January 31, 2008 2:54 PM,  Dain said...

Hm, it looks a little messy and matted to me, but I agree that the first thing you notice are those vivid green earrings. My first thought was, "Oy, great color on her." I adore Cate Blanchett, truly one of the finest actresses we have today. It makes me really angry to think Gwyneth Paltrow got the oscar that one time for Shakespeare in Love and it's like, PALTROW!!!? HOLLYWOOD NEPOTISM!

January 31, 2008 5:08 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

Weeellll...I saw Shakespeare in Love. It was good, there's no doubt about it. Most American actors can't do English accents, for the same reason English actors usually end up doing American Southern accents--there isn't quite such a thing as a generic English or American accent. The only way to emulate is to choose a specific region, and that takes more time to study.

There is a definite "shmooze factor" in Hollywood. Spike Lee always got passed over. It's not a reflection of the quality of work by any means.

January 31, 2008 5:52 PM,  Dain said...

It's a fine movie, but the day that they pass up Cate Blanchett in favor of Paltrow is the day I stopped watching the Academy Awards.

January 31, 2008 7:36 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

To me it's like a soccer game anyway...unless you're hanging out with a bunch of people and drinking beer, there isn't much point watching the entire show. You can always catch the highlights later on. :)

There's a stone called chrome diopside that looks sort of like those earrings--at least it does on the Net. I've never seen it in real life.

January 31, 2008 7:50 PM,  Dain said...

Yeah, they've been giving the wrong awards to the wrong people since the very beginning, eh? Judy Garland never got hers for A Star is Born and neither did Bette Davis for either All About Eve or Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

Perhaps malachite might do? I know it's a deeper green, but...

Hm, the box I sent you should arrive in a week. I've included to tiny pearls, perhaps they could go atop a deep purpley amethyst in a similar style, though perhaps less dramatic. And in gold, since that would match better.

February 1, 2008 2:43 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

I did a little digging, there wasn't much info about the green earrings on the Net. Unusual, since part of the point of having celebs wear jewelry is to publicize the jeweler. I found one article which said they were "natural jade and diamond." That's some jade!

February 2, 2008 4:39 AM,  Dain said...

Playing with color combinations:
rose quartz + labradorite
lavender amethysts + amber (I like the idea of this one)
deep pink + rich blue (good on a brunette, I think)

February 2, 2008 2:34 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

Ya know, the more I'm doing this, the more complicated it seems to get. Odd, because I always thought it would get simpler. The mechanical aspect of making the stuff has definitely become far easier, but the design part just gets deeper and deeper.

February 2, 2008 4:14 PM,  Dain said...

I think that's probably true of anything. Look at people who design clothes, for chrissakes. Karl Lagerfeld sends a model down the runway in a denim bra and everyone's like, "Oh, that Karl. He really knows how to demonstrate the French attitude for play. Of course, he's genius. I love him."

February 2, 2008 5:16 PM,  Colleen Shirazi said...

Eh...people can become lazy once they become successful. They tried much harder when they still had to struggle. It can backfire though. People get bored if you keep churning out the same old thing, no matter how prestigious your name has become.

It is odd though...before, I thought, all I have to do is get good at the mechanics, and come up with a few really good "templates." Then just plug in different stones. lol I have yet to be able to do that. Each stone and cut and size seems to require its own design. I suppose I should see it that way...start with the stones, then figure out what to do with them.

February 2, 2008 8:15 PM,  Dain said...

What I found intriguing about jewelry design is how it's not intuitive, in a sense. You take a little bit but you can use it many, many ways. That's kind of cool, in the sense that I've always really liked jigsaw puzzles. Jewelry design is rather like that to some degree.

But I'll admit I find the idea of color combination with stones more intriguing. I mean, it's a little like playing with makeup colors, and in some sense, you need to have the stuff on hand to get a good sense, but that seems like the easiest, fun part. (Not the mechanics, poo!)

I was in Jo-Ann fabrics the other day getting a clasp for the pearl strand, and I noticed that these cloudy lavender beads would really work well with amber drops. They contrast perfectly with each other, and yet, they are slightly unexpected, no? It's interesting to me because you want the piece to look, somehow, whole, at a glance, so that you can wear them and not have to think about it too much. And yet, they should have some excellence as you draw closer in.

Ehhh... that's making no sense. Like a NARS duo. Lol.