Many of you know that my friend Hobbs Wells and I have been working on a hand crafted fine jewelry collection called ABCoLab. Well, it’s finally ready to launch and we can’t wait to share it with you first! Please join us, along with Rachel Ancliffe of Ancliffe Collection, on June 27, 28 & 29 at Halo Shoes in the Pearl District of Portland.
A little back story about ABCoLab… Hobbs and I get together to talk fashion/style/art/jewelry/business about once a month over wine and appetizers at her kitchen table. We’ve done this since we met about 10 years ago. At one point, she was curious about making jewelry and so I showed her some simple beading techniques. Well, it wasn’t too long before she was collecting tools and materials and signing up for classes! Now she has an awesome jeweler’s studio where she hones her skills as a designer and metalsmith.
We who make jewelry know, there is a lot of trial and error at first as we figure out our own methods of making. And there is beauty with imperfection. But how amazing is it to see your designs come to life?
Eventually we decided it was time to collaborate. I had been approached to create a custom headpiece for Liv Warfield who, at the time, was on tour with Prince. I knew I could not do it alone. Hobbs and I worked on it together, with her doing the heavy lifting, and that’s when ABCoLab was conceived. These days, my personal styling business is my full time gig, so I’ve had very little time to participate in the making of this collection. I’ve had the pleasure to co-design it with Hobbs, but she’s been hammering the pieces out (literally), setting the stones, forging the metal, and making our designs real. It’s been a labor of love for the sake of meaningful fashion, co-creation and fun! It is a bold collection made of second skin and statement pieces and it’s very well priced considering each piece is one-of-a-kind and handmade with sterling silver, 14k yellow gold, sapphires, diamonds, and other precious gemstones. We are so excited to finally get to show you what we’ve been up to! Stop by for a visit!
