My appointment arrived, and the receptionist escorted the rep to an available table in the showroom. As she unpacked her bag of goodies, anticipation was building as I made my way to her from the design room. The table was covered with forecast binders filled with palettes of colors from Europe and photobooks of exclusive runway style close-ups. The menagerie for me to peruse a better part of an hour kept me elated and excited.

That was fifteen years ago. Fashion and accessory design are very different today with the dawn of the mighty internet. No longer does a designer need to wait for direction from overseas to create a line of fresh products. Now we just hit Pinterest and a detailed Google search to become inspired.

Designing A little something® jewelry is a bit different than when I designed knitwear. As a knitwear designer, once I created a collection, I would have to wait two months for the first samples to arrive, then send corrections back and forth for another month to the factory. With my jewelry, everything happens in my own hands. It’s all up to me to create my vision. It is challenging to find inventive solutions for new ideas sometimes, but so rewarding to see it develop right in front of me on my worktable. 

The first step is the same as always - research. With notes in hand of all my visual studies, I create style or mood boards comprised of trends and colors from the designer runways assembled with details I find inspiring. You can see more collages for Spring and Summer 2019 in my Trend Spotlight blog.

Pursuing my artisan journey of jewelry design for almost ten years and continually refining my skills, I learned to lampwork glass beads. The next step is to pick color palettes and get busy at the torch. I instinctively adapted to the art of flameworking glass, so now the adornments take on further meaning for one-of-a-kind. My curious spirit and exploratory nature produce delightful baubles that I couple afterward with images from my pattern archive or wind up standing alone. However it happens, the process always feels unique.

Here I tried something completely new and formed large petals in glass on cut pieces of copper wire. I wanted to model a bold flower as a statement necklace in classic colors, each framed with a line of black glass. Pretty cool for the first try!

Over the years, I have purchased vintage accessories to disassemble and reincarnate into a little something new. The tortoise links with gold used to connect and finish this necklace above are from an authentic 1970's Yves St. Laurent belt. I just love how the glass flower I made gives it a contemporary feel yet still very retro. Together it conveys the mood of my original trend board.

For this Driftwood mood, colors of sand at the beach, cool water, sea glass, and warm shades of the setting sun inspired me to lampwork a variety of glass beads in different patterns and shapes. They are ready to be assembled in many unique one-of-a-kind pieces for the line.

But first, beads need to be removed from their mandrels, and the bead release cleaned from their center holes before being strung or linked for necklaces and earrings.

Many times I begin with a finished Deux-coupage™ pendant to match in handmade glass. Though I decide on a planned technique for the desired outcome, the shades blend together in exciting unplanned ways when the rods of color melt in the hot flame. Lots of times after waiting for them to come out of the kiln, the cooled colors are a surprise. I try my best to make pairs of beads by shaping them with the marver. Handmade is truly a luxury. It can be a very tedious process.

The beauty is in the mix. For this necklace, I alternated my lampwork glass with patterned wood for visual texture and added warmth picking up the hues in the printed pendant I also made.

This season I experimented with wet transfer patterns for the backs of my Deux-coupage™ pendants in addition to my classic dry-transfer. There is so much to still try, but I was pleasantly satisfied with the beautifully detailed effect with a touch of shine.

Curious to see more? You can follow my process on Instagram. Designing a little something for Spring and Summer 2019 is a labor of passion and luxury. ... xoxo-Sonya