You might recognize Leviticus Jewelry, the creations of Tara Levitin, since the pieces are sold all around the world, from the United States to Canada to the U.K. This Texan native uses charming antique trinkets and combines them with handmade brass, copper and sterling silver for a completely distinct, yet feminine design. Tara’s jewelry has a hint of vintage style but is completely fresh, and artistically stunning. Luckily, she recently answered some questions to get to know her and her jewelry collection a bit better.

When did you start making jewelry?

I have been making jewelry since I was about 7 years old but I started up www.LeviticusJewelry.com after my daughter was born about 4 years ago.

Where does the name Leviticus Jewelry come from?

It was a nickname for my late brother Levi.

Is there a theme behind your creations?

I wouldn’t really say that there is a “theme,” more so a mood. Making jewelry is my outlet, like writing music or painting.

Do you make the charms yourself or find them at antique stores?

Most of my adornments are found anywhere from estate sales to antique shops. I even have some of my fans send me boxes of found objects!

What’s the best and worst part of jewelry design?

The best part is getting to do what I love and making a living off of it. The worst part is having my ideas ripped off from time to time. I guess it happens to everyone at some point though.

How has being an independent jewelry designer impacted your life?

It allows me to set my own schedule, spend time with my children, be my own boss, and adore my work.

Do you have a favorite piece?

I get really attached to a lot of my pieces. I am always happy to make sales but sometimes packing up pieces dear to me is a little sad.

For more about Leviticus Jewelry and Tara please visit her site here.

Dangling, sparkling, inspiring. The jewelry that is created from Sara Reichert’s hands for 1 O.A.K. by Sara is definitely a “one of a kind” type of thing. It’s hard to classify the design aesthetic as each necklace, bracelet and pair of earrings seem to be in a continual shift of one form of beauty to another.

Sometimes it seems as if Sara’s creations should be put in a museum’s glass case, hidden from harm and preserved for generations to come. Sometimes it seems as if they should be worn in an iconic setting of a sunset along the beach, reflected and enhanced in the prismatic light of sunbeams. Or sometimes, and most likely, they should simply be paired with women as individually beautiful as each piece.

That is the purpose for Sara’s jewelry – a specially made piece for that special person it resonates with. Be sure to check out what the woman behind all these beauties has to say.

Where did the name 1 O.A.K. by Sara come from?
1 OAK stands for 1 Of A Kind - this is very much about the jewelry designs, but even more importantly it is about celebrating the people who wear them. All of the necklaces are hand crafted & designed for people, places & things that inspire. With collections like ‘reflecting positive energy,’ ‘recognizing that something old can be new again,’ ‘being glamorous,’ and ‘feeling like a rockstar,’ each piece is made to celebrate different aspects of personality & individual style. The necklaces are 1 Of A Kind & so are the people who wear them - my hope is that there is a little something for everyone in this line & that is what the name is meant to represent.

Where do you find all the beads and trinkets for your jewelry?
The selection of materials is one of my favorite parts of the process. Normally, I pick things based on colors that I love together, crystals with just the right sparkle & shape or vintage pieces that I think are unique & pretty. Most importantly (& I think this is true for shopping in general), I choose things that I get a positive feeling from. Ultimately, I find the materials for each piece in a variety of places - vintage shops, estate sales & flea markets from all over the world. I also love local bead shops & stop in whenever & wherever I can. In fact, I recently found the most amazing sliced geode pendants in a small shop in Sonoma!

How did you become interested in making jewelry?
I have collected jewelry for many years. Then, on a trip to Sundance (in Utah) I took a jewelry making class (that is such a great place!) and I became really interested in learning more. I took some classes at home and spent a lot of time with some very patient employees at local bead shops to learn technique. I have a 4 year old daughter and honestly making jewelry became a really relaxing thing to do when I could find the time. Since then, I have started a small business making jewelry & have so enjoyed the positive response. The creative process is so rewarding & I have enjoyed every minute of it!

What’s your favorite material to work with?
I use a combination of base materials - base metal for some of the necklaces, but I most consistently use 14 K gold filled chain, headpins, wire, etc… When possible, I prefer using 14 K gold filled materials due to the fact that the look of each piece will be maintained for a longer period of time. I use a lot of crystals - I love mixing materials like a sliced geode with crystal accents. Or, in the ‘reflecting positive energy’ collection, I use mainly crystals. I also love working with vintage components.

What inspires you?
I find so many things inspiring - people, places, moments. It is so great to have a creative outlet like making jewelry. As an idea, I may design a necklace based on colors that remind me of a great (& relaxing) vacation, a crystal that reminds me of a friends wedding or a carved vintage pendant that gives me a nostalgic feel. At the end of the day, I really do look to create things that inspire me in one way or another. That is what I am inspired by & what I like to think this line is all about. I also hope that owning a piece of 1 OAK jewelry helps people to create inspiring stories of their own!

