Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘jewelry’

Five Golden Rings

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on December 9, 2012| 4 Comments »

Getting in the spirit: listening to carols on the radio, decorating the fat tree my husband found, attending my friend Alden’s holiday concert at the Melrose Symphony (a whole post on that to come), and baking cookies.

Even though I try new recipes, I find the sugar cookie recipe John got in nursery school to be the most reliable, and I love the worn cookbook he made, held together by yarn, and his scribbles on the cover.

I especially love this line in recipe: “use good-sized cookie cutters so children can be successful in handling shapes.”

Here I am working away. Please note my five golden rings, Suzanne’s creation.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Read Full Post »

Shop Your Values Week

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Here’s another nice lead from the Christian Science Monitor, which highlights a cool story by Rachel Signer of Dowser.org (a media organization that reports on social innovation).

The article is about Ethikus, which “provides vouchers for small businesses whose practices embody principles of sustainability.”

Writes Signer, “From May 3-10, hundreds of New Yorkers will participate in the first Shop Your Values Week, a project of the New York City-based startup Ethikus. The aim of Ethikus is to generate more business for small enterprises whose practices embody certain principles of sustainability in the realms of product-sourcing, employee relations, community engagement, and environmental impact or mitigation efforts. By looking at those four criteria, Ethikus identifies businesses they want to invite into their network, which functions as a sort of ethics-focused Groupon by providing consumers with vouchers to use in those businesses.” Read more.

Even though small businesses have all they can do to keep their heads above water right now, I think this idea has legs. Should be a great way for those already incorporating the Ethikus ideals to get visibility with the customers they want to reach. I’m spreading the word.

Read Full Post »

All Sorts of Moms

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 27, 2012| 2 Comments »

We are gearing up for Mother’s Day around here. It’s an important time of the year for Luna & Stella. For one thing, it gives us a chance to share our enthusiasm for all those who take on the role of mother — whether or not they are actual mothers.

The nurturing person, the rock in someone’s life could be an aunt or a big sister. I have heard of a neighbor playing a mother role for a lonely kid. What about a loving grandpa?

Luna & Stella, as you know, has many birthstone-jewelry offerings, and not just for women. Check out L&S cufflinks if your grandpa was like a mother to you. Why not? Suzanne and Erik may think I’m crazy to suggest cufflinks for May 13, but hey, I’m just the blogger!

Read Full Post »

Angel’s Cellphone

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 6, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Dirk-Jan Visser for The New York Times

I’m a sucker for any story about an angel because it gives me a chance to mention that Suzanne’s birthstone-jewelry company, Luna & Stella, has a lovely angel charm.

That is why I zeroed in on this article.

John Tagliabue writes in today’s NY Times, “The statue of an angel outside St. John the Evangelist Cathedral in ‘s Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, holds a cellphone, which has two numbers.

“That is because, shortly after the statue was unveiled last April, a local couple, the parents of two children, set up a number so people could call the angel. Business cards soon appeared in pubs, restaurants and hotels with a picture of the angel and the number. So successful was the line that the couple opened a Twitter account, @ut_engelke, managed by the husband, which now has about 2,700 followers.”

Then the church, not amused by @ut_engelke, set up its own number. It charges for calls, and people get to hear recorded messages about the church.

The woman who answers the original phone number doesn’t charge. She answers with “Hello, this is the Little Angel,” and she just sees where it leads.

“ ‘In most cases there is laughter, but there are callers who have no faith in friends or relatives, so they would like to talk to someone they have some kind of faith in,’ she said. A widow in her 80s called from Amsterdam to complain of loneliness …

“ ‘She said she’d lost faith in humanity, in her own family,’ said the woman who lends the angel a voice. Two weeks later the elderly woman called again, to thank the angel. Things had gotten better.” Read more.

I would be interested in your angel stories.

Read Full Post »

Generations in the Jewelry Business

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on November 8, 2011| 5 Comments »

When Suzanne started the birthstone-jewelry business Luna & Stella a few years ago, I didn’t make the connection right away.

Suzanne never knew my grandmother Mabel, but Mabel (the woman I called Garkie from an early age) was also an entrepreneur, best known for jellies like Cinnama-Tang and for jewelry. I remember seeing her on black & white daytime television in New York when she was interviewed about her ventures.

My cousin Margot was going through the personal items of my late Aunt Maggie (Margot’s mother and Garkie’s daughter) and unearthed articles and artifacts. Here are samples. Styles have changed, but the urge to sell something creative has not.

The angel wing is Suzanne’s.

Read Full Post »

Magic Star Earrings

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 3, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I must have spaced out in the ’80s because I had no idea that Suzanne loved watching a cartoon show called “Jem and the Holograms.” The TV was in the basement, but still …

What’s really interesting is that when Jem tapped her star earrings she activated special powers. I leave it to you whether that explains these earrings at Suzanne’s business, Luna & Stella.

Read Full Post »

Birthday Week

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on June 16, 2011|

Not to give away anyone’s exact birthday or age, I just want to say that Birthday Week in our family is fast approaching for Suzanne, John, and me and is associated with the ruby birthstone. Both Suzanne and I wear Luna & Stella jewelry items that include a ruby.

Some years ago, before Suzanne knew about birthstones, her dad took this birthday picture on our front steps in upstate New York.

She had just turned two. The T-shirt is French.

Please note that you can comment on this blog by sending e-mail to suzannesmom@lunaandstella.com. I will post comments.

Read Full Post »

Fathers

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 7, 2011|

One of the most fun things about being a mom, I think, is seeing your grownup child developing into a really great parent. Here is proud papa John when our grandson was only a few months old. And here is John’s dad, a proud grandpa, yesterday.

And while we are on the subject of fathers, I don’t mind telling you that Suzanne’s company, Luna & Stella, has just added an intriguing gift for men — cufflinks designed to hold birthstones of your choice, a bit like a locket. You can get the cufflinks with birthstones of the dad’s loved ones, or you can get them empty and ready for your own mementos. Here’s what they look like.  I could picture small treasures from children in them or a miniature fishing fly for a fisherman or baseball memorabilia — whatever the imagination suggests.

Send comments to suzannesmom@lunaandstella.com. I will post your comment in an entry.

Read Full Post »

Three Related Religions

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 4, 2011|

When my daughter-in-law was about to be a mom and present me with my first grandchild,

her sisters gave her a lovely baby shower.

A couple of the women I spoke to there told me about a book group they enjoyed called Daughters of Abraham, located in a number of towns. As the organization’s website says, they are “a group of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim women who want to deepen our knowledge of our own and one another’s faiths. By reading books that teach us about each other’s faith traditions and learning about the practice of our respective faiths, we hope to increase our respect for all the Abrahamic religions. We are committed to building relationships among us.” They find that reading books and sharing the perspectives and insights from their different backgrounds is rewarding and fun.

One of the women had gone on to found a nonprofit that does something similar for the children of the three traditions. “Kids 4 Peace Boston is an interfaith, nonpolitical organization of Jews, Christians, and Muslims that fosters friendship, understanding, and respect among children and families in the Boston area, and hosts children [of our three faiths from Jerusalem] in a summer program. … Kids4Peace Boston practices hospitality — a shared value of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  We strive to create a place where faith and friendship thrive.”

I have been trying to interest the religious education director at my church to bring in the woman I met at the baby shower to talk about the Kids 4 Peace program.

Please send comments to suzannesmom@lunaandstella.com. Suzanne is the founder of the birthstone jewelry company Luna & Stella. She asked me to do a blog and write about anything I felt like writing about, which is exactly what I have been doing. Thanks for visiting.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts