Very "Pretty Pretty" Keys

A key is a symbol of all forces that open and close, bind and release. It stands for liberation and incarceration. A key is always tied to the concept of locking or unlocking. {historicallocks.com}

I am so in love with "keys".  Especially old, vintage ones.  I can remember my Aunt Alice having a skeleton key for her house {and that was in the 1970's}. 

{http://www.coolchaser.com}

There is just something about how pretty, unique and articlate old keys are.  So many of my Pretty Pretty pieces are designed to mimic old vintage and antique jewelry from my own collection.  Although I dont have any vintage jewelry with keys, I do have a few antique keys decorating my home.  And from this moment on I will be searching for skeleton keys to use in my jewelry while I'm shopping around the antique stores.

 

In the mean time I have found some cool ones to work with.

What will your key unlock???

YOUR DREAMS

YOUR SECRETS

YOUR MEMORIES

YOUR JOURNEY'S





AND EVERYONE'S FAVORITE...

THE KEY TO YOUR HEART!!!

AND MY FAVORITE!

THE KEY TO LIFE!!!

Some of my favorite "key" quotes

Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness.
Oliver Wendell Holmes

Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening.
Mohandas Gandhi

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
Bill Cosby

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
Albert Schweitzer

Besides pride, loyalty, discipline, heart, and mind, confidence is the key to all the locks.
Joe Paterno

Thank you for reading. xo Kim



I Love Hill Tribe Fine Silver!!!

One of my favorite components to work with are my materials from the Hill Tribe villages in Thailand.

Pretty Pretty Hill Tribe Collection

These pieces are all handmade in The  Hill Tribes in Thailand. Thai Hill Tribe silver has a wonderful rustic look. This distinctive style is due to the very simple, primitive tools that are available to the silversmiths, who live in isolated villages far from the city. They work with fine, 100% silver, which is a higher silver content than sterling silver.  I mix these pieces with glass seed beads and semi-precious stones to create  unique beautiful pieces of high quality jewelry.

http://www.prettyprettyjewel.com/Hill-Tribe-Jewelry.html



http://www.prettyprettyjewel.com/Bracelets.html



Hill tribe peoples migrated over 1000 years ago from the southern part of China into Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam and Thailand. They have preserved their way of life with little change for over a thousand years. The Hill Tribes consist of six distinct tribal groups, each with its own characteristic dress, customs and styles of ornamentation. The Tribes are known in Thailand as the Karen (Kariang, Yang), the Hmong (Meo), the Mien (Yeo), the Akha (Kaw), the Lahu (Mussur), and the Lisu (Lisaw). All of the tribes do silversmithing. All of the tribal peoples wear beads. It's just that not all of the people make all of the beads. Some of them actually have their beads made by other tribes. Some of the tribes simply make silver and beads for their own consumption; others are more motivated to make additional products for trade with the outside world (which I am thankful for).

Passing on their culture

The villagers have traditional tribal methods passed down from generation to generation. On close inspection you will notice that no two pieces are exactly alike, attesting to the handmade nature of these beautiful pieces. 

Hill Tribe silver jewelry is renowned throughout the world for it's purity, beautiful artisan crafting & exquisite designs.  I hope you love and appreciate it as much as I do.  I try to create my Hill Tribe jewelry designs as "timeless" pieces that you'll treasure forever.  I know I treasure mine!  I wear my black agate gemstone bangles everyday.

 

You can find more of my Hill Tribe creations on my website: PrettyPrettyJewel.com

or in my Pretty Pretty Etsy Shop.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my new blog.  I am going to try this again, lol.  I would really love it if you'd follow me on this adventure I am about to embark on.  I will try my best to keep it interesting and fun.  Thanks so much.

My name is Kimberly Kreamer, I am the creative force behind Pretty Pretty handcrafted jewelry.
I am a native New Yorker, with a strong background in fashion, merchandising & design.
When my third child was born, I stopped working in the fashion field and started studying the craft of jewelry making. I try to keep my designs hip and trendy and I like to say that they are made especially for today's "Spiritually Aware & Fashionable Consumer". 
My designs are mostly inspired by my faith, family, friends and nature. I love to just sit down and create original pieces.  I never really know what I'm going to make, I sit at my desk and look around at the materials laying in front of me and it comes to me then.

My workspace



My Desk



As of right now I work in a corner of my home.  I have a large desk to work on, with lots of wall space to hang things, and a nice big sliding glass door right behind me which gives me lots of natural light.  But unfortunately this space is in the front hall of my house.  So you walk in the front door and BAM, Pretty Pretty is right in your face!  My dream workshop is a small building in my backyard.  Somewhere I can go and be ALONE, which right now is IMPOSSIBLE do to the fact that I am smack dab in the middle of everything that's going on.  Constant interruptions from children, phone ringing, opening and closing the slider behind me to let the dog in and out, in and out.  Ahhhh one day I will have that little workshop.

Workshop Inspiration

  Some day...In the mean time I am a full time wife and mother.  Meet my family; "The Kreamer's";



Pretty Pretty Ava Selene, 8 
My baby girl.  She is the inspiration behind the name of my business.  It is what we have always called her.
Well, she's still very pretty, fun, wild and crazy but she is quite the girly girl.  She always has on a piece of my jewelry or one of her own creations. (I made the elephant she is wearing, she made the wood choker, not bad). 



Maximos, 9 
The sweetest boy in all the land.  Since the day he was born this child was, loving, caring, kind, smart and so observant.  He is someone that can find a compliment for anyone.  I wish I could be as nice as he is.  I so admire him.





Kohl 17
My first baby.  He is the person in my life that taught me how to love unconditionally, and I am so grateful to him for that.  But right now; he is 17, learning to drive, learning to work, learning about people and relationships , going into his senior year in high school and driving me out of my mind. Ha ha.  But he is also very funny and one of the most polite young men I know.  And I am very proud to call him my son!



Kenny, my husband, my best friend, my soul mate and my favorite person in the whole wide world.

We have been together forever and before that we were best friends.  I can hardly remember him "not" being in my life, and I don't know where I'd be with out him.  He pushes me up,  inspires me to be a better person, he rights all of my wrongs and gives me wisdom and knowledge in my faith.  Without him I would be lost.

Well, that's all about me and my life.  I plan on making this blog mostly about my jewelry and fashion, but I'm sure there will be some family drama tucked into it also.  Thank you for taking the time to get to know me and my family.  I look forward to getting to know you too.  God Bless!