Stud Love, Vol. 1

Black Quartz Stud Earrings, $16 from dinosaurtoes
Mini Simple Sterling Silver Stud Earrings, $8 from VirginiaWynne

Yesterday I wore my biggest earrings and suffered for it. Though I love my large, leaf-shaped earrings, they are very uncomfortable on a windy day. Sometimes you just need a good pair of studs to keep things short and simple.

Here are five of my favorite post earrings from Etsy. I think this will have to be a series of posts, because I have a lot of trouble narrowing down my favorites.


World Map Stud Earrings, $20 from bloomyjewelry


Diamond Shaped Beaded Stud Earrings, $45 from saracramer


Minimalist Triangle Stud Earrings, $12 from GoldandSilverLining

All photos are copyright their respective shops.

Animal Earrings by Faz Jewelry

Grey and white striped cat earrings

These aren't for everyone, but I think they're so funny and cute I thought I should share. Faz Jewelry on Etsy makes jewelry by encasing photographs in resin.

Sleeping cat earrings

Most of the earrings offered are cats, but there are also a few dogs and even a chinchilla! The artist has been working with resin for 3 years and has been creating these double-sided resin pieces for over a year, so she knows what she's doing.

Brown Pomeranian earrings

These are the perfect gift for the cat lady animal lover in your life! See the entire collection in Faz Jewelry's Etsy shop.

Cute grey & white cat earrings

Lover's Eye Brooches

1. For sale at rubylane.com 2. Sold by georgianjewelry.com 3. Sold by georgianjewelry.com 4. Sold by georgianjewelry.com

As a teenager, I had a large section of one bedroom wall collaged with single, vignetted eyes, of all shapes and sizes, cut from various magazines. Some visitors to my abode found the display cool, others creepy, but I always liked the way it looked. Eyes can convey so much, and each one is as different as their owners. Therefore, when I saw these "lover's eye" brooches, I was smitten.

A Ring For Every Occasion

I'm excited to announce that Sam's younger brother Harrison will be arriving in a few short weeks for a two month stay in New Zealand! Most people laugh and say, "I wish," when I command invite them to visit us, but Harry really knows how to deliver.

Sam has been preparing by stocking up on supplies for a gold panning tour of the South Island. He envisions us finding enough gold to make a second set of wedding bands to go behind our titanium rings. Ideas like this remind me how lucky I was to find him. (There's a "striking gold" pun in there, but I'm going to pretend I didn't see it.)

Even if this hopeful dream falls short, and we find only flakes, I know we will have fun. Still, I have found myself thinking about rings lately, and then I decided I should write a post about some of the amazing rings I've come across in the past few months. Most of them are out of my price range, but there's nothing wrong with dreaming, right?

The Standouts:

With gemstones and bold forms, these are the rings that shout "Look at me! My hands are covered in awesome!" I am pretty sure I would hurt myself on the spiky one, though.

Rutilated quartz rings by Babette con Dohnanyi

Sale this weekend at Harbinger Co.

Harbinger Co. out of San Francisco has long been one of my favorite Etsy shops, ever since I first spotted their laser cut bamboo jewelry.  Their bold, graphic style belies a light, delicate material that doesn't weigh down the earlobes.  Within a week of buying a pair of earrings for myself, my friend Hillary sent me a pair in the mail.  What can I say?  She knows what I like.

The shop has since expanded its range to silver & gold jewelry as well as prints and laser cut boxes.  Lots of well crafted products, all made in the USA!