Category Archives: Cool Rings in Real Life

Cool Rings in Real Life: Sarah-Jane’s Pearl

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A while back, your recycled sterling silver artisan loving friends at Turtle Love Committee posted an ad asking people about their unique engagement rings. We got some wonderful responses back, including one from our new friend Sarah-Jane who wrote, “My boyfriend and I are currently ring shopping and we’re looking for unique pearl ring settings for our engagement ring. Pearls are one of my favorite gems. I love the organic, natural feel they have . . . You wouldn’t believe the backlash I’ve gotten from my friends and family though! None of them think it’s a good idea to have a pearl engagement ring. I think culture and the mega marketing of jewelry stores have brain-washed everyone into thinking that diamonds are the only kind of engagement rings.”

We hear you, Sarah-Jane! And we’re super glad you ended up finding a pearl engagement ring that suits you perfectly . . .

 

Turtle Love Committee: What is your favorite place in the whole wide world?
Sarah-Jane: My family home, which is in the country in Central Texas. It’s got quite a large acreage, giant oak trees, and a lake.

TLC: Childhood ambition?
SJ: Which one? It ran the gamut from lawyer and librarian to geophysicist and actress!

TLC: Current ambition?
SJ: To start my life with the man of my dreams and serve God as best I can with all that is within me.

TLC: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
SJ: Buy a kayak, a few mountain bikes, and truck to haul them. After that, I’d donate the rest.

TLC: Who is your partner?
SJ: Matt Menefee! A truly wonderful, caring man who loves the Lord, and me. He’s an elementary science teacher with a background in outdoor education.

TLC: How did you and your partner decide to get married?
SJ: I knew from the day we started dating (again) that I wanted to marry him. It took us the next ten months to figure out all the other details.

TLC: What does your wedding/engagement/commitment ring look like?
SJ: It’s a pearl and white sapphire ring set in 14k white gold.

TLC: What do you think about your ring(s)?
SJ: I love it! It is beautiful and exactly what I wanted. I understand pearls are fragile - much like a newly wed couple starting out. Things of great beauty and personal value often require lots of care. I see it as a good reminder that though diamonds are hard and require little attention; a marriage is not like that. Like a pearl, a relationship develops over time with lots of work from both sides. And it requires great care to keep its luster.

TLC: Pets?
SJ: Matt has Mr. Skittles the Wonder Dog (a Beagle/Pomeranian mix) and I have Nutmeg the Cat (a Snowshoe Siamese).

TLC: What do you do for work?
SJ: I’m a higher education communicator specialized in writing, research, photography, graphic design and social media. I work at a college in the Marketing & Communications office.

TLC: What are you passionate about?
SJ: People.

TLC: What is the last book you read?
SJ: “Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances.”

TLC: Favorite beverage?
SJ: Coffee! No, hot tea! No, coffee! (No, both!)

If you would like to submit your super cool ring for our blog, we would love to hear about it!

Feel free to email us!

Cool Rings in Real Life: Genevia’s Peridot from TLC

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Nothing excites your recycled sterling silver artisan loving friends at Turtle Love Co. more than seeing our rings on happy faces. We signed into Facebook.com the other day and saw that someone had posted “Fan Pictures” - we hadn’t been that excited in a while! We contacted our new friend, Genevia, who had posted them and asked her if we could write about her Cool Ring in Real Life - especially since it was one of our very own Bryant ring in peridot!

Turtle Love Commitee: What is your favorite place in the whole wide world?
Genevia: By far, it’s the North Carolina Mountains. I spent so much time there as a kid with my family, so there’s a lot of great memories. It’s so beautiful and serene there.

TLC: Childhood ambition?
G: My childhood ambition was to be a brain surgeon, mainly because my cousin wanted to be one as well.

TLC: Current ambition?
G: To be the best mother and wife I can be.

TLC: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
G: Tithe 10% of it to our church, pay off our debt, do updates on our house, give money to charity, and do some upgrades on my Jeep!

TLC: Who is your partner?
G: Kenny is a wonderful man of God. He’s slightly cocky, very funny, and an amazing dad to our two kids, Gabriel (4) & Addison (almost 2). I never imagined that I would meet my husband online. Let alone a website called hotornot.com! But I did, and we’ve been together for a total of almost 7 years.

TLC: How did you and your partner decide to get married?
G: My husband and I got married after dating for 2 years. We had talked about getting married, but we weren’t engaged yet. Well, I got pregnant on Valentine’s Day 2005, and a few months later, we decided to get married.

TLC: What does your wedding/engagement/commitment ring look like?
G: I have the Raymond wedding band from TLC, which is a simple sterling silver band with squared edges. My engagement ring is the Bryant ring - a minimalist sterling silver ring, with a baguette cut peridot in a bezel setting.

