Monthly Archives: July 2009

Cool Rings in Real Life: Mark designed Ellie’s Ring!

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Ellie wrote to us with pictures of her gorgeous ring and the story of how her fiance, Mark, designed it. NeatO!

Ellies ring

Here’s what Ellie writes:

I don’t know if my ring qualifies as part of your showcasing rings that aren’t the typical diamond solitaire, because the stones in my ring are diamonds - but the ring itself isn’t typical.

My fiance, an engineer, designed my ring himself in SolidWorks, the same 3D modeling program he uses at work to design roller coasters. {Did you catch that? ROLLER COASTERS!}

He proposed with a 3D-printed plastic prototype of the ring that was scaled to just over twice the size of my ring, because when he tried to print it smaller, the plastic material was too thin and broke. The design for the ring was inspired by the Celtic triskele (triple spiral), creating a series of interwoven pairs of spirals. (If you’re interested, you can read more about this here.)

We got the ring made out of palladium because the mark-up on platinum is so insane, and white gold would need to be replated. We used a diamond as the center stone because my Aunt passed it to me when I was 16 and it is an heirloom stone. It’s .35 carats, so it falls into the range that usually makes people say, “oh, that’s….nice”, but it’s been my experience that because the ring itself is so interesting, nobody notices the size of the stone. (And I do divorce law for low-income clients, so I’m perfectly happy with a smaller-than-usual ring.) Additionally, anything larger would have been enormous with the setting.

I initially didn’t want a diamond, but it was important to my fiance that the ring have one, and since we had the heirloom, it didn’t have as much baggage; and it was important to me that if my ring was going to have a diamond, it didn’t look like a typical diamond solitaire. I’m so happy with what we came up with as a compromise.
Elliewithbigring

The picture of me is indeed the “big” ring, right after Mark proposed. It actually took about 5 weeks to find a designer and get the ring made, but it was so worth it.

Yay Ellie! Yay Mark!

Readers: Do you have an unusual engagement/wedding/commitment ring? We’d love to profile you here! Please send an email to helpfulturtle {at} turtleloveco {dot} com!

Cool Rings in Real Life: Princess Lasertron is awesome.

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PrincessLasertronrect

So, Princess Lasertron, a celebrity in her own right (check her out on Offbeat Bride) has beautiful rings, and she shared a bit of herself, plus pictures of the awesome rings that she and her husband wear. As you can see in the pictures, the insides of the bands read: Megan loves David loves Megan loves…

Prince Lasertron (Prince David?) also wears two rings - yay Prince Lasertron!

Princelasertronrect

PL: My name is Princess Lasertron and I am a bridal designer, blogger, and best friend. I love to make things and I have always had entrepreneurial tendencies. I live nocturnally, working through the night making floral accessories for brides like bouquets and hairpieces, designing dresses for fabulous people, and sharing inspiration with my customers through my website. I live in Omaha and I devote much of my time to supporting Omaha’s creative and entrepreneurial community.

TLC: What is your favorite place in the whole wide world?
PL: Waiting for the bus in the snow at Kurfurstendamm and Uhlandstrasse in downtown Berlin with one arm full of shopping bags and the other one holding a fresh croissant. I was a German major in college and spent a lot of time in Berlin, and we finally went together last year.

TLC: What’s your favorite color?
PL: I don’t have a favorite color, but I have favorite color combinations. Colors look best when they are hanging out with a friend. I love grey and yellow, teal and white, and hot pink thrown in anywhere.

TLC: Childhood ambition?
PL: When I was a younger girl I wanted to be all kinds of things, but streaks of creativity and entrepreneurship ran through all of my plans. I remain on track with my plan to be a jack-of-all-trades-I’m sort of a non-committal person.

TLC: Current ambition?
PL: I would love to write a book about approaching wedding planning as party planning. I’m working on a line of dresses for 2010. And I’d love to do a tour around the world teaching classes. Dreams.

TLC: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
PL: Buy a modest house and save the rest.

TLC: Who is your partner?
PL: I share a roof in midtown with my multi-talented husband, David Homan, our crybaby kitty Turbo, five computers and an Xbox 360. David has been my partner in crime for about five years. I loved him as soon as I knew him. He is very funny, very relaxed, very rational.

TLC: What does your wedding/engagement/commitment ring look like?
PL: Our stamped rings are from Kathryn Reichert and my sweet little faux-diamond ring is from Metalicious and has a faceted piece of cut silver instead of a stone. I found both jewelers on Etsy.

TLC: What do you think about your ring(s)?
PL: To me, they are accessories. I don’t really sentimentally value “symbolic” things, so to me they are not representative of us or anything deeper than what they are-silver rings. I like them because they are beautiful.

TLC: How did you and your partner decide to get married?
PL: I decided to ask Dave to marry me when I stopped visualizing myself as separate from him. I never wanted to be without him. I got him a ring, created a book about how we met and asked him on a trip I planned to Chicago. We both cried and he said yes.

