Emitations Jewelry

Go Glam Week continues here at The Sweet Jelly Bean with the introduction of an online jewelry shop I’ve had my eye on for a while. I possess neither the money nor the desire (aka I am lazy) to try and imitate celebrity style very often. However, every now and then I’ll run across a pair of earrings a movie star is wearing that make me want to say, “Hey, I want those!”

Enter Emitations Jewelry, a place for cubic zirconia and sterling silver jewelry for those of us who haven’t quite made our first $10M just yet. This shop boasts affordable versions of the latest celebrity and movie trends along with rings, earrings, necklaces, and men’s jewelry in just about any color or style! Some of my favorites:

Star Necklace, $34.95 (inspired by The Hills) - I can’t say I ever have watched this show, but I love this little starfish!

Mother of Pearl Ring, $99.00 (inspired by Alice on Twilight) – I try to keep my mostly-in-the-past Twilight obsession to myself, but this ring sure brings back the memories!

Dogwood Flower Earrings, $54.95 (inspired by Hayden Panettiere, Kate Winslet, and Penelope Cruz) – Adorable yet elegant little studs would perk up any outfit!

Emitations is featuring a couple of deals to help your wallet out. Get $0.99 shipping on any order through 12pm on Thursday, April 2, by entering coupon code M991.

Not ready to buy just yet? Join Emitations’ email list and get $5 off your first order (to do so, scroll down to the bottom of their website home page and jot down your email address).

Happy shopping! We are all movie stars at heart, right? :-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm sure I'm not the only one wishing you a Happy Leprechaun Day on this March 17th, but who cares?! Have a great day! Drinks lots of Guinness, wear lots of green, and pinch lots of non-believers! Here's a Polyvore collage of my favorite green finds for your viewing pleasure. Click on the image for more info on any of the items.

St. Patrick's Day - by thesweetjellybean on Polyvore.com

Ex-Boyfriend Jewelry, a site to seek vengeance..and pretty things

Happy Friday! What a quick workweek it's been! I feel like the days have really flown by - I haven't really had a chance to post anything aside from giveaway results since Wednesday!

I have a site to share with you today that I find a little tongue-in-cheek, a little sad, and a little vengeful! It's called Ex-Boyfriend Jewelry, and is an online marketplace where you call sell old jewelry and trinkets from your exes: ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriends, ex-wives, ex-husbands, same sex-ex, etc. As the site explains:

Welcome to EXBOYFRIENDJEWELRY.COM - a site where you can buy/sell/trade and blog about all of those little reminders in your jewelry box that make you wonder “what did I ever see in him?”, or “where have all the cowboys gone?” You set your own price. You get it off your chest and out of your sight. Just because you don’t want it, doesn’t mean somebody else isn’t dying for it. Everyone’s a winner! Maybe you love him, maybe you never want to speak to him again, but either way, you’re ready to move on and make a little rent money in the process.

Here's an example of what you might find on the site. A girl is selling a pair of diamond earrings given to her by an ex-boyfriend. Her husband (yes, she's now happily married) doesn't like her wearing them and now is willing to buy her a new pair if she'll get rid of the ones the ex gave her! Valued at $1,800 by a jeweler, you can buy them through this site for $400! Even if you're not in the mood to buy some new sparklies, stop by sometime. It's a cute, perky site and a lot of the sellers on there are really positive!

Earrings for Sensitive Ears

I've always been a sensitive person: tenderhearted with moody skin that crispy critters in the sunlight since I look like a vampire, and sometimes even Cetaphil burns my face. So it didn't come as a huge shock when I started having trouble wearing earrings a few years ago. At first I could still wear pure gold earrings, just not costume jewelry, but it got worse and worse until I couldn't even wear gold anymore without my ears burning, itching, and stinging. I tried Neosporin, then hydrogen peroxide, and then Cortisone, then I got creative and tried painting the posts with clear nail polish. When that failed I even bought some nickel free earrings from the department store. No dice. I gave up for a long while, then decided to scour the internet a few months ago to find the Holy Grail of all earrings for sensitive ears. After running through a couple dozen websites trying to A) figure out what I did to piss my ears off and B) locate a type of earring I might be able to wear, I lucked out!

Allow me to introduce you to Maggie's Creations, an online company specializing in earrings for those who can't even wear the gentlest of metals without issues. The owner began to experience these issues herself about 10 years ago, and has since launched an entire line of earrings ranging from studs to fullblown chandelier earrings (as well as doing plenty of research on what causes this and how to remedy it). Her earrings come in two metals: niobium and titanium, both of which are surgical quality.

After emailing back and forth with Maggie about my issues, she recommended that I start with a pair of niobium healer earrings, which are designed with re-introduce your ears to the idea of wearing earrings. I chose a pair of small, colored hoops. The first couple of days, as she had warned they might be, were rough. The earrings itched like crazy, but there was no burning, and the discomfort lessened as I continued to follow her careful instructions. I showered in them, slept in them, lived in these earrings for a week. By Day 3, my ears were no longer fighting back. By Day 5, I had forgotten I was wearing them.

It seems like wearing the earrings as Maggie directed have helped. As she told me, some people can use her products to re-train their ears to allow all sorts of metals, while others find that her earrings are the only thing they can wear. I still don't wear any earrings very much, but I can get away with some wear here and there. Today I wore a pair of sterling silver earrings and managed to keep them in until after work!

I truly recommend Maggie's Creations to anyone who has sensitive ears. I can't say that these products are cheap, but she does have a sale page and will even let you return earrings if they cause you problems. In addition, I'd rather spend $40 on a pair of earrings I know I can wear than that much on normal earrings that will end up in a drawer unloved. She has some really cute styles, so check her out!