Tell me more about the New York Restoration Project (NYRP) and why it’s special to you.
NYRP was founded by Bette Midler & I think it is a great organization. They work to create & restore parks & community gardens (among other things). I feel so sad whenever I see a run-down park or a lack of parks & open spaces. Having a beautiful (& clean) outdoor space where communities come together is so important. NYRP fosters an environment where they educate & also work to improve city neighborhoods. They help to create beautiful spaces, which in turn can help to improve the lives of the people that live there. In a small way, this is how I look at design - sometimes if you are wearing a nice outfit (or in this case, a necklace you love) I think it can brighten up your day. Just as 1 OAK celebrates different aspects of individual style & personality, I think NYRP celebrates the city environment & the people who live there. You can find more information about New York Restoration Project at www.nyrp.org. [10% of 1 O.A.K. by Sara’s proceeds is donated to NYRP]

For more about 1 O.A.K. by Sara please visit here.

The timeless simplicity of the designs by Ashley Nizolek, the creator of A.N. Original Jewelry is what makes her jewelry a crowd favorite. Each one of Ashley’s creations are crafted by hand and features precious metals like silver, 14K gold, brass as well as semi-precious stones and pearls.

As you can see from her work, each piece - whether a small ring or a silver pendant - has an elegance of its own. Some forms are abstract with a feminine grace and some are unpretentious distillations of flowers and animals.

“My whole mantra when it comes to designing is never to over design. I want things to feel simplistic and graceful and not have things all over the place. And while I want things to be elegant, I don’t want them to be dressy. I love the idea of versatile pieces of jewelry and my goal is to create pieces that can transition from a t-shirt and jeans to a flirty cocktail dress.”

Lately, this brilliant jewelry artist answered some questions with very interesting results.

When and why did you start making jewelry?

I began making jewelry in the Fall of 2004. I’ve kind of always had a thing for jewelry, in fact I used to have QUITE the jewelry collection before I began giving it away to all my friends when I began making my own. I have spent most of my life dabbling in all different kinds of art and design, and once I got started making jewelry I couldn’t stop, I was hooked. It’s equal parts art, design and problem solving. I really love the process from start to finish…ok ok, maybe I don’t LOVE to sand and polish, it’s my pet peeve.

What inspires your pieces?

This changes all the time but for the most part I’d have to say nature and people. I’m always drawn to organic flowing lines incorporated into geometric shapes. I sometimes get an idea when I see someone walking around, I guess it’s sort of like when a clothing designer has a muse they base a lot of their line on, I guess I do that with jewelry, but I usually have 5 different muse girls and I usually don’t know any of them, haha.

Do you have a favorite material to work with?

I really enjoy working with sterling silver, the possibilities are really endless but yet it is universal enough to be attractive to many and affordable enough to be accessible.

Would you say there’s a theme to your creations?

There’s probably a theme of nature but I really never planned that out. A lot of my designs are botanical in nature but recently I’ve been branching out a bit. But when I sketch, what usually comes out is something botanical or something very flowly and vine like. My hand just always follows that path I guess when I put pen to paper. I think over all, my theme is that of simple elegance that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Have you ever made something that you just couldn’t sell, and kept it for yourself?

I made a ring that I could never part with, but I never wear it either. It sits in a safe place where I can go look at it and pat myself on the back for it when I’m having a bad day. I made a really gorgeously luxurious Ametrine necklace that I am obsessed with to this day, but it’s no longer in my possession. My mom begged me for it so it now lives with her, in her jewelry box.

What advice would you give aspiring jewelers who don’t know where to start?

I would say, listen to your heart! That sounds so cliché but really, you know best where it is you want to be and how you want to get there. Don’t let too many people cloud your vision as an artist. It’s easy to let others opinions warp your point of view. Design for yourself first and worry about people’s opinions later. Also, embrace your fellow indie designers! It’s not all about competition and money; you need to be open to networking and trading tips and ideas with designers in your niche. Some of the most valuable relationships I have in relation to my business are with other indie jewelry designers, or indie designers in general. Being able to bounce ideas off someone who has walked in your shoes is worth its weight in gold. Be willing to help people out, it’s good karma. And again, don’t get all wrapped up in being ruthlessly competitive with other designers, it doesn’t paint a pretty picture of you or your business.

What’s the best part of creating beautiful jewelry?

The gratification of turning a flat sheet of metal or a piece of wire, or some scrap, into something that could really mean something to someone. I also like the thought of my jewelry being around long after I’m gone. So long as nobody melts it down, a piece of me will still be left in the world even if I’m not. That’s a cool thought.

For more information please visit A.N. Original Jewelry.

