WHIMSY

It’s that time again!

We’re giving away another beautiful, sterling silver WHIMSY™ ring!

This time, we’re giving away The Sophia, which is crafted using eco-friendly, reclaimed sterling silver and features a feminine rose-shaped endcap. It’s one of WHIMSY’s top sellers!

The Sophia offers timeless beauty inspired by screen siren Sophia Loren. The ring’s threaded center post is easy to use, adjustable and accommodates a range of bead widths.

The Sophia is pictured here with a bead made by Chamilia™, however, posts accommodate beads from most major bead companies including Trollbeads, Pandora™ and more.

Along with the ring, the winner will receive a bead from Eastern Trading Company, for a total retail value of $150!

5 easy ways to win:

1. Leave a comment with this post, 1 entry

2. Subscribe to Style on a WHIM, 1 entry (please leave a comment to let us know)

3. “Like” Style on a WHIM, 1 entry (please leave a comment to let us know)

4. Follow Style on a WHIM on Twitter, 1 entry (please leave a comment to let us know)

5. Click on and read another Style on a WHIM post, 1X (please leave a comment to let us know)

Already a follower?  Just leave us a comment that you follow.

Contest is open until midnight on August 16 and the winner will be notified August 17!

UPDATE 8/18. Scott from Illinois is the winner of the lovely Sophia ring from WHIMSY. Congratulations to Scott!

As part of a longstanding tradition, WHIMSY’s lead designer Craig Whitten and his wife Cynthia were on hand at the annual Miss Delaware Pageant to congratulate the new winner and of course, gift her with some of Craig’s beautiful new designs!

WHIMSY designs are a favorite in the pageant world and have been seen on numerous winners — from opera diva, television personality and Miss America 1981 the amazing Susan Powell, to Miss America 2009, the lovely and talented Katie Stam!

This year, our state representative to the Miss America Pageant is the lovely Kayla Martell, pictured here with Craig and Cindy just after she was crowned. Maybe the WHIMSY tradition will help her become the next Miss America? I sure hope so!

Susan McNeill is a wife, mother, author, entrepreneur and social activist. In addition toStyle on a WHIM Susan also writes for It’s how you play the game! , Success Won’t Wait! and Susan Said What?!

EXCITING STUFF!!!

Today, we had a photo shoot with Carlos, our fantastic photographer who took all the images you see on the WHIMSY™ website. We were particularly excited this time around because our new station necklace and matching earrings were the subjects, and we LOVE them! (Although we’re a little biased…)

As you can see in the photo I took, our model, Barbie, continues to help us create beautiful shots that Carlos makes even better with his creative vision.

These two pieces will be the next release from WHIMSY, so stay tuned for the professional photos from the shoot today so you can get an up-close look of what’s new and upcoming!

-Keri

Susan has written before about the beautiful interchangeable bead jewelry from WHIMSY™ — we’re huge advocates for the versatility of their pieces! From absolutely stunning rings to beautiful sterling silver earrings, WHIMSY has interchangeable jewelry that’s just your style.

Now you can win your very own pair of sterling silver Elizabeth earrings and two matching beads from Eastern Trading. The Elizabeth earrings are casual enough to be worn with jeans and fancy enough to be worn with a LBD for a night out on the town! And of course you can change the beads for a new look every day!

This prize package of a pair of Elizabeth earrings and two Murano glass beads by Eastern Trading is valued at $150, so enter today!

5 easy ways to win:

1. Leave a comment with this post, 1 entry

2. Subscribe to Style on a WHIM, 1 entry (please leave a comment to let us know)

3. “Like” Style on a WHIM, 1 entry (please leave a comment to let us know)

4. Follow Style on a WHIM on Twitter, 1 entry (please leave a comment to let us know)

5. Click on and read another Style on a WHIM post, 1X (please leave a comment to let us know)

Already a follower?  Just leave us a comment that you follow.

Contest is open until midnight on June 30 and the winner will be notified July 1!

-Keri

Photo courtesy of WHIMSY Worldwide.

UPDATE 7-1-2010: Katie is the winner of the earrings by WHIMSY and Murano glass beads from Eastern Trading Company. Congratulations!

UPDATE: Today, May 28th, we chose a winner of this contest and it’s Phyllis in NY! Congratulations, Phyllis! We hope you LOVE your WHIMSY jewelry and Murano glass beads. To everyone who entered — thank you SOOO much for the support, and don’t worry — we’ll be running another contest very soon (hint hint)!

