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Posts Tagged ‘luna and stella’

Luna & Stella in the News

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 7, 2016| 2 Comments »

Imagine how chuffed I was to see this article about Suzanne by Charmaine Gahan!

A close friend since kindergarten, Charmaine has been a huge support to Suzanne and the birthstone-jewelry company that hosts this blog, Luna & Stella.

In a delightful report, Charmaine describes how her whole family joined Suzanne’s family in New York City over school vacation to lend a hand at the Playtime trade show, a big deal for promoting new products to retail shops around the world.

Among the highlights of Suzanne’s growing collections are sweet Mama + Me bracelets, just in time for Mothers Day (May 8), and some stunning vintage lockets.

Notes the website, “All of the lockets in the Luna & Stella Vintage Collection were made in Providence, East Providence or Attleboro between 1880 and 1940.”

Why vintage mixed with contemporary? That’s kind of an interesting story, too, being the result of a hunt for beautiful hinges to use in new lockets. After the long search, Suzanne concluded that they just don’t make smooth and subtle hinges like they used to.

But sometimes an apparent dead end can lead to even better ideas, and Luna & Stella’s cool mixing of old and new seems to be an idea that is catching on.

At the Concord Journal (here), you can read more about the two friends and their families working the trade show in New York during the coldest week of the year.

Photo: Charmaine’s girls join Suzanne to look over the Mama + Me collection from Luna & Stella.

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Crazy Bargains on Luna & Stella Jewelry at the Flea

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 11, 2015| Leave a Comment »

If you are in Providence on Sunday, do stop by the flea market and see what Suzanne is selling. As she writes on the Luna & Stella website, bargains will be had.

“My husband gazing at a tray of rings I have prepared for our first sample sale, asks, what’s wrong with them?

“What’s wrong with them?  Well, nothing.  A slightly included emerald, a band that came in a millimeter to wide or too flat, a bale a tiny bit too large, a style we decided not to put in the assortment because we already had something similar.

“They’re beautiful, he says.

“We are having our first ever sample at the Providence Flea at 345 South Main Street in Providence this Sunday, September 13.  If you have never been to the Flea, it’s a outdoor juried market inspired by the wildly popular Brooklyn Flea. We love the vintage/modern mix of the Flea, and the idea a shopper could find a great vintage charm from one of the other sellers and mix it on a necklace or bracelet with one of our charms.

“In addition to our full price line … we’ll be selling our almost perfect samples for 50 – 80% off the original prices.  That ring of trays you see?  With genuine rubies, emeralds, aquamarine, etc set in sterling silver or dipped in 18K gold?  Most will be $30, nothing over $50.  These are prices you will never see on our website. ”

More at Luna & Stella, the contemporary birthstone-jewelry company for which I blog. (“Write whatever interests you, Mom.”)

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Sewing a Championship Banner

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Over at Bill Littlefield’s Only a Game on WBUR radio, Karen Given recently provided the background on athletic banners made in New England. The radio show is entertaining for all sorts of listeners as it covers anything remotely related to sports.

“The sewing room at New England Flag and Banner is humming with activity,” says Given. “It’s been that way for a while now — the company’s been around since 1892. The current owner, Ned Flynn, has only been in charge since 2006. …

“Among the photos on Flynn’s wall is one of Fenway Park, adorned with red, white, and blue bunting to celebrate the return of baseball after World War II.”

After a mini tour, Given describes the banner-making process: “Staples temporarily hold together full sheets of brightly colored fabric — usually nylon. The paper is used as a stencil to mark the pattern, but the design isn’t cut out. At least not yet.

“Skilled sewers, some of whom have been working here for 30 years, deftly zigzag around the stenciled marks. And finally, the extra fabric is cut off by hand, layer by layer, revealing the design.

“ ‘It’s counterintuitive,’ Flynn said. ‘People think we sew letters on and sew logos on. It’s actually the opposite. What we do is sew the image on and then we cut everything around it off.’ ” More here.

I like to read about longtime businesses like this chugging along in New England. I also like reading about start-up businesses. With three entrepreneurs in the family — including Suzanne (Luna&Stella), Erik (Nordic Technology Group), and John (Optics for Hire) — I am pretty sure the local economy is going to be OK.

Photo: Karen Given/Only a Game

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Luna & Stella’s #GivingTuesday Offer

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on November 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Free Arts NYC

Free Arts NYC is one of several free arts programs around the country supported by people who believe every child should have arts opportunities. Too many school districts have cut back on programs that trigger the creative imagination, and children whose families can’t pay for extra classes often miss out the most.

When Suzanne and Erik were living in Harlem, Suzanne volunteered for Free Arts NYC at the Dream Charter School, having learned about it from her 92nd Street Y ceramics teacher. The teacher told her that the Y had actually been the organization responsible for bringing the concept to New York.

In childhood, whenever Suzanne wrapped up one arts class, she could hardly wait to sign up for the next one. She knows what the arts can mean to a child and has carried that appreciation into adulthood and the birthstone jewelry at Luna & Stella (the company behind this blog).

So from now until December 31, $5 of every Birthstone Charm Necklace will go to support Free Arts NYC. More about the promotion here, at Free Arts NYC, or here, at Luna & Stella.

Photo: Luna & Stella

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And Speaking of Forebears …

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on June 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Speaking of forebears, I interrupt this program to ask, Do you have something for your grandfather or father on June 16? Luna & Stella has unusual locket cufflinks into which you can put tiny mementos or birthstones of family members.

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May 12 Brunch en plein air

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on May 2, 2013| 2 Comments »

We’re going to the Mother’s Day brunch at Verrill Farm, one of 18 farms in the Boston suburb Concord.

The farm started out as a dairy business in 1918, but today just raises flowers, fruits, and vegetables. There’s an enclosed farmstand that in addition to produce and flowers, sells prepared meals, baked goods, and specialty items. Verrill bounced back from a devastating fire a few years ago and is often credited on menus around the region.

We enjoy the farm’s outdoor brunches. Suzanne and John are likely to run into people they knew in elementary school, now with their own kids in tow. We’ll eat at trestle tables under tents, and the grandsons will be able to ride ponies, climb on a wooden climbing thing like a boat, and roll down the hill. Our granddaughter usually gets a kick out of watching whatever her brother is doing.

The moms will probably be wearing their birthstone jewelry from Suzanne’s company, Luna & Stella. You may want a piece, too, for yourself or your mom. If so, Suzanne says, “You can use BLOGMOM13 for free shipping.”

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