While some indie jewelry can be swapped with commonplace pieces from any department store counter, the creations by Jonelle Maira of Poison Apple NYC are definitely one of a kind and tremendously special. Her necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings are neither gothic nor prissy, or are they raw or refined – each distinctive piece has its own personality drawn from a mix of wide range of charm. You can definitely see the inspiration from her hometown streets of New York, the trendy catwalks of fashionable Los Angeles and pieces from the heart of a true craftswoman in every single work of art.

Jonelle, after long hours of preparation for the upcoming 2008 Bust Holiday Craftacular that she is partaking in, answered some questions illuminating her charismatic personality and business as an independent jewelry designer.

How did you get interested in making jewelry?

I’ve been making jewelry in some form or another for as long as I can remember. I used to make friendly plastic jewelry and sell it on the playground when I was a kid, I had an entrepreneurial brain at an early age I guess. Eventually after living in Manhattan for a couple of years I just sort of fell into it. I remember browsing the web one day in 2002 and I found this on-line consignment shop that was selling handmade items from indie designers. (It’s hard to believe now that before that time there weren’t very many of them.) I just remember when I found that website everything just kind of clicked in my head. I was like, “Hey, I can do that! Why didn’t I think of this before?” And probably about a month later I had my own website up and running and started selling my jewelry.

What gives you inspiration for your pieces?

I get my inspiration from all over. From the materials themselves, I can find a great vintage charm or bead and have a hundred different ideas spring forward for what to do with that item. I have fun sourcing the various materials that I use and I kind of let them guide me down a path of what they’re going to become. Sometimes I have ideas loosely based around a certain style or theme that I’ve sketched out and as I further develop them they always evolve and change into other ideas that take me in a different direction. I also like to pay attention to street fashion and trend forecasting and keep in mind what’s currently hot while I’m working on my designs.

Is there an overall theme to your jewelry?

I’ve definitely always had a very “feminine, yet tough” vibe going on with my jewelry. I like to pair things together that seem unexpected and give the piece an edgy kind of twist. Some people have referred to my style as gothic but that’s not really the way I intended for it to be interpreted. I wanted my jewelry to be that one little detail that women could add to their outfit that shows they have a bit of an edge without going overboard and having to dye their hair punky colors, get weird piercings and show off their tattoo’s. It’s sophisticated jewelry with a bit of a naughty side.

What’s your favorite material to work with?

I love freshwater pearls, vintage rhinestone chain, raw copper, brass, feathers, leather and lace.

Where do you find all your vintage charms? Or is that a secret?

Every girl has to have a good secret or two. This is one of mine. I will say that they come from all over and there isn’t one magical place that I get them from.

Where does your business name, Poison Apple, come from?

At the time I was coming up with a business plan, I was very much inspired by vintage pin up ads and the old fashioned words used to describe women like a “tart” or a “bad seed”, “bad apple” and I was living in the “big apple” and seeing a lot of corruption and things going on around me which I kept referring to as “the urban poison” all of these things kind of led me down the path to the name Poison Apple. It seemed like the perfect fit for the style of jewelry and website aesthetic that I was going for.

How long does it take to make one piece?

It all depends on what I’m making. Some pieces can be made in 15 minutes, others can take me hours depending on the level of detail involved.

What’s your favorite thing about being an independent, fashionable woman making other women feel beautiful?

I love when I’m at a show and somebody comes up to me and tells me something like “they came to the show just because they wanted to see my booth” or that “they love one of my designs and they wear it all the time.” I just like knowing that somebody out there thinks that something I made was good enough to shell out the money for and then rock it without fear because they think it’s fabulous. That right there makes me happy…

For more about Jonelle and Poison Apple NYC, please visit her website here.

Getting back to one’s roots is something Cinzia Accardi knows a lot about. Besides helping to run her families’ California vineyard, she uses the naturally beneficial wine grapes in her own line of spa products.

A beautiful five acre estate in Vacaville, California allows Cinzia’s family the freedom to cultivate and create their own blends of specialty wine. Accardi Vineyards is known for offering sulite free wines – a process that eliminates the commonly added wine preservative that about 40% of people are allergic to. The Accardi family wine is naturally fermented in custom stainless steel wine tanks created by Cinzia’s father himself. This results in high quality varieties of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Moscato, Red Zinfandel and Merlot wines created in high quality, specialty batches.

Now, enter Cinzia, the woman who had the brilliant idea to use the already organic and natural wine ingredients for her own creative endeavor. She is the creative force behind the aptly named Green Visions bath and spa line that incorporates real wine grapes, wine and crushed grape seeds. The bath products available, ranging from whipped body butter, massage oil and sugar body scrubs, take advantage of the natural antioxidant properties of wine. With this luxurious ingredient, these products create an entirely indulgent bath experience. By having no animal testing, dyes or chemicals, these natural lotions and scrubs are fantastic for everyone, even sensitive skin types who normally shy away from commercialized products.

There’s a wide range of commodities that do more than entice the senses. Besides the products that contain grapes from the family vineyard, Cinzia grows her own organic herbs to add to her creations like rosemary, lavender, and thyme. For this time of year, there are seasonal scents like Harvest Moon and Freshly Baked Zin. Even her Pomegranate Syrah scent is made with homegrown pomegranates! Other items available include the Energizing Coffee Sugar Scrub and the Tea Tree Dead Sea Mud Facial Mask.

Oh, and while your bathing in spa quality crushed grapes seeds, wine and organic herbs all in a steaming hot bath tub don’t forget to try the Cabernet Wine Filled European Dark Chocolates. If that’s not enough to lure you in, read on to get to know Cinzia a bit better and see how one woman is changing the way you think about wine. It’s not just a delicious accompaniment to dinner anymore.

What inspired you to make such unique products?

Ever since I was a young child, I’ve always been fond of cosmetics. When my grandmother moved from Sicily to Chicago in the early 1970’s, she worked as a cosmetic manufacturer for Avon’s plant for over 25 years. She used to send me all sorts of cosmetics: lipsticks, perfumes, eyeshadows, ect. She would send me lotions and perfumes, and I always loved to mix scents and ingredients just to create my own unique scent.

From there, I ended up becoming a product junkie and told myself that someday I would like to create my own line of products.

What made you want to create spa products incorporating the ingredient of wine?

One day my mother and I were organizing our wine cellar and she was upset that my father created too much wine. She kept asking me, “what are we going to do with all of this wine?” Then later that night, I had an idea. I knew that drinking wine was a great health benefit for people, so I decided to research on the skin benefits of wearing wine, as opposed to drinking it. Based on the amount and extentive research I did, I found out so many fascinating things about the “beauty” of wine. The main thing I found out was that Wine is an antioxidant, anti-aging agent, and I found out that years ago, many women used to actually bath in wine to maintan their youthful appearance. I began to experiment with the different wines from our wine cellar, mixing fragrances, and eventually created my own wine sugar scrubs, whipped body creams, and massage oils.

How important are natural and organic ingredients to you?

It is extremely important for me because I have such delicate skin. So in essence, I thought that creating products without any harmful preseravatives and dyes, would be the ‘natural’ thing for me to do based on my own experience. I didn’t want to create an ordinary scrub or lotion. Most of commercialized spa products are filled with many toxins that are harmful to your skin and the sad thing is that most people aren’t educated enough to know about this.

Did you design all the scents yourself?

Yes, I designed the scents myself and blend the scents with the wines to make them more unique.

How much influence does your families’ vineyard have on your products?

My family’s vineyard has a huge influence on my products, mainly for the fact that we do grow our own grapes without using any pesticides, produce and market the wines ourselves, and we market our wines as ’sulite free, naturally fermented’, meaning that we don’t use any harmful preservatives in our wines.

What’s the best part of creating spa products for you clients?

So far the best part is that I’ve met some incredibly intelligent and well respected business owners. I’ve learned a lot from them from gaining marketing skills to learning how to balance being a business owner and spending quality time with my family and friends at the same time. My clients range from spa business owners to housewives who truly know how to appreciate a homemade quality spa product.

What’s your favorite product that you’ve created?

This is actually tough to answer. Mainly because I am the type of person who loves different types of scents, which is why I am in this business. Depending on my mood, that is how I will decide what scent I will wear for that day. I believe that the Cabernet scent is a truly unique blended scent that I created because I haven’t smelled anything like it before.

What do your Cabernet wine filled Chocolates taste like? What about the Cabernet Sauvignon jelly?

Our Cabernet wine filled chocolates are absolutely the best high quality wine filled chocolates I’ve ever tried. They’re dark European Chocolates and filled with just the amount of wine. Our Cabernet Wine Jellies are just as great tasting as our wine chocolates. My mother is actually the creater of the wine jellies. She makes them perfect, added with just enough sugar to blend with the wines. Our wine jellies taste great with toasted bread, bagels, crepes, or as a dessert toppings.

What’s the least enjoyable part of living on a vineyard? The best?

Well owning a vineyard is a lot of hard labor, mainly ensuring the vineyard and tasting room are well kept and organized. It can become overwhelming at times. Sometimes I feel that we work a little too hard, but as a end result, our hard work does pay off. The best part is inviting a group of friends or clients over for dinner and sitting outside and watching the sunset. Great company, good wine and food is very much appreciated by my friends and clients.

For more on Accardi Vineyards please visit here.

For more on Cinzia’s bath line, Green Visions, please visit here.