TLC: What do you think about your ring(s)?
G: I LOVE my rings! I get compliments on them every day. I thought I wanted a traditional engagement and wedding band, but I am so glad I chose something simpler. Not as high maintenance and much easier to wear daily with two small children.

TLC: What’s your favorite color?
G: I guess if I had to pick one it would be either pink or green. I love all pink colors just because it’s so girly; and, I like green because it goes well with my skin tone, hair, and eyes.

TLC: Pets?
G: We have 2 dogs and both are rescues. Freckles is an 80lb pit bull and pointer mix, and Nestle is a 50lb chocolate lab and Irish setter mix.

TLC: What do you do for work?
G: I am a stay at home mom and home maker.

TLC: What are you passionate about?
G: I’m extremely passionate about childbirth and breastfeeding. After having two traumatic birth experiences and little support with breastfeeding my first child, I want to try to empower other women to do their research and discover what they think is the best option for them and their family! And not to just do everything their OBGYN and pediatricians tell them to do.

TLC: What is the last book you read?
G: I’m currently reading “Created to be His Help Meet” by Debi Pearl. A wonderful book for wives and wives-to-be on how to be a great wife and have a glorious marriage in the eyes of your spouse and God.

TLC: Favorite beverage?
G: Oh, there’s a few: sweet tea, Sundrop, and Cheerwine are all in a tie. It’s very hard to find Sundrop and Cheerwine here in Tennessee, so when I do, I thoroughly enjoy it!

TLC: Sweetest indulgence?
G: Plain and simple: chocolate chip cookies . . . I could eat them every day if I knew I wouldn’t gain a ton of weight!

If you would like to submit your super cool ring for our blog, we would love to hear about it!

Feel free to email us!

Cool Rings in Real Life: Leimomi the Dreamstress, Mr. Dreamy, and their super-interesting lives!

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Leimomi, whose insanely interesting blog about historical costumes is at thedreamstress.blogspot.com, has gorgeous wedding and engagement rings, and so does her husband, Mr. Dreamy. She shared a bit of her super-awesome self with us, and we are super-grateful. (Plus, isn’t it awesome that Mr. Dreamy has an engagement ring?)

Leimomi'srings
What is your favorite place in the whole wide world?
A secret glen in the woods of Molokai, Hawaii.

What’s your favorite color?
Generally, the color of whatever piece of fabric I am currently holding. If I’m not looking at a piece of fabric, then green.

Who is your partner?
My lovely, kind, considerate, patient, long-suffering (at least when it comes to finding pins in the carpets!), sports and politics mad husband, Mr Dreamy.

What does your wedding/engagement/commitment ring look like?
My engagement ring is a very thin band of white gold set with a small peridot. The band wraps around the peridot to form a spiral, the Maori koru, symbolic of new beginnings.

My wedding ring is a thin band of white gold set with five tiny diamond chips.

Mr. Dreamy wears two rings too. His ‘engagement’ band is a small silver band studded with raised dots. It fits both of us perfectly. I sent it to him so that he would know my ring size to get my engagement ring made once we realized it was very hard to translate US ring sizes to NZ ring sizes accurately. He called me up in tears when he got it, wanting to know how I knew what his ring size was. Sometimes he takes it off to clean, and if I find it I ‘steal’ it and wear it until he notices.

His wedding ring is a simple thick gold band.

What do you think about your ring(s)?
I love them. I think they are really reflect who we are as a couple, and what we each bring to the marriage. Mr. Dreamy selected my rings after lots of searching and thoughtful deliberation, whereas both the rings I bought for Mr. Dreamy were done on a whim when I just happened to be somewhere and saw something I thought was ‘right’. Mr. Dreamy taught me to relax and live in the moment and not plan and over-think everything, so I really like that I was able to do that with his rings.

I completely picked out Mr. Dreamy’s rings, and he completely picked out mine, though he did ask what sort of stone I wanted in my engagement ring. I originally asked for pounamu (greenstone, or nephrite jade) but the jewelers couldn’t fit it to the setting Mr. Dreamy had picked, so peridot was my second choice. We found out later that peridot symbolizes marital fidelity, so it is very appropriate!

In addition, I’m a Baha’i and Mr. Dreamy isn’t. My two rings added together exactly equal the dowry that a husband gives his wife in a Baha’i marriage, while also honouring the tradition of exchanging rings that Mr. Dreamy wanted.

What do you do for work?
I work for the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa for short), which is the national museum of New Zealand. My job involves arranging the lending and borrowing of museum objects. It’s an awesome job because I get to work with and learn all the different things the museum owns and borrow, from whale skeletons to paintings to furniture and textiles. I also teach Textile Design History at a local university every few semesters.

