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http://mflynnjewelry.com/blog/

Designer Profile: Shana Aldrich of The Ropes

In our last entry we wrote about the art of bracelet stacking, so now seems like an excellent time to introduce you to one of our newest lines, The Ropes. These unique bracelets are handmade by Shana Aldrich using marine ropes and hardware -- materials inspired by her surroundings in Maine. These colorful pieces would be a great addition to any bracelet stack, but they're also substantial enough to make a statement on their own. We asked Shana a few questions about herself and her work and here's what she had to say:

Have you always made jewelry? Is this a new medium for you?
No. Yes, I always wanted to becoming a clothing designer ever since I was 8 years old. I studied Apparel Design/ Fashion Design at RISD and worked in the industry for the beginning of my career. I worked in both Boston and New York City for about 10 years in the fashion industry.

I would have to call myself an accidental jewelry designer. I was just playing around with some rope one day and wanted to make myself a bracelet and then one thing lead to another. My friends seemed very interested in the bracelets that I was creating and so I started going around to local stores with my jewelry. But I would definitely have to say that I have gotten the biggest support and exposure from local people just wearing my jewelry.

We were drawn to your line because we grew up in Maine and appreciate the rugged but peaceful lifestyle. Can you comment on how Maine has inspired you?
I always had a very far fetched dream of trying to bring my design skills, and even harder yet fashion designing skills, back to Maine. Though big cities are where all the major designing/ fashion are to most, I always found the cities to be inspiring in a cultural sense but stifling from a creative and design stand point. I like the idea of visiting different metropolitan cities but then coming home to Maine to interpret and digest everything. Maine does not have all those big city comforts or conveniences, therefore I believe it pushes you to be more creative. Things are not so straight forward or obvious; you have to look outside the box and that is where creativity flourishes.

We have found that Maine has been a place where many creative businesses have started and thrived. Have you found a lot of support from other designers and Portland community for your jewelry?
Definitely! So many people in/ from the area have gone out of their way to help and support me.

What's next for The Ropes?
Next for The Ropes there will be several new designs to look for in the Spring 2012 collection and of course there will be more to look forward to in the novelty boutique/higher end pieces only available in specialty stores.

When More is More

While it’s certainly not a new trend, bracelet stacking is something we’ve been pretty excited about around here lately. We have lots of great bracelets available in the store right now, and we love mixing them all together for a pop of color on our wrists.

Mix colors, materials and sizes, expensive with inexpensive, old with new. You really can’t do it wrong. Just pile on a bunch of your favorite bracelets and watches and watch the magic happen. Here are a few pictures we found around the internet of stacking at its finest:

Designer Profile: Karen Erickson of Erickson Beamon

Recently we were lucky enough to have a chance to ask Karen Erickson, of jewelry powerhouse Erickson Beamon, a few questions for the blog. Erickson Beamon is known for exquisite handmade costume jewelry which has become a fixture on fashion runways and in magazines around the world. As you may know, we carry a small selection of Erickson Beamon jewelry here in the store and on our website (check it out here!), so we were very excited to learn a little more about the brand and the jewelry itself.

What inspires Erickson Beamon designs?
"I draw inspiration from all aspects of life. The world is my inspiration. Nothing is off limits to spark my creative flame. Something as simple as a word or an image, or a general theme for an upcoming photo shoot, can lead to the production of an entire collection. I strive to create memorable, fashion-forward pieces that push boundaries within the design world."


What do you think is important in a piece of jewelry?
"Each piece is created by hand, which allows Erickson Beamon to customize and create entire collections at the request of the most influential names in fashion. We pride ourselves on our ability to tailor our clients’ desires, without ever sacrificing our design aesthetic. The Erickson Beamon collection appeals to all ages and styles, from flashy and intricate, to the simple and understated; either way, each piece speaks for itself."

How are Erickson Beamon pieces made? How much time goes into each piece?
"I enjoy mixing unexpected materials to make each inspiration come to life. Each piece of jewelry has its own persona, creating an individual presence within the collection. I incorporate materials from a variety of resources, which elicits my free range of style. These materials include Swarovski crystals, semi-precious stones, lucite, wood, pearls, chains, feathers, fabric flowers. My choices are infinite."

