my soulmate and I am a hopeless romantic. A lot of my jewelry is inspired by love. 

Well, for a ton of wonderful reasons (that also made for one of toughest years of our married lives), we decided to quit our jobs, follow our passions (work wise) sell our home (sigh), and move to a new coast. So here we are, on the tip of the Pacific North West, on a island! Surrounded by the best thing of all. The SEA! That is where I have always gotten the most inspiration for my jewelry designs.

We drove (Nov. 2015) across the this HUGE country (you realize just how BIG it really is, when you literally drive the full length of it) from the tip of the East Coast, Massachusetts, to our island in Washington. It was a crazy and beautiful adventure! Something to keep blogging about! We drove mainly for our dog, Morgan! (What we wouldn't do for our dogs, am I right!?) We knew a million things could go wrong and I think I've aged 5 years in the last year! But, we found our luck was starting to turn... The drive (which we did in about 8 or 9 days) couldn't have gone better and our dog couldn't have done any better! Can't tell you what a HUGE relief that was for us. All that newness (dog friendly motel after motel and TONS of hours in a mini van) for our dog... Well, he could've kept us up all night, every night, or gotten carsick, or other things.. But, to our amazement, he was an angel & all went so well! Smooth sailing (as we say in America)!
Here's Morgan. Somewhere in the gorgeous state of Montana (on our drive across the US). He's extremely sweet, fun and very spoiled.

Morgan in Montana

Let's get back to the bling (I'll write more later about our journey across the United States)!!
Here's a sample of something I just made. Inspired by the sea and our happy island. Filled with Turquoise colored gemstones and one big pink heart shaped chalcedony. I use many metals and mainly genuine semi-precious & precious gemstones! I love this necklace!

Will be in my shop soon: https://www.etsy.com/shop/OceanHue

 I'm signing off for now. Must take a break and go for big power walk. Need Fresh air! Need to move! Thanks for joining me. I have so much to add. It's still a blog-in-progress! Thanks for reading. Look forward to meeting many bloggers!  

See you soon. 

Love, Marissa T.

You can find my shop at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/OceanHue

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