Love Brigade

We met Chris (Tinypants), Alyssa and Jamie, owners and creators of Love Brigade, at St. Louis Fashion Week. We're so impressed with the philosophy of their design which emanates throughout the entire collection. Sexy, flirty, sleekly deconstructed...... sophisticated. I bought five of their pieces at fashion week and have injected them permanently into my regular wardrobe rotation with glee. Yes, glee ;) Check out their blog from STL Fashion Week. Tinypants posted a picture of us featuring me wearing my newly purchased Shadow Dress. Already worn it at least one other time, guys! Love your stuff!!!!!!!! Nice Grand Canyon dress...

Love Bridage! St. Louis Fashion Week

Tinypants and Shadow Dress

Luxe De Ville

Scarlett Garnet is now available at Luxe De Ville Boutique in Echo Park, 2151 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026. Oskar, the owner, loves carrying DYI artists' work in his boutique and he was really receptive to checking out what two indie jewelry designers from Missouri had to offer. This boutique is simply FANTASTIC! Oskar has a great eye for buying vintage items and keeps the store unique by selling both old and new. The variety is superb, with price points all across the board. It's simply got something for everyone. We are thrilled to be selling at Luxe De Ville. Thanks Oskar, for helping out indie designers! Go to their review on Yelp to see all the awesome things other people are saying about this boutique.

Oskar, hard at work manning the front counter.

Oskar hand-picked these necklaces made with moluska fossils, turtle claws, gemstones, and Peruvian jewel beetle casings.

Peruvian Jewel Beetle Casings and gemstone earrings

Make It Bake It color block earrings.

Arizona Tea recycled aluminum and Make It Bake It plastic earrings.

And more giant plastic earrings.

Love the front entrance!

J Robert Schraeder Photography

J Robert Schraeder was generous enough to take time out of his very busy schedule to help out Scarlett Garnet with our new line, Necromantic. I gathered my friends, Emily and Hilary, and we had a blast modeling the new jewelry line on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Schraeder's studio. I borrowed all the skulls from Mercy Seat Tattoo and we had a fun time using them as props. I told him that I wanted the photos to be dark and sexy and I think you'll agree that he nailed it! Thank you, Robbie, for all your amazing photos! Thanks also to my lovely models, Emily and Hilary, and to the Mercy Seat for donating the skulls. Fabulous collaboration all around!

Necromantic

Katie and I, generally, are two sweet and innocent girls (ok, maybe not THAT innocent) but we do have a darker side. It really came out with our newest line, Necromantic. We were inspired by the prairie dog paws, porcupine quills, Peruvian jewel beetle casings and other creepy yet beautiful items we found at Necromance in Los Angeles. It started out as a simple fascination and challenge of making dead things into beautiful jewelry pieces. As it turns out, we're not the only ones who appreciate the juxtaposition of gemstones and precious metals paired with taxidermy and animal bones. The new jewelry has been selling so well, that we decided to make it into our new line. We've sold these pieces and one-of-a-kind items similar in style to Luxe De Ville in LA, Birdies and Mercy Seat Tattoo in Kansas City, Blush Boutique in St. Louis, and Love Brigade in Brooklyn is placing their order from the new line. It turns out that death really is beautiful in the end! All the photos were taken by J Robber Schraeder.

Snake Vertebrae Earrings - $30

Bone and Brass Earrings - $24

Porcupine Quill Earrings - $28

Jewel Beetle Fringe Necklace - $35

Badger Tooth and Beetle Shell Necklace - $41

Prairie Dog Paw and Turquoise - $41

Necromance in Los Angeles

We've been bewitched by the coolest, creepiest store in Los Angeles, Necromance. The store sells everything from human skulls and taxidermy to vintage doll parts and skeleton keys. We were already making jewelry out of bullet casings and feathers when we found the store, so it was only natural to add bones, prairie dog paws, porcupine quills and beetle shell casings to the line. We had to blog about Necromance because they truly helped inspire our new line, Necromantic. Plus, the owner is really nice and she sends our orders to us in really fun vintage syringe boxes. Did I mention they have not one, but two taxidermy peacocks at the store??? It's worth a visit for that alone! The next time you're in LA, check out their store at 7220 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046. You'll be sure to find something creepy and wonderful to take home. Be sure to check them out online as well. Thank you, Necromance, for being our inspiration!!

Off the Record and Sew What at Art Dimensions 3rd Floor Gallery

Art Dimensions' Call for Artists are fairly broad, leaving a wide variety of artists access to having their work displayed in an excellent gallery in the heart of downtown St. Louis. I submitted two pieces to the Off the Record and Sew What shows this year, my first submission to Art D!

Off the Record- Use vinyl in your work

I dug my jeweler's saw into unfamiliar territory, sawing delicate swirls into the vinyl, and echoed the shapes on the opposite side with spray paint. When I picked it up afterward, Gina Weaver (the method behind the madness of the 3rd Floor Gallery) said people kept asking, "How did she do that?"

Criteria : Sew What- Use stitching, fabric, or any image that evokes sewing

Seamstresses have piles of fabric remnants than can later be sewn together to create a colorful new creation. Metalsmiths have piles of copper, sharp edges, and odd angles. Strictly using the scraps from my workbench and minimal cutting or alteration, I "sewed" together pieces of copper with sterling wire to create a classic Katie asymmetrical necklace.

