Gallery Show at Perspectives Art & Design

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Join us this Friday for a meet & greet at the opening reception of Perspectives Art & Design’s gallery show, “Past, Present, Future: Celebrating 5 years in Ellicott City.” Owner & designer Alison Jefferies will be featured alongside 16 other talented artists who have exhibited at Perspectives in the past. A portion of proceeds from this gallery show will benefit Let’s Help Kids in Annapolis, MD. All are welcome & light refreshments will be served.

Details:
Date: Friday, October 2nd, 2015
Time: 6:00-9:00pm
Place: Perspectives Art Gallery, 8191 Main Street, Ellicott City, MD, 21043

We hope to see you there!

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Trunk Show at Love It at Stella’s

J'AdornBridal011Join us this evening at Love It at Stella’s bridal salon for a trunk show! We’ll be there from 4-6pm with sample pieces of jewelry for sale, available to be taken home tonight for your upcoming wedding. We’ll have options for brides as well as gifts for attendants.

Date: Monday, September 21st, 2015
Time: 4:00-6:00pm
Where: Love It! at Stella’s Bridal Fashions – 5 S Center Street, Westminster, MD 21157

 

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Autumn Romance Styled Shoot at Glasgow Farm

Gorgeous Romantic Autumn Wedding Inspiration at Glasgow Farm

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Earlier this summer we had the opportunity to partner again with our friend Maribel of Eight Tree Street and some other talented wedding professionals to put together this gorgeous styled shoot. From the idyllic landscape at Glasgow farm to the cherub-like flower girls in their lace dresses and flower crowns, these images from Photography by Amy Nicole are sure to inspire all of your fall wedding dreams!

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Here’s bit of background on the vision for the shoot, which was designed by Maribel:

“We designed an inspiration shoot at the charming The Glasgow Farm in Fredericksburg, Virginia with a mix of autumn hues.  The shoot includes a mix of metalics with gunmetal, black and gold tones complementing sweet cranberry reds, creams and whites with touches of peach.” GlasgowFarmShoot-72915-107

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With Maribel’s vision in mind, we selected a variety of jewelry pieces with the right combination of classic, trendy, and rustic elements. The timeless Swarovski pearl necklace takes center stage with accents of sparkle and rose gold in the pearl drop earrings. Bridget’s look is completed with a statement cranberry lace cuff bracelet and stretch bracelet of Swarovski crystals and pearls.

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Many thanks to our amazing vendor team who brought this shoot together! Brides, be sure to contact any of the professionals listed below for an exceptional wedding experience – and keep J’Adorn Designs in mind while designing your perfect wedding day look!

Featured jewelry: Two-tone Swarovski pearl twist necklace; Cranberry floral cuff bracelet (J’Adorn Bridal 2016 – Coming soon!); Rose gold CZ and Swarovski pearl earrings (J’Adorn Bridal 2016 – Coming soon!); Swarovski crystal and pearl stretch bracelet (J’Adorn Bridal 2016 – Coming soon!)

Vendor credits: 
Photography: Photography by Amy Nicole 
Venue: The Glasgow Farm 
Planning/Styling and Flowers: EightTreeStreet 
Lace cake: Cake Heaven 
Menus and paper goods: J Luxe Designs, LLC 
Hair, Makeup and Bridal Styling: Carolyn Thombs Makeup Artistry and Designs 
Jewelry: J’Adorn Designs 
Model: Bridget Thornton
Bridal Separates, handmade pieces: DecorLux via Etsy 
Bridal Shoes: Pour La Victoire
China: Noritake
Linens: CVLinens

For even more stunning images from this shoot, check out the published features from Wedding Colors and Adorn!

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Three Types of Pearls You Need to Know About

All about pearls - synthetic, cultured, and everything in between! via J'Adorn Designs Couture Jewelry

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Today’s “Know Your Bling” post focuses on one of our most beloved materials to work with for our bridal jewelry – Pearls! There are so many varieties and quality levels, and we’ve tried nearly all of them. In this blog post we’ll take a close look at three types of pearls you should know about. Read on to learn what kinds are available, how they’re made, and which ones we love the best!

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Natural and Cultured Pearls

We all know the symbolic story of how pearls are created, used to inspire perseverance through life’s hardships: Pearls are made when an irritant gets inside the shell of a mollusk, which produces layers of luminous nacre around it. In natural pearls, this occurs spontaneously without human intervention. Historically, they were found in the Persian Gulf but today they have been almost entirely harvested, making them very rare.

Cultured pearls occur when an irritant (usually a mother-of-pearl bead or piece of tissue) is surgically inserted in a controlled environment for the purpose of producing a pearl. Both natural and cultured pearls may be created in saltwater or freshwater. The quality grade of these pearls is determined by the evenness and luster of the nacre layers comprising the pearl.

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Freshwater Pearls

Another variety of cultured pearl, freshwater pearls are created in the environment indicated by their name, often in lakes and rivers in China. The process by which they are grown is similar to those of their saltwater counterparts, but they differ in that they rarely have a bead nucleus – instead, only a piece of tissue. The resulting pearl has a thicker nacre, creating more variety in texture and shape. This is the type of cultured pearls that we typically use in our designs, often in combination with Swarovski pearls and crystals.

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Swarovski & Other Synthetic Pearls

In the crafting community, synthetic pearls (often made of glass) have become popular due to their affordability, widespread availability in stores such as Michael’s and JoAnn’s, and great variety of colors. Glass pearls are created by applying a pearlescent coating over top of a glass bead.

We have worked with glass pearls in past bridal and custom jewelry orders, but found them to be lower in quality than what we strive to offer our customers. The outer coating, often rather thin, can chip and scratch easily, and the weight of these pearls is much lighter than that of their natural counterparts, giving jewelry pieces a lighter, more costume-like feel.

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Fortunately, we’ve been able to find a great alternative in Swarovski pearls! These pearls have a Swarovski crystal core, giving them a feel that warms to the skin and is a bit heavier, mimicking authentic pearls more closely. The outer coating is much more similar to that of a natural pearl with a thicker and more consistent quality that looks luxurious and holds up better to wear and tear. They come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes, making them an ideal option for our custom clients trying to match their wedding colors.

TrumpOne07Natural, cultured, or synthetic, pearls offer a classic elegance to jewelry pieces with a versatility that’s hard to match. Look for more pearl bridal jewelry in our upcoming 2016 Bridal Collection, set to launch this October!

Featured jewelry:
Image 1: Pearl stretch bracelets in Romance and Grey
Image 2: Double stranded vintage pearl bracelet
Image 3: Grey crystal/freshwater pearl bracelet; Freshwater pearl and thin crystal bracelet (Both coming soon!)
Image 4: Champagne ribbon tieback necklace
Image 5: Green freshwater & Ivory Swarovski pearl earrings 
Image 6: Pearl stretch bracelet in Romance; Ivory & Crystal bracelet (Coming soon!)

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