If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives)

If You're Hip, It's 15% Off

Above: the highest quality garnets and rose quartz available.

Some of you know, that in addition to being an art director, a blogger, a dog lover, soap-maker and art-lover, I also design and make fine high-end jewelry, which I sell online in an etsy store and an ebay store.

I have sold over 400 original pieces to date and have never received a negative feedback on ebay or etsy or from any of my customers. On the contrary, I have many repeat buyers. My jewelry is priced much lower than other artisan jewelers because I have no overhead, no staff and no designers to pay for things like logos, photography and web design!

For this year's Valentine's Day, I'm offering if It's Hip, It's Here readers a 15% discount on the following very special, one-of-a-kind Valentine's jewelry. Prices shown below are before the discount.

Above:
Peruvian Opal nuggets,
14k solid gold beads and toggle clasp
Natural 5mm white pearls
17" long
$475.00 (before discount)
Buy it here.

Above:
Real 6mm perfectly matched Tahitian Black Pearls with magenta lustre,
18k solid yellow gold floral caps
14k solid gold leverbacks
$270.00 (before discount)
Buy them here.

Above:
9.5 mm natural silver grey pearls
14k solid white and yellow gold bead set with .o4 points of real diamonds.
Clasp is 14k yellow gold.
18" long
$420.00 (before discount)
Buy it here.

Above:
Real 5mm Tahitian Black pearls with pink lustre,
faceted ruby gemstones,
18k yellow gold leverbacks
natural coin pearls embedded with pink sapphires in 18k gold bezels on both sides.
$380.00 (before discount)
Buy them here.

Above:
A very special all genuine ruby necklace totaling over 40 carats.
Briolettes and faceted rondelles
14k solid yellow gold ball clasp.
18" long.
$399.00 (before discount)
Buy it here

Above:
Grade AA tanzanite faceted rondelles
sapphire embedded blue chalcedony briolette
14k solid yellow gold lobster clasp.
17" long.
$175.00 (before discount)
Buy it here.

Above:
An adjustable 15"- 20" long necklace with sterling silver chain and heart dangle.
Very fine AAA quality deep rosy pink faceted garnets
A large polished natural rose quartz pendant weighing over 40 carats that measures over an inch long.
$160.00 (before discount)
Buy it here.

Above:
16" length choker/necklace
deep ruby reddish pink faceted garnet briolettes and rondelles.
14k solid yellow gold clasp.
$69.00 (before discount)
Buy it here.

Above:
A modernist style type necklace made with 99.9% matte finish white sterling silver
An 18k yellow gold hexagonal bead detail.
16" long.
$75.00 (before discount)
Buy it here.

Yes, I carry several other less expensive pieces as well.
And yes, you can get 15% off anything I have for sale, just e-mail me first and tell me you saw it on If It's Hip, It's Here.
Click here to purchase any of the items.

To see more than just jewelry for sale, visit my ebay store, In Good Taste, here.

If You've Looked Up An Old Flame On The Internet, You're Not Alone

Source: Classmates Online, Inc.
Poll Results Revealed for Valentine's Day; Over 90 Percent of Respondents Thought About or Want to be Contacted by Past Loves

RENTON, Wash., Jan. 29, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Valentine's Day is fast approaching along with thoughts of current romance, but also past loves. Classmates.com, a leading online social networking service, polled its community of more than 40 million members and found that more than 90% of respondents either thought of their first love or high school sweetheart in the last year or would like to be contacted by an old flame.

But even if that old spark has burnt out, the flame of curiosity is still strong. Fifty-six percent (56%) of poll respondents said they have used the Internet to look up an old boyfriend or girlfriend, and 65% did so because they were curious as to what their ex was doing today.

And how did they break the ice with their old flame? "It's been a while, how are you?" was the favorite opener with 48% of respondents.

Differences between men and women were revealed in their answers to the question "What would you most like to receive on Valentine's Day?" The number one answer for 23% of male respondents was "a kiss." But "flowers" was the number one answer for 16% of female respondents, followed by 15% hoping for jewelry while 10% would be content with "a kiss."

Classmates.com 2008 Romance Poll results include:

-- 55% of respondents thought of their first love or high school sweetheart in the last year.
-- 43% of respondents said they would like to be contacted by an old flame.
-- 34% of respondents said they have been contacted by an old flame in the past five years.
-- 53% of respondents would go out on a first date on Valentine's Day.
-- 27% of respondents think Valentine's Day is a time to think about loved ones.
-- 27% of respondents think Valentine's Day is romantic.
-- 20% of respondents had met their true love in school (K-12).
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Super Bowl Rings, The Bling For The Past 44 Years

above: The most recent addition to the years of superbowl bling is the 2009 ring above awarded to the New Orleans Saints for their victory over the Indianapolis Colts from Super Bowl XLIV on feb 10, 2010 photo by Derick Hinkle

This post has been updated to include the rings from 2007, 2008 and 2009, so now that's 44 rings.

Original post:
I honor of yesterday's 42nd Super Bowl, I thought I'd share with you the Super Bowl Championship Rings, awarded to each member of the winning team as well as the coaches, from 1966-2006. The majority were manufactured by Jostens (you know, the college class ring people?), and the rings have varied quite a bit over the years.

Above: the final score of the 42nd Super Bowl

The rings almost always include the team's name, logo, and Super Bowl number (usually in Roman numerals). Most of the rings also have larger diamonds or diamonds made into the shape of the trophy, that represent the number of Super Bowls that franchise has won (e.g, Pittsburgh's 2005 ring has five trophies, representing the five Super Bowls they have won).

I don't know how much the total carat weight varies year to year or the value, but here are some little facts about the rings (courtesy of Wikipedia):

•The NFL pays up to $5,000.00 per ring, with up to 150 rings per team. If the rings are over the $5,000 limit, the team owners must make up the difference.
•Recent rings have been appraised in excess of $20,000 but manufacturers keep this information confidential.
•The rings are made by the company of the winning team's choosing. Many Super Bowl rings have been manufactured by Jostens in Denton, Texas. The Indianapolis Colts' •Super Bowl rings were manufactured by Herff Jones (based in Indianapolis), at their Warwick, Rhode Island ring plant.
•Austin, TX based Balfour Company has manufactured numerous Super Bowl Rings

Tasteful? No. Impressive? Yep.

All the Superbowl rings to date: