Buy The Bay: Artists Turn Beach Experiences Into Objects For Charity.

Buy the Bay is a collaborative effort to help preserve the beach we love in support of Heal The Bay.

Artists, designers, writers and musicians are transforming precious beach experiences into tangible objects that you can own or give to someone else. These beautifully crafted items reflect the things everyone cherishes most about the beach, and are available to own or share as a gift.

You can give back by investing in the experiences that matter most to you. To Buy the Bay is to help preserve the things we love most about the beach. The proceeds raised through each donation will help benefit Heal The Bay’s efforts in keeping L.A.’s beaches clean, healthy and safe to enjoy.

All The Time In The World by Khobe DeLucca
A small hourglass filled with local beach sand, caught between pieces of sterling silver.



Product Specifications:
Hourglass Height: 1.25” including loop
Chain Length: 18”
All metals are sterling silver
Handmade in the USA
limited edition of 50
$200
buy it here

The Perfect Wave by Tim Meraz
Small amounts of water from eight of the best surfing beaches in Southern California like Malibu, The Wedge, Rincon and Trestles. The bottle’s label is held in place by a fine wire wrapped around it, which suggests undulating waves.



Product specifications:
750mL bordeaux bottle approx. 11.5” tall. Ships in a black corrugated presentation shipping box approx. 13.75” x 4.25” x 3.5”.
limited edition of 100
$100
buy it here

Beach Karma by Elizabeth Saveri
Beautiful hand painted beachscapes on the little plastic ties that litter so many beaches and oceans. Each is framed in a 6" square black wood frame.



Product Specifications:
Water-based oil paint on recycled plastic bag ties.
Comes in a 6” x 6” black wooden frame.
limited edition of 10
$150
buy it here

Special Edition Poster by Eric Nyquist

With every special-edition 25th anniversary poster comes a year-long membership to Heal the Bay, and every poster you purchase adds another year. Hang it up and let the world know just how much a clean and healthy beach means to you.


This poster was printed in a limited-run of 250.
Product Specifications:
16” x 20” hand-pulled 2-color silkscreen print on uncoated 100# cover stock suitable for framing.
$50
buy it here

Info and images courtesy of:

Royal Asscher's Stars Of Africa, 18k And Diamond Snowglobe Rings

I promise this is the last snow dome-related post until next holiday season, but I simply couldn't ignore these. These unbelievable lust-worthy 18k gold and real floating diamond rings work like little snowdomes! By Royal Asscher, the collection is for their fundraising initiative Stars Of Africa.



The Stars of Africa by Royal Asscher™ jewelry collection was launched in November. The project’s name represents the largest diamond ever found, at 3,105 carats, which the Asscher family cut in 1908.

This collection of 18 rings is distinguished by floating diamonds, which are encased in a fluid-filled sapphire dome that allows them to fall freely.



The result of floating diamonds is that the stones emit light, fire and beauty as they move, similar to twinkling stars, according to the designers. The ring collection is available in white, yellow and rose gold in two sizes, with retail prices ranging from $4,950 to $7,900.



Lita Asscher, shown above, first introduced the Star of Africa program in New York during November of 2008. A year later, she explained that in partnering with charities and businesses, she could show the industry how it can have a positive impact on Africa, particularly Sierra Leone, which she visited in 2008. Asscher came away with a strong belief in "diamonds for development" and that became the main goal of the Star of Africa initiative. A portion of each ring purchase goes back to Africa.




To enquire about purchasing contact starsofafrica@royalasscher.com

Love Diamonds?

Check out this post on the biggest diamonds ever found.

Brangelina's "Protector Collection" For Asprey To Benefit Charity.

Photo of brad and angelina: © Rex; photo of snake cuff, Asprey, composite by if It's Hip, It's Here


The 'Protector Collection' is a series of fine jewelry for both children and adults as well as sterling silver baby gifts, all incorporating a snake motif.



According to Asprey, during Jolie's first pregnancy with Shiloh in 2006, she was given a snake ring, intended to guard her and her unborn child. The symbol has become a family guardian to the Jolie-Pitts, and in the Protector Collection, it appears in everything from fine jeweled bracelets to rings, earrings and pendants available for both children and adults.



The collection, all of which is shown here, has been meticulously created with Asprey by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt to benefit a charity close to their hearts. The limited collection of fine jewels and silver objects was inspired by Angelina's reflection on the snake as an iconic guardian, a cultural symbol of family protection. All net proceeds will be donated to the Education Partnership For Children of Conflict (EPCC).