One of the things I love most about spring and summer is the return of color to my wardrobe. In the winter I definitely trend towards black, black and more black. So when I break out the summer clothes I feel like a butterfly emerging from the cocoon!

One of my favorite ways to add a shot of color to an outfit is through bold jewelry. Two dozen Indian-inspired bangles in sparkly brights like purple, lime and magenta or an attention-getting, oversized bib necklace inspired by the Wild West are some of my top choices to add punch to a summer ensemble.

My current obsession, however, is Murano glass beads and interchangeable bead jewelry. These little gems are a fraction of the cost of precious or semi-precious stones and add affordable color to every outfit. Trollbeads, Chamilia™ and Pandora™ are some of the best known manufacturers, however, the field is widening every day and smaller companies are quickly making a name for themselves with equally gorgeous designs and high quality craftsmanship.

One of the best is Eastern Trading. I have a dozen or so beads from this firm and they seem to be the ones I reach for time and again. Whether strung on a silver neck chain, adorning a silk bracelet, or as the crowning touch to a WHIMSY ring, these are real showstoppers.

Now, you can rock this trend, too! Style on a WHIM is giving away one sterling silver interchangeable bead ring by WHIMSY (pictured here with a bead by Chamilia™) and a wardrobe of three striking Murano glass beads by Eastern Trading to one lucky reader — a $200 retail value!

Here’s how to enter:

1. Leave a comment, 1 entry

2. Subscribe to Style on a WHIM, 1 entry (please leave a comment to let us know)

3. Follow Style on a WHIM on Facebook, 1 entry (please leave a comment to let us know)

4. Follow Style on a WHIM on Twitter, 1 entry (please leave a comment to let us know)

5. Click on and read another Style on a WHIM post, 1X (please leave a comment to let us know)

Already a follower?  Just leave us a comment that you follow.

Contest is open until midnight on May 27 and the winner will be notified May 28!

Good Luck!

UPDATE: Today, May 28th, we chose a winner of this contest and it’s Phyllis in NY! Congratulations, Phyllis! We hope you LOVE your WHIMSY jewelry and Murano glass beads. To everyone who entered — thank you SOOO much for the support, and don’t worry — we’ll be running another contest very soon (hint hint)!

Susan McNeill is a wife, mother, author, entrepreneur and social activist. In addition to Style on a WHIM Susan also writes for It’s how you play the game! , Success Won’t Wait! and Susan Said What?!

The breakout success of the new WHIMSY™ jewelry line took the industry by surprise in 2009. Making its mark at celebrity events throughout the country, WHIMSY has quickly become a recognized and highly sought-after name for jewelry aficionados everywhere.

Pieces by WHIMSY provide an exciting new way to showcase the year’s hottest jewelry trend – striking, collectible Murano glass beads. Their interchangeability allows the wearer to express their individuality and easily change beads to match an outfit, complementary jewelry — even a mood.

WHIMSY jewelry is compatible with beads made by the majority of major bead manufacturers including Trollbeads, Pandora™ and Chamilia™. The full line now includes a full range of pendants, earrings, and necklaces, in addition to the original line of rings.

Pictured here, celebrities like Kris Jenner and Miss America Katie Stam scored beautiful, interchangeable WHIMSY bead rings, as well as Demi Lovato, Julianne Hough, Kelly Clarkson, and Mary Alice from The Food Network’s Ace of Cakes.

Susan McNeill is a wife, mother, author, entrepreneur and social activist. In addition to Style on a WHIM Susan also writes for It’s how you play the game! , Success Won’t Wait! and Susan Said What?!

National Jeweler magazine just arrived on my doorstep and as always, it was filled with insightful predictions for the latest in jewelry trends. With gold prices skyrocketing on a daily basis, and the economy still in freefall, you might think that fine jewelry is out of reach for holiday gift giving. But  flipping through the pages of this and other trade journals, I see that many high end jewelers – from Tiffany’s on down – have embraced alternative materials like sterling silver, natural pieces like beautifully grained wood and even handcrafted glass to create unusual, beautiful and very affordable pieces worthy of a place on a Holiday Wish List.

My Top 3 Picks:

Sterling silver. Silver is a great way to incorporate more contemporary styles (key and knot pendants come immediately to mind) in a much more affordable way. I also really like how silver looks with the winter colors that are so popular right now, like retro 1980’s neon brights and of course, all things gray.

Wood. Pieces made of wood have a wonderful, warm quality to them. I also think that wood is very personal – each piece has a slightly different grain to it, so each piece is as unique as the wearer!