What is the proudest accomplishment for Erickson Beamon so far?
"Erickson Beamon jewelry dazzles worldwide, pioneering the coveted, handcrafted necklaces that have become our trademark and a staple in the industry. I have designed custom pieces for many runways, including Jil Sander, Givenchy, Dior, Chanel, Anna Sui and Ungaro."

What can we expect from Erickson Beamon in the future?
"Bigger. Better. More!"

Photo Credit: New York Magazine

Double Watch Dilemma

One thing we've been trying to pull off lately is wearing two watches. It's not the most conventional idea, and you may be asking yourself, "Why do you need to wear more than one watch?" Megan has certainely posed this question, and she's not wrong for doing so. But here's another question - why not? It's fine to stack bracelets, layer necklaces etc., so why is it strange to wear two watches? As a person who loves watches, and owns several, I think it's sad to only have the chance to wear one at a time. We spent some time stalking the idea on the internet and found that we're not the only ones into watch stacking.

Here's a picture of Princess Diana wearing two watches.

Here is a photo from the blog Ascot Friday, stacking watches and bracelets together

We've also come up with a variety of excuses for the inevitable moment when we're asked why we're wearing more than one timepiece:

- One is a backup in case the other one stops

- They're set to different time zones so we can relate to what's happening in the rest of the world

- We couldn't decide which one matched our outfit best

But still, we're not sure if we're on to something or not. So the real question is, what do you think? Is wearing two watches the next big thing, or should we forget it and move on?

- Moria

Jewelry Care Series - Rings

Recently, we have had a few customers visit us asking us to help them with "runaway" stones. This made us think that it might be useful to start a Jewelry Care Series with little tidbits of information on how to take care of your special pieces. One of our recent customers came in with a beautiful antique ring where the emerald had fallen out of the setting. We replaced the stone and replaced the prongs in the delicate setting to prevent further problems. Although the emerald is now safe in it's new setting, we told her to make sure to check this ring on a regular basis. Unlike the diamond in your engagement ring, emeralds in particular are soft and more susceptible to wear and tear. Rings like this should be taken off when doing household chores.

In our busy lives, it's difficult sometimes to find the time to keep up with things like jewelry care. Unfortunately, it's the nature of jewelry, like most other things, to loosen or break when not properly cared for. Gold and platinum are strong metals, but they will bend and wear with time. Having the settings of your rings checked every six months to a year is very important, will save you a lot of stress and potentially a lot of money down the road.

Here are some tips for taking care of your treasured pieces:

• In addition to regular check-ups, try not to put your rings in drawers or jewelry boxes with lots of other pieces, as they may scratch each other.
• Take rings off before swimming in chlorinated pools or using cleaning products that contain bleach or chlorine, as these chemicals can discolor diamonds and other stones.
• Take rings or other jewelry off before doing any activities during which stones might be hitting hard surfaces. Any blows to your stones could damage them.
• Apply lotions and perfumes before putting on your jewelry. These products can damage or discolor your metals and stones - pearls are particularly susceptible to this kind of damage.
• Always research how to clean your particular stones. Every stone is different and requires different types of care.
• Never leave colored stones lying in the sun, they can bleach and fade.
  

Gentle & effective ways to clean diamond rings:
1. Soak your diamond ring in a warm solution of mild liquid detergent and water. Ivory dish washing liquid is a good choice, but any other mild detergent is fine.
2. Use a soft brush if necessary to remove dirt. Soft is the key -- don't use a brush with bristles that are stiff enough to scratch the ring's metal setting.
3. Swish the ring around in the solution, and then rinse it thoroughly in warm water. Close the drain first, or put the ring in a strainer to keep from losing it!
4. Dry the diamond ring with a lint-free cloth.
5. Ask your jeweler for a professional cleaning every once in a while.