Una Mae's Boutique

Katie and I hit the pavement in Los Angeles after the Renegade Craft Fair to scout for boutiques to sell our line. After hitting up several dozen boutiques in many areas of LA, we finally found uNa Mae's on 4651 Kingswell Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027-4301, (323) 662-6137. The owner, Karen, was so friendly and totally into independent designers. After looking through our collection of one-of-a-kind designs, she ended up stocking her store with some make and bake, vintage, feather, and cut metal pieces. Check out Una Mae's every time you visit LA or Chicago, (yes, they have two amazing locations!) They carry a mixture of specially hand-picked vintage and modern clothing and accessories, creating a truly unique shopping experience every time you visit. We are so thrilled to be a part of this forward thinking boutique! Thank you, uNa Mae's!!!

Cute sign!

Katie completing our order at the front desk. Love the vintage displays!

Quite possibly the largest and healthiest jade plant I've seen. Succulents just thrive in the LA desert. I've personally not only killed, but murdered, every jade plant I've ever tried to nurture here in KCMO. I blame it on our crazy seasonal weather patterns, not on my black thumb. Nice ambiance, uNa Mae's!

Karen custom ordered these CA necklaces cut from copper set with black pearls on antique copper chain. We surprised her with a freebie CA cut from a record paired with labradorite and sterling silver chain. That's right, boutique buyers, if you order from us, you might get freebies from time to time. That truly does not suck, right? Order from us!!

I found this vintage skeleton key at the KC Rivermarket Antique Mall and set it with a mixture of large vintage links and new modern chain. I still think about this design and hope it found a good home :( Miss you, love...

Make and Bake plastic jewelry galore! Karen loved the recycled aluminum cherry blossom earrings and ship earrings. These are sooooo large yet super light weight. My kind of statement earring!

Vintage German enamel pendant (hand picked from a market in San Francisco by Katie) mixted with copper chain. Yum! Yum!

More Make and Bake! This is a label from an Anchor Steam Beer - yes, that counts as recycling! Do you have any idea how hard those labels are to pick off without tearing? The other is an Arizona Tea label, also difficult to remove from the bottle without tearing. So, yes, you can wear these and gloat that you are going green. Do it!

White feather and swarovski crystal copper scarf necklace. What can I say, it's just sexy. Buy it, wear it! You will not regret it.

Thank you, Karen, for not only supporting independent designers but also for trusting in the design capabilities of complete strangers from Missouri (of all places) who wandered into your boutique one random Tuesday this past mid July. We are proud to say that uNa Mae's is the first boutique in LA to carry Scarlett Garnet Jewelry!!!! Thank you Karen, Scarlett Garnet hearts uNa Mae's forever!!!

Los Angeles Renegade Craft Fair July 2009

Katie and I had the pleasure of vending in the first annual Los Angeles Renegade Craft Fair July 12th & 13th and the California Market Center in downtown LA. We had a blast selling jewelry, scouting for boutiques, surfing, and, of course, going out. Check out our photos from our week in LA.

Scarlett Garnet moves to LA

Manning our booth

View of downtown LA from the top floor of the CA Market Center where the vendors were set up for the craft fair.

Our booth buddy, Shelia, of Destroyed By Design

Shelia's awesome set up. It's so nice when two different jewelry design companies get along so well in one booth. Pretty rare.

Hello KT

Customers - our favorite!!! Thanks for the support :)

Found some cows while scouting for boutiques. Felt right at home, as if we were back in the midwest.

Me and Katie at the, ahem... excuse me!, ETSY sponsored after party, (what!??!!!) where we drank mojitos and ate taquitos compliments of the online DIY shopping network itself. ETSY wined and dined the RCF vendors with the ploy to pick our brains for feedback on ways to better improve ETSY to suit even more of our DIY crafting needs. ETSY, you're PERFECT! We heart you! Wine and dine us again, any time, please. Love, SG.

What can we say, ETSY got our night off to a fantastic start. It's only natural to dance on motion activated light blocks from the future after several mojitos and not nearlly enough taquitos. Go Katie, go!!!

Yes, we are rockstars. It's the same Saturday night after the Renegade, after the mojitos, and we're still at it, courtesy of some local friends who showed us the LA night life ropes. We're drinking PBR tall boys and dancing it up LA style. T'was fun!!

Different night out in LA after a looooong day of boutique scouting. Hitting the pavement and talking to strangers trying to sell your product is exhausting! We needed a drink. Oh, and looky here - a whole entire vase full of peacock feathers. Must pose next to them.

Scarlett Garnet cuts loose in Malibu!!!!!!! Rather, we suffocate ourselves by stuffing our bodies into these impossibly tight wetsuits. It was the first time ever surfing for both of us, courtesy of our new found friends, Burak and Jehungir (sorry, I totally butchered the spelling of your name - phonetically pronounced "ja" "hung" "eer". Hope that makes up for it.) Not only did they teach us the basics of surfing, they also taught us all the "cool" lingo like, "shredding the gnar" and, "shred sled". Bro. It was a much needed, very nice treat after working all weekend long at the Renegade Craft Fair. Thank you, new found friends in LA. Thank you very much!

Yes, we surfed on these boards. It was awesome! We got up a few times, may have not stayed up for long, but at least we tried. Surfing is hard!!! Yet fun - let's do it again sometime.

Alas, this marks the end of our amazing LA experience. After hanging around the downtown and hanging out in Echo Park & Silverlake, we've got to agree, Los Angeles rocks! We look forward to next year!!!!