The child's Protector bangle bracelets come in yellow, white or 18k rose gold and feature two snakes with emerald cabochon eyes. Available with either two emerald cabochon eyes totalling .06 carats only or the more ornate style set with 0.76ctw of diamonds and 0.22 ctw of emeralds.


above: Child's bangle bracelet in 18k yellow gold with diamonds totaling 0.76 carats and emerlads totalling .022 carats


above: Child's protector bangle in yellow or rose 18k gold an set with 2 emerald cabochon eyes, each .03 carats.

The Child/adult gem sprinkled pendants and rings feature 104 fully faceted cut stones as small as one millimeter each, set in white, yellow or rose 18k gold.





Two adult-sized fine diamond and emerald gem encrusted snake bangle bracelets are set in platinum. The single curled snake opens with a hinge clasp, the two entwined snakes bangle is solid but flexible.




The Child/ Adult earrings are set with 154 individual stones and use the snake's tail as both a design element and the fitting that secures the earring:


The rings are flush set with emerald cabochon eyes and black or white diamonds portray the 'scales':


In addition to gem encrusted versions of the rings, pendants and earrings, styles are available with just emerald eyes and in 18k yellow, rose or white gold:



The Protector Collection also includes a sterling silver baby spoon, egg cup, birth certificate holder and tooth box, all with the snake motif. According to some reports, a silver snake photo frame is also part of the collection, but it's not yet on the Asprey site.

Sterling silver baby spoon:


Sterling silver egg cup:


Sterling silver birth certificate holder:



This is not the first time Brad has taken a whack at being a jewelry designer. You may recall that years ago, when he was married to Jennifer Aniston, he designed their supposedly 'one of a kind' wedding bands with Damiani who then continued to sell the band style, were threatened with a $50 million dollar lawsuit by Pitt and Aniston, and settled by selling a line designed by Brad that including an inscription explaining that they were designed with Brad Pitt:



The individual pieces in The Protector Collection are limited editions and handcrafted at the Asprey London flagship store, 167 New Bond Street. Each silver piece carries the 5 quality hallmarks applied by the London Assay Office. The pieces were be available beginning 17th November 2009.



Brangelina has been very generous to the EPCC. which Angelina co-founded in 2006. In June of 2008, the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict announced that the Jolie-Pitt Foundation made a $1 million contribution to support the education of 8,000 young people from both the United States and Iraq impacted by the recent conflict. The donation supported four organizations who work to help provide education and support to both children who have lost parents, homes, and schooling opportunities in Iraq as well as young people in the United States who are coping with the long deployment, injury, or even the death of a parent serving in the United States Armed Services.

all images and info courtesy of Asprey , the National Jeweler's Network and WWD

Asprey

Lowbrow Artists do Highbrow Charity

Thanks to Corey Helford Gallery of Culver City, today's most respected and popular "Lowbrow" Artists (see previous article on lowbrow art here) have culled together a fabulous show benefiting The Alliance For Children's Rights that takes vintage paint-by-number art and transforms it into unique pieces of low brow art.

Granted, this is not the first gallery to promote and exhibit the idea of paintng over vintage art. To be fair, The Wurst Gallery did this years ago, only not restricted to paint by number art.

With fun original creations by such well known popular artists as Mark Ryden, Shepard Fairey, Joe Ledbetter, Jeff Soto, Camille Rose Garcia and Gary Basemen, just to name a few, these paintings are available for auction on ebay with 100% of the proceeds benefiting The Alliance For Children's rights (see their mission statement below).

Available for purchase on ebay, the auctions ending on Friday, Feb 16th and prices are already rising rapidly, so you'd better get your bids in now.

Here are just a few wonderful examples of the original vintage PBN and the finished pieces. Click on images to enlarge:

Mark Ryden:

Gary Baseman:

Ana Bagoyen:

Shepard Fairey:

Jeff Soto:


The bids are moving up quickly on these works already, so if you'd like to see many more (and you should) be sure to visit Corey Helford Gallery of Culver City or check out the auctions on ebay.


above: Corey Helford Gallery

Nonprofit's Mission Statement
The Alliance for Children's Rights is protecting the rights and futures of abused and impoverished children throughout Los Angeles County, in hopes of creating a world in which all children are able to have a safe and permanent family, access to quality health care, a quality education, and all of the support and services they so rightfully deserve.