Over the past several months we've been hard at work on a relaunch of our website, hoping to create a home for M. Flynn on the internet which more closely reflected our Boston storefront. Today we are incredibly excited to say that we're finally ready to launch this new site, and along with it, introduce you to our collections of fine jewelry, Alexis Bittar, Erickson Beamon, Julie Rofman, Vita Fede and estate jewelry.

At M. Flynn, we think jewelry should be well-made, versatile and always classic. The jewelry we make, as well as the jewelry we carry by other designers, all falls into these categories and together makes what we hope is a well-curated collection of pieces for everything from everyday wear, to wedding day keepsakes.

M. Flynn Fine Jewelry
Several years after starting M.Flynn, designers Megan and Moria decided to take their business a step further and create a line of fine jewelry including necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets for specials occasions. These elegant designs incorporate precious stones and can be custom made for weddings, special events and gifts. M.Flynn fine jewelry is handmade just for the client using the highest quality materials.

Click here to see the M. Flynn Fine Jewelry collection

Alexis Bittar
Alexis Bittar is a well-known, Brooklyn-born designer and winner of the 2010 CFDA Accessory Designer of the Year award. His pieces have been featured in major magazines and ad campaigns and his jewelry has recently been a favorite of Michelle Obama. Best known for his Lucite pieces and crystal work, we love Bittar's designs for the touch of modern antique elegance they bring to any jewelry collection.

Click here to see our Alexis Bittar collection

Erickson Beamon
Detroit natives Karen Erickson, Eric Erickson and Vicki Beamon are known for their exquisite handmade costume jewelry which has become a fixture on fashion runways and in magazines around the world. They combine crystals, beads and stones to create unique, vintage-looking pieces that are great for special events but also wearable on a day to day basis. If you're looking for a piece of jewelry that will make a statement, you can count on Erickson Beamon.

Click here to see our Erickson Beamon collection

Julie Rofman
Julie Rofman is a painter and sculptor turned jewelry designer, making hand-woven beaded bracelets on a traditional bead loom. Each bracelet is made of Japanese glass beads in bright colors and arranged in the native patterns of cities around the world. We love these bracelets because they're a fun pop of color and are the adult equivalent of the friendship bracelets we used to love wearing when we were kids.

Click here to see our Julie Rofman collection

Vita Fede
Vita Fede is a line of accessories designed by Cynthia Sakai and inspired by the detail and craftsmanship of Italian leatherwork. Made of high-quality leather and mixed metals, these bracelets are great everyday places to wear alone or stacked with other favorite bracelets.

Click here to see our Vita Fede collection

Estate Jewelry
Unique period jewelry we've collected along the way at auctions and estate sales.

Click here to see our Estate Jewelry collection

Happy Shopping!

Jackie O never bought off the rack!

When I was getting married I had a good friend make my dress. During one of our fittings he exclaimed "Jackie O never bought off the rack, Honey!" It made me laugh because I buy EVERYTHING off the rack but do I get his point. Customers come to see us all of the time to create special pieces to signify a special occasion. Our goal is to be timeless and classic but ALWAYS one-of-a-kind. Jewelry is meant to be passed down and should always have a special story attached to it. While not many of us have enough occasions to have custom clothing made, there is no reason NOT to put a little extra thought behind your special jewelry purchases. Here are a few of our latest projects:

Diamond and Marquis Sapphire Eternity Band

(this wedding gift to a bride from the groom served as her "something blue")

Engagement Ring

(With this custom ring, we added a colored stone to the side that held a meaning to the couple)

Why would you wait for a guy to buy?

This is what I say every day. Seriously, we are seeing more and more fabulous women come in to M. Flynn and they know exactly what they want to create. It's wonderful to work with these women to create perfect pieces.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903392904576512530377361912.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_5

Designer Profile: Julie Rofman

One of our most popular lines at the M.Flynn store this summer has been our collection of colorful, hand-beaded bracelets by designer Julie Rofman. Julie is a painter and sculptor turned jewelry designer, originally from Newton, MA. Each bracelet is made of Japanese glass beads in bright colors and arranged in the native patterns of cities around the world. This week we were lucky enough to get to ask Julie a few questions about her inspirations and about the future of her line. Check out what she had to say below, and check back soon to see our stock of Julie's bracelets available on the new M. Flynn website.