What are you passionate about?
Textiles and costume, and art and plants, and museums and dancing, and my faith, and the importance of seeing beauty and wonder in unexpected places.

What is the last book you read?
Pride and Prejudice. I read it for the Everything Austen Challenge, and as research for my robe a la francaise (which I am designing as a wedding dress for Lady Anne Darcy)

Sweetest indulgence?
Mango lassis, especially when made from mangoes fresh from the tree that hangs over my old room on my parents farm in Hawaii.

What is your favorite physical feature?
My feet. They have lovely high arches and nicely shaped toes, and are very small for my height. I’m afraid I am exceptionally vain about them.

If you could be any animal, what would you be?
I think being our cat, Felicity, would be pretty nice. She is spoiled with love and gets to lie in front of the heater all day and has no worries at all.

LeimomiandMrDreamy

Cool Rings in Real Life: Hillary’s Awesome Yellow Sapphire

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Yay Hillary! Hillary wrote to us with pictures of her awesome engagement ring and the story behind it. Neato!

HIllary's Ring on Hand

Hi Turtle Love Committee,

I just wanted to share pictures of my unusual engagement ring for your blog. It’s a natural yellow sapphire set in a palladium band. When my fiance and I started looking for an engagement ring for me, I was immediately drawn to natural yellow sapphires both for their color and their silky brilliance. I chose palladium for the setting because it’s cheaper than 18 karat gold, and very similar to platinum in color, durability and hardness.

Although many traditional diamond engagement rings are beautiful, they really all look the same to me. I may be weird, but most of those traditional rings bore me. They just aren’t for me. It is quite refreshing, in my opinion, that your website offers engagement or commitment rings that are more affordable and original. I love the idea of engagement rings that don’t look like what an engagement ring is “supposed” to look like. I feel like a lot of pressure can get put onto couples to buy a diamond engagement ring, or an expensive engagement ring. Buying a diamond ring or an expensive ring seems to be expected, and it’s not necessarily as easy as one would think to stray from the norm. Websites like turtleloveco are great, because they remind us that it’s completely okay and cool to have a ring that doesn’t fit our society’s engagement ring archetype.

Thanks-

Hillary

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.

We think you’re cool.

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.

Cool Rings in Real Life: Little Miss Shadow Dozier’s Ring

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Little Miss Shadow Dozier, whose blog is here, recently wrote about her sapphire engagement ring (and about Turtle Love Committee).

She writes: “I’m so happy that Beau didn’t go the ‘what an engagement ring should look like’ route, it just wouldn’t have been me, it wouldn’t have been us!” Hooray for Little Miss Shadow Dozier and her partner!

Do you have an unusual engagement ring that you’d like to share? Email helpfulturtle at turtleloveco dot com! We’d love to profile you here!

Cool Rings in Real Life: Christen’s Beautiful Aquamarine

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Christen from An Aqua Juel has a positively BEAUTIFUL aquamarine engagement ring and agreed to share a bit of herself with the Turtle Love Committee blog.

Yay Christen!

What is your favorite place in the whole wide world? Soon it will be my own house…but until then, just about anywhere near water or where I can hike.

What’s your favorite color? Blue!

What would you do if you had a million dollars? Travel to places far far away with my fiance, have Annie Liebowitz take photographs of all of my family, and buy an house that is eco-friendly and has an awesome backyard, go back to school to get my doctorate in dance anthropology. Oh, and pay off student loans and all that boring stuff.

What do you do for work? I just finished grad school and am hoping to get a job teaching elementary school.

What are you afraid of? Spiders - I don’t even like typing the word.

Favorite joke? A: Knock knock B: Who’s There? A: Interrupting Cow B: Interrupt - A: MOO!

Favorite book? Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert

What is the last book you read? The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Pet peeve? Hearing people gulp or chew.

What is your favorite physical feature? My shoulders.

Who is your partner? The coolest, funniest, most caring and thoughtful guy ever. Oh, and he’s really handsome too :) I can’t wait to see what adventures we get to go on together!

How did you and your partner decide to get married? I think we knew a few weeks into our relationship, but he decided to wait to ask me (two years later) in the most beautiful place in the world - Sevilla, Spain. I think it was worth the wait!

What does your wedding/engagement/commitment ring look like? A cushion-cut pale aquamarine with a halo of micro-pave diamonds. I ADORE it!!

Keep up with Christen’s doings at www.anaquajuel.blogspot.com. Yay!
Readers: Do you have an engagement/wedding/commitment ring that isn’t the typical diamond solitaire? Wanna be profiled here? Share it with us in the comments, or by emailing helpfulturtle [at] turtleloveco [dot] com.