Glass. From wildly popular glass bead by Trollbeads, Pandora and Chamilia to large scale Murano pieces. I recently saw an entire kiosk dedicated to large glass pieces at our local mall. The incredible colors, patterns and shapes make these the top of my wish list – from pendants on silk cords, to enormous cocktail rings.

Susan McNeill is a wife, mother, author, fashion blogger

 and sales manager for the WHIMSY jewelry line. Susan

also writes for http://mcneilldesigns.wordpress.com and

http://successwontwaitinc.wordpress.com

Like just about every other female I know, I look at engagement rings—on the internet, in jewelry stores and catalogs, and wherever I happen to see them. It’s not because I’m in any hurry to get engaged or married—I just love to look at big diamonds! I daydream about the day a man will pull out a ring box and propose to me with a huge rock, even though it won’t be for quite a few years, and I highly doubt it’ll be with a huge diamond (though a girl can hope). Those are just the kinds of things a young, unmarried 20-something thinks about from time to time. And when I’m grazing the pages of Modern Bride or jewelry websites for the “perfect ring” (i.e. the ring I would propose to myself with), my eyes are drawn to antique-y settings and cushion cut diamonds.

Cushion cut diamonds are harder to find than the more popular round and princess-cut stones, but they’re gaining in popularity again as antique settings are also becoming more mainstream.

Lussori, one of my favorite places to pretend-engagement-ring shop, has a good selection of cushion cut diamond rings in unique settings that include everything from filigree designs to pave diamonds encrusting the band. Some even have rose gold accents and pink pave diamonds, which I love.

It’s all about the details in an engagement ring, in my opinion. A Lussori platinum designer setting with pave white diamonds and filigree detailing is absolutely gorgeous and extravagant.

The pave pink diamonds and rose gold I mentioned above are a delight in this Lussori platinum GIA-certified diamond ring. Something about that beautiful antique look with such a modern twist—the colored diamonds—is beyond alluring. And no worries about prongs breaking, because the cushion cut center diamond is bezel set.

If your budget doesn’t include a ring upwards of $20,000, King of Jewelry has a cushion cut diamond ring with a center stone just over one carat, framed by moon cut, princess cut and round cut diamonds, making a total weight of 2.54 carats. It clocks in at just under $6,000 and is also available with a larger center diamond—definitely an option that doesn’t seem too far fetched.

Or this KOJ three-stone cushion and princess cut diamond ring is a great option at under $5,000. It’s a lot more of a “classic” engagement ring, but it still incorporates the cushion cut diamond, which is less conventional than a princess cut.

Most of us ladies will never get the chance to wear a diamond engagement ring that costs more than the average four-door sedan, but we can certainly dream (and internet window shop)—something I’m getting quite good at!

-Keri

As I’m going through my morning work routine of checking e-mail and blog comments, I notice a comment on my most recent “green” post about an alternative textile dyeing method that doesn’t use water, appropriately named AirDye®. I immediately thought, “so this must be like spraypainting a piece of cloth — it’ll end up stiff and rough and terribly uncomfortable. Plus, patterns must be impossible to create.”

Not the case.

AirDyed® fabrics feel no different than conventionally dyed textiles and they can be all one color, a different color on each side, a pattern on one side and a solid color on the other, or a pattern on both sides, creating a wealth of options.

AirDye® can also be used to dye swimwear, carpet, curtains, linens, event banners, ceiling tile and more. The possibilities are endless. And because the dyeing process uses less valuable resources, it’s cost-effective for companies, who can then pass their savings on to consumers.

According to the AirDye® website, traditional dyeing methods use trillions of gallons of water and enough energy to power more than 12 percent of U.S. homes each year. Not only does it take a lot of water to dye fabric conventionally, but synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon need additional chemicals to help the dye adhere. This process pollutes water that ends up in our lakes, rivers and oceans, and who’s a fan of that?

This is definitely a dyeing method that needs to go mainstream because, according to the website, there are only about 16 licensed resellers so far.

When I think about conserving water, I think about taking shorter showers and turning off the lawn sprinklers, not about how my clothing is dyed. But with AirDye®, I can purchase an environmentally responsible (and super cute) garment and feel good about supporting a ground-breaking, eco-friendly initiative.

-Keri

We received a fabulous visit yesterday during the Trollbead Trunk Show from the newly crowned Miss Delaware, Heather Lehman. She is every bit as lovely as she looks on TV and super nice too!