How long have you been making jewelry?
"I have been making jewelry since I was a kid at Cape Cod Sea Camp and just like you and your sister, I also created numerous bracelets out of embroidery string. I remember stringing bracelets from the metal rods of my headboard and working on them before I went to bed."


When Moria and I saw your bracelets, we instantly thought about our summers making friendship pins and weaving bracelets out of embroidery string. We thought your bracelets felt like the sophisticated version of this '80s trend. What inspired you to start making these bracelets?
"I started the handwoven beaded bracelets as a hobby, making pieces for friends and family. I started to use more uniform and intricate glass beads that came in brilliant colorways, this opened up my palette to more fine tuned design work. After much trial and error I created a clasp design that would fit pretty much any wrist size."


The bracelets seemed to be named for very fun and even exotic places. Are you a big traveler? What's on your wish list of places to visit?
"Yes! I love to travel. I think I have been to 23 countries. I pull the names for my bracelets from places I've seen or would like to visit. I would love to see the Galapagos islands."


What's next for the line?
"Next for the line is a series of necklaces that can also be worn as wrap bracelets. I also just finished a collaboration of clutches with my friend Tracey Tanner."

Two Weekends, Two Great Reasons to Shop!

Join us this weekend for the Massachusetts Tax Holiday - No sales tax on items under $2,500! A great opportunity to save a few bucks on that gift you need to buy, not to mention a perfect excuse to get a little something special for yourself.

We're open Saturday, 11am-5pm, so don't miss out!

And don't forget to stop by next weekend for the South End Business Association's Sidewalk Sale. Special sale merchandise will be available Friday the 19th and Saturday the 20th at M. Flynn and lots of your other favorite South End retailers.

Happy shopping!

Facebook Winners

As promised, today we picked the winners of our Facebook page giveaway. We put all of your names into an Excel spreadsheet and used a random number selector to keep it as fair as possible. Here are the winners:

Grand prize winner - A 3-strand Coin pearl necklace



2nd Grand prize winner - A 3-strand Recycled glass necklace



The 1st runner up - 3-strand Recycled glass bracelet



The 2nd runner up- Elaine Turner clutch in leopard!



3rd place winners - Antique flower earrings in crystal color of your choice








If you see your name here, expect to hear from us via Facebook very soon. Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone who became a fan of our page! If you haven't yet, you can do so here: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/M-Flynn-Accessories/

Custom Cufflinks

Here at M. Flynn we spend most of our time working on women’s jewelry, so when we get the chance to work on something for men, it’s always a new and interesting experience. People have asked about cufflinks many times, but we had never really figured out a way to design them in an original way.

Despite that, we recently worked on two custom orders for cufflinks and we're pretty excited about how they came out.

The first involved a groom who wanted to make cufflinks out of the buttons from his grandfather’s old Navy uniform to wear in his wedding. We always like the idea of turning family heirlooms into new things, so we thought this was a cool project worth mentioning.

The other order allowed us to be a little more creative. A bride and groom wanted to give all the men in their wedding party custom cufflinks. Since the wedding was taking place on the Cape we engraved these sterling silver ovals, one with the outline of the Cape and one with each recipient’s monogram. We were really proud of the final product. Nice one-of-a-kind gifts right?

Will you Move with us?

Facebook just notified us that they are changing their format of the group pages and they would like us to move to a business format. Well, yes, it is annoying. We hate to make you move with us but can we bribe you???
Please move with us, "like" us, and tell your friends to "like" us. In fact do any other "Facebook Activity" you can think of and we will enter you in a contest to win some great stuff!!
The Grand prize winner - A 3-strand Coin pearl necklace


2nd Grand prize winner - A 3-strand Recycled glass necklace


The 1st runner up - 3-strand Recycled glass bracelet


The 2nd runner up- Elaine Turner clutch in leopard!



