The Elegant Muse Blog

The next season of Miss Scarlet and the Duke begins soon, and I can hardly wait to watch Eliza Scarlet decipher the clues and red herrings and spar with her friend and potential love interest, Inspector William “the Duke” Wellington in Victorian London. With dreams of my favorite period drama characters wearing a piece of my jewelry, I even named this striking statement ring, Miss Scarlet. I like to think she’d love wearing it with her favorite silks and satins. This particular ring was made using 1920’s earring piece from Czechoslovakia - it’s adjustable and one-of-a-kind. Learn more about Miss Scarlet here. ...

I think yellow must be the most underrated, seldom worn color around, and I feel bad that such a joyful color is often neglected. Why don't we wear yellow? Now I can understand not wanting to wear an entire yellow outfit and looking like a highlighter, but a touch of yellow - as in a piece of jewelry, a scarf, or a pair of shoes - adds a spark of brightness other colors just don’t. Think of it - so many lovely things are yellow: Sun Lemons Daffodils Baby ducklings Lemonade Canaries What would you add to this list? Finally, my Anastasia necklace is...

My dear mother-in-law, known by the family as “Memaw,” loved jewelry. I mean, really loved it. She had boxes and boxes of treasures she’d worn over the years - from inexpensive costume pieces she’d purchased herself, to fine pieces she’d received as special occasion gifts, to family heirloom items - and I believe she adored each and every one of them. A few years after her passing we gathered to sift through her collection - her husband (“Hop”), two daughters, my husband, and I. Memories are so often wrapped up in our jewelry, and I think we all knew that unwrapping...

Some people spend September grieving for Summer and others ponder the dreaded arrival of Winter. But I like to spend every possible moment soaking up Fall, even if temperatures soar into the 90’s, as it’s my favorite time of year! Maybe it started when I was young and we shopped for school supplies and new clothes (in Southern California in the 1960’s that meant new dresses!) Or maybe it was annual apple picking, pumpkin carving, trick-or treating and the Thanksgiving gathering of family.  Whatever the seed was that blossomed into my love for Fall, I plan to keep on holding...

When my Mom lived on a farm we used to sit at the kitchen table in the morning, sipping our coffee and watching the birds. She had feeders hanging throughout the yard, which was shaded by old oak trees and flanked by cornfields. It was bird heaven. So when I started finding buttons from the Victorian era and learned how the fashionable women of that time loved to wear birds on their hats, boas, and in the form of exquisitely carved buttons, I knew I had to create pieces showing off their beauty. Each one is a tiny work of...