Cupcakes

There is something really great about cupcakes. No matter what sort of bad mood I’m in, they make me happy (and that’s not just when I’m gobbling them up two at a time). If I walk past a display of them in supermarket bakery, they bring a smile to my face! In my opinion, cupcakes are the cheerleaders of the pastry and sweet treats world. In celebration of these little num nums, I’ve created a collage of all things cupcake using one of my favorite online toys, Polyvore:

Don't call me cupcake - by thesweetjellybean on Polyvore.com

My favorite product from this collage (aside from the horribly overpriced Tiffany charm)? The Cupcake-themed dish gloves made by a store called Carolyn’s Kitchen. Somehow I don’t think I’d mind scrubbing burnt chicken char off the dollar store cookie sheet I forgot to Pam if I were wearing these! They’re also available in a lighter blue and even have a matching apron. Talk about domestic bliss!

Welcoming President Obama

As many of you may know by now (ha ha), President-Elect Obama is being sworn in on Tuesday, January 20 - less than 4 days from now. Although we can't all attend the 10 official inauguration balls being hosted by the new President, I'm sure many of you may have an inauguration party to attend to Tuesday evening (if not, it's okay because A) I don't have one to go to and B) you can always find one by checking your local newspaper). Even if you are just planning to stay home and order pizza (my version of an inauguration ball for this year), here are some ideas for making sure you show your colors for the big day:

president obama usa america inauguration by thesweetjellybean

Events start tomorrow (see this website for a complete schedule), but if you're looking for the main meat of the action, here it is:

12:00 noon (EST): As specified by the U.S. Constitution (20th Amendment), presidential terms of office begin and end at 12:00 noon on January 20. Barack Obama will take the oath of office, which is this simple, 35-word, statement: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

12:05 (EST): President Barack Obama will give his inaugural address, speaking to the nation and world, for the first time, as President of the United States.

My pick for this festive occasion? Barack O'Balm, which creator No Nonsense Body Care in Wales describes as "a healing balm for all of us." About $3.70 plus shipping to the US. Perfect for showing you're patriotic...and that you care - about your lips! No Nonsense promises to carry only all natural, organic, fair trade products so you can feel good about feelin' good!

Wear more jewelry (New Year's Resolution II)

As I have mentioned before, I tend to accumulate a lot of costume jewelry and then never wear much of it. Just today I managed to wear a necklace AND a bracelet (a modern day miracle, I assure you), but then I got to work and began typing and the bracelet hurt my wrist while rubbing on the keyboard and then it came off and got shoved hastily into my purse and...well, you get the picture. Speaking of pictures, here are some beauties for today:

New Year's Resolution: Wear More Jewelry by thesweetjellybean

Out of everything in this collage, my favorite thing has to be the "diamond" ring in red acrylic. Although I originally saw this lovely at the online shop over at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art), I liked it enough to track down the original artist, Alissia Melka-Teichroew. Self described as a "new world-old world mashup" Alissia was raised in the Netherlands by a French mother and American father, and now resides in NYC. Alissia's playful take on the popular Tiffany diamond ring is available for $12 in a variety of colors including the ruby red seen here, black, clear, ivory, yellow, smoke, and is also available in (ever so slightly more expensive) silver and gold.

It never ceases to amaze me how many talented artists and shops there are out there. I do realize that buying more jewelry won't actually help me achieve my goal of remembering to wear more jewelry, but it sure as hell is fun to look for some new baubles (and it beats the desk job)!

Kameleon Jewelry - sterling silver rings and necklaces with interchangeable jewels

I'm a big jewelry person in that I have lots of (mostly costume) jewelry that rarely sees the light of day. It's hard enough to get my hair to fall right and not poke my eye with the mascara brush in the mornings, so other than my wedding band and engagement ring, I tend to forget the other stuff and go without. Even so, Kameleon Jewelry is something that I almost want to break down and buy. It's a system of interchangeable "jewel pops" that you can pull in and out of the line's rings, pendants, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, sunglasses, and pins to create your very own look. Make the she-bitch in the cubicle across from you jealous when you come in with a "new" necklace each and every day. Amaze your new beau with your ability to have new looks every day while making minimum wage!

What is Kameleon Jewelry?
Kameleon Jewelry is the world’s first, patent pending, sterling silver jewelry collection that offers interchangeability across the entire spectrum of jewelry design. The Collection's 40 base jewelry designs include rings, earrings, pendants, bracelets, necklaces and pins, with natural flowing lines. Each piece is carefully crafted to accept small interchangeable inserts called JewelPops.

What are JewelPops?
JewelPops are the small interchangeable inserts that can be popped in and out of the Kameleon Jewelry designs. The JewelPops come in a rainbow of colors and materials. Some are set with semi-precious stones, Swarovski Crystal, synthetic opals or sparkling cubics and sport outrageous names like ‘Mochalicious’ (Brown Mabe Shell) and ‘Midnight at the Oasis’ (Blue Sunstone), adding a real element of fun to the Collection.

How many JewelPops are available?
There are currently almost 100 designs of JewelPops available. Kameleon plans on releasing new JewelPops twice a year.

How does the system work?
Changing a JewelPop insert is a simple and elegant process. Simply apply a little pressure while pushing down on the insert with your finger. You will hear a reassuring pop or click indicating the JewelPop is in position and secure. To remove and replace with a different insert merely push from behind with your finger or use the small plastic JewelCap that comes with each jewelry design and the JewelPop will pop out. It’s that easy, very secure and no special tools are needed.