3rd place winners (4 of them) will win Antique flower earrings in crystal color of their choice


So come move with us. Winners will be announced on July 6th.
Click on and like us: http://www.facebook.com/pages/M-Flynn-Accessories/134909166585406

Turning something OLD into something NEW

One of the most exciting things about being in the jewelry business, is the moment someone walks in with an old piece of jewelry and asks us to turn it into something new. Whether it be something they no longer use, a piece passed down to them that needs updating or a complete jewelry makeover.

Recently we had a woman come in with her mother's old engagement ring. It's always nice to have jewelry passed down to you, but in this case, the diamond solitaire cut was an obvious engagement band, and our client felt a little strange walking around wearing it. This was a particularly fun project because she was interested in redesigning it into a floral cocktail-type ring and my sister and I got to get a little creative with it. In addition to the diamonds, we ended up adding several Amethyst stones - a nice touch because they're both her father's and mother's birthstone. Here's what the final ring looked like:


The greatest part was how much she loved the final product. In this case we were able to turn the old piece into something new and exciting while keeping its history and her personal connection to it intact.

If you have any old things gathering dust in your jewelry box, bring them in, let's make something new!

A Special Touch: Wedding Jewelry As a Gift

Wedding days are often some of the most meaningful and memorable days of our lives. One thing that made my day even more special was the wedding jewelry I received from my parents to wear while walking down the aisle. It’s often the small touches that make the most difference, and wearing the bracelet my parents gave me was not only symbolic on the day, but now reminds me of my wedding each time I wear it.


I came up with the idea for this blog entry after watching the royal wedding last month, during which the world watched Kate Middleton marry her prince in a stunning pair of diamond earrings given to her by her parents. I loved this idea because even though her jewelry collection will probably grow to be very large, these will most definitely remain one of the most cherished pieces. It was touching to see her parents give her a special gift to take with her as she moves into her new life.


Queen Elizabeth also received wedding jewelry from her parents on her wedding day in November 1947 – a double strand of pearls.


We just worked on a lovely pair of earrings that a groom plans to give to his bride on their wedding day. They are a beautiful, custom-made pair of pearl and diamond earrings that will be perfect for her to wear on the day but also any day after. Even though they are simple, they truly are a staple piece of jewelry that will be enjoyed forever and perhaps passed on to the next generation.

My Victorian Slide Bracelet

As we've mentioned in past blog entries, the Victorian Era was a very important time for jewelry and the development of personal style. At that time, pocket watches were worn around the neck, and in order to adjust the lengths of the chains women began wearing slides. Slides pulled the chain up or down, came in all shapes and sizes and were often engraved or bejeweled.

Towards the end of the era, when watches moved to wrists, these ornate slides became collectible antiques, and were restrung on double strand gold chains to be worn as bracelets. The most interesting thing about these slide bracelets, is that no two are alike. I bought mine at an estate sale several years ago and love it because it's entirely unique and a cool way to bring historic pieces into a modern era.

Save the Date!

Mother's Day Gift Guide

With Mother's Day just a few weeks away, we wanted to put together a list of M. Flynn favorites that your mom will love.

Our personalized pieces make great, unique gifts that will surely get you on your mom's good side.


A custom-made charm necklace is a great keepsake idea, and can be personalized with engravings, birthstones and charms to make a meaningful piece for mom.


Our stackable rings are another great idea and can be made with birthstones or your mom's favorite precious stone.

For custom charm necklaces and stackable ring inquiries, please call us at (617) 292-0079, or email us at info@mflynnstudio.com and we will work with you to create the perfect personalized gift for your mom.

Add a splash of color to her life with a necklace or bracelet from our new recycled glass collection. In shades of turquoise, olive and amber, they are a perfect accessory for spring.


Check out the recycled glass pieces here.

Give her some sparkle with a pair of our popular antique flower earrings.


Check out our antique flower earrings here.

This pearl bracelet is an elegant gift that any mother would love.


Check out the cleopatra pearl bracelet here.