the neitherworld.

these photos by marc da cunha lopes conjure thoughts of death and extinction & yet, these skeletons appear alive. really, they creep the hell out of me, the same way ikea creeps me out. creating scenes or furniture arrangements to look alive/ lived in & yet are really dead/abandoned is chilling. mostly i'm interested in this idea of the neitherworld, where the dead continue to live their lives. it fits into the show i'm working on 'darker, my love.' more on this soon!

xo.

Last August 2010 Everything Bracelets

Hey everyone, thank you for visit today. I really appreciate it ~!
I apologize for the lack of update. I've still been working on orders and packages as normal, just not posting new pieces for sale.

I do have an important announcement to make since I will be out of town this week for a family occasion.

All ordered placed after today will be shipped when I get back in a couple days. Not a drastic delay, just 4-5 days. I just wanted to let you know now in advance as you shop DSK Jewelry.
However, if you place an order by today, August 31, 2010 I will try my best to get our package shipped before I leave for my flight to California.

As some of you who follow me on FB & Twitter may already know, my Grandpa (Ong Noi) passed away a few days ago. Ong Noi in Vietnamese is your paternal Grandfather (Dad's Dad).
It was weird because we got the phone call only an hour after my Aunt landed in Seattle to visit me. We were just walking to our car in Chinatown after eating dinner... You never ever forget when you get that type of phone call. My emotions went from happy to see my Aunt..to being really sad about losing my Grandpa.

It's been hard these past few days mentally. You're kind of in your own dream world when you're awake just thinking about your loved one. A lot of thoughts run through your head of the memories you have of them. You try so hard to remember each and every time you saw and spoke to them. It's a really strange feeling emotionally to lose someone close, and you don't know what it's like until you've experienced it first hand. The emotions don't really hit you until you accept the fact that they're gone. The first time I lost a family member was when my Grandma (Ba Noi) passed last year in March.

I don't want anyone to feel sad, but I felt it's appropriate to let you know what's going on in my life. I feel as if I've gotten so close to so many of you over the past year. And I just know our friendship will continue to grow as we get to know each other better over the years. I appreciate all of the kind thoughts I've received from all of you, my friends. The amount of support through blog is beyond amazing. Thank you for being there for me when I just need to get my thought out.
I do miss my Grandparents a lot since they're forever a part of my heart. Their memory will forever be celebrated.

I'll be back soon, take care everyone ♥

"Lavender Shadow" DSK Everything Bracelet
Measures 7 1/4"
Italian .925 Sterling Silver Heart Link
Crystallized Swarovski Crystals & Pearls
.925 Sterling Silver Engraved DSK Tag
One of a Kind
*sold*

"Gold Virtue" DSK Everything Bracelet
Measures 7 1/4"
Italian .925 Sterling Silver Heart Link
Crystallized Swarovski Crystals & Pearls
.925 Sterling Silver Engraved DSK Tag
One of a Kind
*sold*


Sapphire Gold Necklace
Measures 16" (40cm)
14K Gold-Filled Necklace
Crystallized Swarovski
Large Sapphire Heart
* Special*
$30

Sterling Silver Moonlight Heart Accessory Charm
.925 Sterling Silver
Crystallized Swarovski
*Special*
$5

2010 Emmy Awards Jewelry Round-up

Jewelry fashion at the 2010 Emmy Awards was an eclectic mix of surprising statements and safe bets. Chandelier earrings, big necklaces and crazy cuffs mixed with (snore) diamond studs, bare necks and lots and lots of basic black. Thankfully, I had my friend, Veuve Clicquot, with me to even out the ups and downs.


BUT - I wasn't hurled into a red carpet funk, like I was at the barren bling-scape at this year's Oscars. And I have Lorraine Schwartz to thank. As you'll see, she was responsible for most of my favorite 'lower-jaw-drop' moments last night.

(And Jimmy Fallon's Glee-inspired Bruce Springsteen opening number made me want to give up jewelry blogging forever for a life of song.)

The Recap:

Kim Kardashian paired her bejeweled Grecian goddess of a Marchesa gown with an 80-carat (!) Lorraine Schwartz cuff in both white and champagne diamonds that kicked a slow-starting red carpet into high gear.


And then Lea Michele came on the scene in a ruffled navy Oscar de la Renta fantasy dress and a stunning diamond mesh statement necklace with that 'blackened metal' look that's apparently all the rage this season. Glee!!!!! And we have Ms. Schwartz to thank again.


Eva Longoria Parker and Julia Louis-Dreyfus sparkled in big earring statements from Loren Jewels (rubies) and Irene Neuwirth (chrysophase and diamonds), respectively.