TLC: What do you do for work?
PL: I started Princess Lasertron in 2005 creating custom bouquets out of felt, vintage buttons, and other ephemera. I love giving my customers an heirloom-quality piece that will bring a personal dimension to their wedding and everyday lives. What I love most about my job is meeting and collaborating with unique women whose weddings are a true representation of them and their partners.
Since our early beginnings, Princess Lasertron has grown to a three-person company that serves over 150 brides each year. Our line has expanded from simple hairpieces and brooches to gowns, bouquets, diy craft kits and the Princess Lasertron brand has reached hundreds of thousands of brides through magazines and online media.

TLC: What are you afraid of?
PL: Being a bad mother

TLC: What do you hope for?
PL: More of the same

TLC: What are you passionate about?
PL: I’m a devoted Libertarian, but I keep my political activism very separate from my professional work.

TLC: How many children do you have?
PL: No kiddos yet! It’s in the cards, though.

TLC: How many pets do you have?
PL: We have one kitty named Turbo.

TLC: Where would you rather be right now?
PL: That Berlin place I mentioned earlier.

TLC: Favorite joke?
PL: Situations and scenarios are funny to me, but I haven’t heard a funny joke in a long time.

TLC: Favorite book?
PL: Vor dem Gesetz by Kafka, and The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek. My favorite crafty-type book is Where Women Create by Jo Packham.

TLC: What is the last book you read?
PL: Eccentric Glamour by Simon Doonan. I’m not a fan of fiction.

TLC: Pet peeve?
PL: People who are really, really sure about things.

TLC: Favorite beverage?
PL: diet coke, lately

TLC: Sweetest indulgence?
PL: tempura fried brownie batter from blue sushi in downtown omaha

TLC: What is your favorite physical feature?
PL: I think I have nice lips. And nice fingernails. And freckles!

TLC: If you could be any animal, what would you be?
PL: My spirit animal is a badger.

If you haven’t already peeked at Princess Lasertron’s website and fabulous felt flowers - here’s a sampling of her magic:

PrincessLasertronBlueBouquet princesslasertronpinkflowers princesslasertronbuttonbouquet

Readers: Do you have an unusual wedding/engagement/commitment ring? We’d love to profile it here! Contact us at helpfulturtle {at} turtleloveco {dot} com.

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Cool Rings in Real Life: Little Miss Shadow Dozier’s gorgeous ring - Again!

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joliesring

Jolie at Little Miss Shadow Dozier, whose ring has been admired by many, agreed to share a bit about herself and her gorgeous engagement and wedding rings.

My conclusion: she’s awesome. I think you’ll agree.

What’s your favorite color? That’s a tough call and changes a bit with the seasons and my mood. Right now probably Aegean Blue.

A fond memory? Having been married just this past year my fondest memory is of starting our new life together surrounded by all our family and friends. The wedding was beautiful and being with everyone dancing and laughing at the reception made it a moment I’ll never forget.

Childhood ambition? To be a paleontologist (yup…like Ross on Friends). I loved dinosaurs and planned on becoming a paleontologist up until middle school when I decided that while I loved dinosaurs, I didn’t really care for science.

Current ambition? I love what I do! If I wasn’t working at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society I’d probably either teach or own a coffee/craft/used book store. I love cooking and crafting!

What would you do if you had a million dollars? Oh if I had a million dollars I would donate/tithe a lot of it. I’d invest some and for the rest I’d maybe go out on a limb and open up a little shop of my own that my husband and I could run. Something like a coffee shop/craft/used book store. Oh and take our families on some really fun vacation!

Who is your partner? My husband Beau is my knight in shining armor…literally. From the moment that we met there was a special connection and as if we needed further proof that we were meant to be about a month or two after he proposed he saved my life when I was the victim of a mugging outside our home. He’s a strong Christian man who loves me for me and has a heart of gold. I fall more in love with him with each passing day!

What do you think about your rings? I think our rings perfectly match our relationship. The engagement ring is timeless while still being wonderfully unique. It’s a ring that I will pass on to our children and they’ll pass on to their children. It’s an heirloom piece in it’s first generation. It came from a jewelry store here in our town but it’s so unique that I like to pretend we found it nestled in some cozy antique shop.

What are you passionate about? Life in general! I love God, my family and friends, cooking, crafting, hiking, running, reading, laughing and enjoying each moment as it comes!

Pets? One little pup named Frankie aka Frank or Frank-monster.

Favorite book? I have lots of favorites. My all-time favorite book is probably either “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” or “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. I know those are considered children’s literature but there is really no better way to escape reality than by going back to your childhood favorites.

Pet peeve? I don’t like when people try to be annoying. Being annoying by accident is fine, it’s not your fault if you’re annoying by accident. Being annoying on purpose…watch out!

Favorite beverage? Really any bottled soft drink, but especially an ice-cold coca-cola from those cute mini bottles.

Sweetest indulgence? Yum…brownie sundaes!

If you could be any animal, what would you be? Either some sort of bird or a dolphin. I’ve never been good at gymnastics and both dolphins and birds have amazing acrobatic skills.

Readers: we’d love to profile you and your awesome engagement and/or wedding rings.

Please email turtleloveco at gmail dot com.