I love following fashion trends, especially when it comes to color. By following the color trends, you are free to interpret current fashion based on what you already have in your wardrobe. By making a few simple adjustments, you can play along with what is fresh now.

With today being the first day of spring, I would like to showcase the new designs that I have been working on…one trend color at a time. Today I’m going to

think pink.

According to Pantone’s Fashion Color Report, there are three pinks for spring 2009, everything from a light petal pink to a 1980’s hot pink.

The softest and lightest of the three is Rose Dust. Pantone calls it a stabilizing neutral that provides practicality in a changing economic landscape. This pink is a soft color – a warm blush – that I associate with ballerina slippers. The nice thing about this neutral color is that it is very flexible and goes with almost every other color. I especially like wearing it with a medium, milk chocolate brown.

In the middle pink range is Salmon Pink. Think inside-of-a-conch-shell pink. Pantone says this pink is friendly, approachable and conveys an optimistic outlook. This color is almost a neutral and looks great with all skin tones. For a fresh look, try wearing it with navy, khaki or grey.

Accessories in bright, hot colors like Fuchsia are the perfect way to perk up your spring outfits. According to Pantone, this sensual and seductive color with its blue undertones is a real show-stopper, adding a sense of elegance to the palette. Bright colors look best in small doses – you don’t want to wear it head to foot, but an accessory or two with your basics adds a nice fresh punch.

Have fun with adding pink to your outfits. Try layering in a few strands to add dimension or when you are feeling less is more, a simple pendant may be just what you need.

All of these designs now available for viewing or for purchase on our site, just click on the pictures.

Happy Spring!

All color swatches courtesy of the Pantone.com fashion color report, 2009.

Since early times, aquamarine was thought to bestow insight, courage, and happiness on the wearer. It was also believed to increase intelligence and make one youthful. The Romans believed that aquamarine would heal ailments of the digestive system as well as the mouth and throat.

It was also thought that this stone ensured a long and happy married life. People of the Middle Ages believed that Aquamarine would reduce the effect of poisons as well as help with a good night’s sleep and cure eye troubles.
Is there anything this stone can’t do?

The traditional birthstone for March is the Bloodstone, a dark green gem with red flecks. It is a form of silica quartz.

A Christian legend traces the origin of Bloodstone to when Christ was hanging on the cross and blood dripped from his wounds onto pieces of green jasper that were laying at his feet.

As always, you can find more information about the jewelry pictured here on the Hearts Desire Jewelry website by clicking on the pictures.

Many thanks to all of my Entre Card visitors in February, but a special thanks go out to all of my top droppers of last month…

Limitless Adventure
Cheese and Chocolate
Mabelleverlsating’s Wisdom of the Heart
Margie and Edna’s Basement
The Fashion Lovers
loving you
Coloraddiction – glass, beads and color
Fermentedly Challenged
Living Life to the Fullest
PhotoDito

I’m currently testing out all sorts of new media options for marketing the HDJ website and blog. I have signed up with Entrecard and need to display their widget in my sidebar….but I don’t have a sidebar because of my site design. I’m going to post it here to see if that will work.

I was able to add a Pink Tourmaline necklace to the site in honor of the October babies. I love this necklace. It is so delicate and feminine, but not stuffy or serious. Each of the sticks or pencils of tourmaline looks to be an untouched organic crystal of the gemstone. They vary in size and shape. Some are ovals and some are hexagons. They fascinate me. For more pictures, check out the necklace on our site – http://www.heartsdesirejewelry.com/item.php?item_id=266&category_id=46

I am working on getting a nice enough picture of an Australian Opal piece, but for some reason the brilliant multi-color flashes that make an opal so endearing is being very elusive for my camera. I need to research my techniques and will hopefully have a good enough picture before this month is over! – Ann Marie

After a customer recently disclosed her newfound allergy to any jewelry with the metal nickel in it, I set off to do some research to find out what she could wear. She really did not want to give up wearing jewelry, but the nickel allergy would cause her to skin to break out in a rash.

What I found out was that once you develop an allergy to nickel, your skin will always be sensitive to it and you will develop inflamed, itchy, bumpy or blistered skin at the point of contact. There’s no cure for nickel allergy. The best approach to nickel allergy is to avoid contact with nickel.

These metals are considered hypoallergenic and safe to wear if you have an allergy:

-Solid gold (12 carat or more) and silver jewelry should be safe. Nine carat gold and white gold both contain nickel, so it is probably best to avoid them.

-Sterling Silver contains at least 92.5% silver. The most common sterling alloy is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. Tarnish resistant Argentium sterling is 1.2% germanium, 6.3% copper and 92.5% silver. Fine silver, sometimes stamped .999, is 99.9% pure silver, which means it is softer and more malleable than sterling.

-Stainless steel (although this contains nickel, it is so tightly bound that it cannot be leached out).

-Alloys contain more than one metal, brass for instance, contains up to 35% zinc, the rest is copper. While copper can cause allergies, this is rare. Bronze is an alloy of different metals but the most common blend is 90% copper and 10% tin.

- Niobium is a physiologically inert metal and thus hypoallergenic. It belongs to the precious metals family. Studies have shown that several people who are sensitive to other metals can comfortably tolerate niobium.

We use Soft Flex beading wire in our designs. It is made up of multiple strands of stainless steel wire twisted together for strength and then coated with nylon for protection. I have always assumed that it would not bother anyone with metal allergies, but just to be sure, I contacted the Soft Flex Company for their opinion. This was their response – Stainless steel alloy contains 8 to 10% nickel. Uncoated stainless steel is used to make kitchen utensils, pots & pans, sinks, automobile components, and a zillion other things we come in contact with every day. Considering the low nickel content in stainless steel and the nylon coating on our wire, the risk of an allergic reaction to nickel is extremely low.

I have read that the green gemstone Chrysoprase may owe its color in part to the presence of nickel. It occurs as more or less complex inorganic compounds, as “impurities” in the gemstone. I am not sure if this gemstone would cause an allergic reaction, so it is probably safest to avoid it.

Much of the silver and gold plated fashion jewelry out there is made of a base metal which can be mostly nickel. Sometimes it is made of a brass base which does not contain nickel.

Unless you know for sure what the metal content is, it is best to stop wearing all your old jewelry wardrobe and be careful of what you buy in the future. If you really can not stand the thought of parting with a sentimental favorite piece that has nickel in it, you can try creating a buffer between the metal and your skin by painting the piece with clear nail polish.

I hope this information is of help to those of you with allergies. I was able to find this information on reliable websites, but I am not an expert on the subject. If your doctor advises you otherwise…please follow that advice.

-Ann Marie