But wait. Just when you thought the statement necklace was a sparkling Lea Michele mirage only to slink back to our 2009 red carpet roundups - enter: Heidi Klum in all legs and diamond and ruby neck candy by (you guessed it!) Queen Lorraine. Big win!



Yellow gold was a 'trend-lette' last night, with Glee's Jayma Mays in Neil Lane stunners and Modern Family's Sofia Vergara in a head-to-toe gold look with a dress by Carolina Herrera and jewels by (drumroll....) Lorraine Schwartz!


As were red gemstones - like this 60-carat rubellite and diamond ring by Ofira on Kyra Sedgwick (in addition to all the ruby looks mentioned above).


January Jones walked the line with me in the dress department (a daring cobalt blue Versace) but her bed-head hair style hid 10.12 carat Cartier diamond stud earrings worth $1.2 million (the horror!) and did nothing to make her avant-garde garment choice work.


And speaking of 'find the diamonds' chic - Christina Hendricks (in another trend-lette - purple), Julianna Margulies, and Julie Bowen walked the Emmy red carpet with nary a jewel to the naked eye. C'mon, ladies!



So all in all, there were some colorful, daring moves that outshined the 'play it safe' crowd at this year's Emmy-fest. I am missing many of your favorites, I'm sure (Tina Fey? Anna Paquin? Betty White?) - so weigh in with your comments and questions!

And if you want a fun jewelry romp through the Twitter-sphere, check out my live tweet at #emmyjewelry last night with great 'tramps like me' @jenniferheebner, @jessicawalden, @Michelle_Orman, @AGTA_Spectrum, @gemgossip, @JulReDesigns, @quinsultant, @Treflebijoux, @Cocoabebe and MANY more!

sleeping with books in bed.

due out later next month & featuring a handful of my favorite contemporary writers.

xo.

beneath the bell jar. . . .or lily dale pt. ii.

polly morgan.

whilst in lily dale, i met privately with a medium. over the last 2 years i've had several significant losses. everyone loses to death!

but in lily dale, no one dies.

there is no dead and no death.

when i first heard the above words, i too was skeptical. but these words are the foundations of an entire faith, and other religions are based on equally dismaying claims, so why not go check it out? it's beautiful in upstate new york & lily dale is a lakeside community & it's the summer, why not? even the 9 hour car ride was filled with short stops to places filled with treasures. ( a goat farm that sold the most amazing honey lavender challah bread, an ice cream shop that had a giant ring....)

despite all this, i truly went to lily dale for messages from the beyond, to know that my loved ones who passed were all right and still thinking well of me. but i didn't get any, not one. a complete blank. but, i did receive the most comforting answer to a question that's darkly haunted me these two years; what happens when you die?

well, as i mentioned, in lily dale, or in the spiritualist tradition in general, no one dies. they simply move on to the spirit world where they continue to learn and grow & communicate. as my medium told me when i asked, 'at the moment of death one of our spirit guides takes us by the hand before our last breath to a giant dome, where inside, our families and loved ones are gathered. it is within this bell jar, a place where we are loved and protected, that we review our lives. we see the books we have written and those we are written in.'

xo.

My Friend Kelly wearing DSK Jewelry ^_^

Kelly is my friend from back home (Grand Rapids, Michigan) ^_^
I used to see her almost every other day because she works at my cousin's dentist office which shared the same building as my former jewelry workshop.
I dedicate these earrings to her as Kelly's Earrings : )
She's also wearing the "Large Baroque Pendant," the chain is her own.
I will be posting some colored Baroque Necklaces later today.
I may also be posting another Everything Bracelet if I finish it before the next post.
The theme is Golden Shadow Crystals.

See you back tonight (completely optional :P)!

Kelly's 14K Gold AB Earrings
14K Gold-Filled Earrings with Stardust Ball
Crystallized Swarovski
$22

Some more pics of my pretty Michigan girlfriend, Kelly



Isn't she pretty? She's Vietnamese :D

Royal Wedding Round-up

The diamond tiara set is out and about again - this time at the royal wedding of Prince Nikolaos of Greece to longtime love, Miss Tatiana Blatnik (an event planner for Diane von Furstenberg).

While the bride was the only one with a tiara to triumph (check out Jewelry.com for details), the usual suspects showed up in their summer best.

Who is your favorite royal?

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden:


Princess Letizia of Spain:


Queen Sofia of Spain:


Princess Madeleine of Sweden:

Queen Margrethe of Denmark

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark:


Prince and Princess Michael of Kent:


Infanta Elena of Spain: