As students and families prepare to send their babies off to college, I know I am coming up with ways to celebrate the occasion. My son is about to leave for his first year of college, my daughter is beginning her junior year in college, and my husband and I are about to be empty-nesters—a concept of which I am still in disbelief.
Of course, all their respective college swag items are options to get them excited about their new schools. I, of course, owning a collegiate jewelry design company, have a little different idea in mind that I would love for you to consider in the off chance I have pieces at your school. If not, bear with me, I am expanding all the time!
One of my favorite newer designs that I am proud of, if I have to say so myself, is my Faith in Baylor necklace. I choose schools for which I make designs in large part by those which have a logo that sparks my attention and brings to mind an interesting design idea. The Baylor necklace is one such school and one such design that I think turned out particularly well. I am proud of all my designs, and hope they are enjoyed by the college families who attend those universities for years to come, but the Baylor design, I think, really captures the essence of the school. Baylor is a fine university academically that also places a strong emphasis on faith. Combining the two I felt was important in the design, while not diminishing one for the other. The result is a Baylor University necklace that is at once an expression of one’s pride in Baylor as well as, and as important as, an expression of one’s faith. Check it out as a gift option for a Baylor student in your life.
I try to design my college jewelry pieces to express the essence of the school for which I am designing. I love the Ralphie silhouette of the Lady Ralphie Necklaces for the University of Colorado, not an in your face logo, but a subtle, elegant interpretation of CU’s beloved Buff! The striking Colorado School of Mines logo is eye-catching and beautiful left to speak for itself elegantly and definitively. I absolutely love the Mines logo. My brand-new Jackson State University necklace incorporating their “I BELIEVE” slogan stands as such a strong statement encompassing so many aspects of the world today, and results is such incredibly powerful 2 words.
I put a ton of thought and care into the look, feel, quality, and feelings provoked in all my designs. This is the work of my crazy, creative mind that I am putting out into the world for all to see. It is terrifying, intimidating, and not the least be nauseating to put myself out there like this. However, as the legendary Babe Ruth one said, “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”