Looks We Love: Animal Prints

Sure, the trend of animal prints is nothing new, but this season it's back in all sorts of ways, and it's fierce. With this kind of edgy trend, edgy jewelry is a must - like mixing a lot of oxidized sterling silver with gold and pyrite. For those that aren't familiar, oxidized silver is basically just silver that has reacted with oxygen, and the result is a gunmetal color. The Jennifer Earrings, Pulsera Bracelet, Elle Earrings, and Katie Choker are all made of oxidized sterling silver material, and all look to die for with this trend. The Free People cardigan is good for those of you that want to take baby steps into the trend. It goes well with jeans, leggings, or a skirt with tights and boots. The chiffon blouse from Equipment is a classy and chic way to take this look. Pair it with the Sophia Earrings in pyrite to add some rockstar to your classic look. This See by Chloe crossbody purse is sold out at most places online, but you can find it here. It's a timeless bag that you will definitely get your money out of. Pair it with your everyday casual clothes, as well as stuff the strap into the bag and carry it as a clutch - adorable!

NYC Stone Buying Trip

Right around this time of year when the leaves are turning colors, and the air is getting cooler, Amanda is at her work bench and designing her next collection - Spring/Summer! This past weekend Amanda, and her assistant Andrea took to New York City to get some inspiration as well as search for the jewels and gems that make her collection so unique. Stones in lemon, turquoise, baby blue, chocolate and soft purples made their way back home with them in their suitcases. Amanda is now back, and hard at work designing a gorgeous collection that we can't wait to debut for you guys in January. Keep on the lookout for some sneak peaks!

Halls Best of the Best Party & Trunk Show

Last week we had our Halls trunk show in Kansas City. The night before the trunk show, Halls threw a "Best of the Best" private shopping party. The party was a celebration of style and a private night of shopping with 10% of purchases going to the United Way of Greater Kansas City Community Care Fund. The show was fabulous and fun - we always love seeing our friends at Halls!

Amanda is wearing the Gable choker and Amanda Fringe Hoop in pyrite.

Facebook Contest Winners

We are so thankful to everyone that participated in the Facebook NCAA contest. UT won with 10 votes, with TCU and Texas Tech tied for second with 5 votes each. These contests are so much fun for us and we love to see all of the enthusiasm! Amanda drew 5 UT fan's names out of a bowl and we have sent them their orange citrine Mini-Courtney hoops (pictured below). Stay tuned for our next contest, and tell your friends to become a fan of our Facebook page for future fun!

Attention College Football Fans!

Amanda is a HUGE football fan and in the spirit of the season, from now until end of day Monday, September 20th, comment on our post on our Facebook page with your favorite NCAA team. The most popular team's fan's names will be put into a bowl & we'll draw 5 names to receive a free piece of jewelry in their team's colors! What a way to represent your team! Guys should vote too, get your gals a gift and be a hero! Get friends to comment, share this link on your wall - all 'posters' must be fans to enter....GET TO COMMENTING!!!!

About Trunk Shows

A trunk show is a special event within the fashion world in which an artist or designer puts on a special display of his or her work for review by a select group of people, like a boutique or a division of a department store. They are referred to as "trunk shows" because a designer or sales rep will literally show up with a trunk of merchandise to show off. When Amanda has a trunk show, she too brings a trunk, filled with the entire current season's collection. This is an opportune time for customers to come and not only meet the designer, but also have their pick of the entire collection. Last week we had a trunk show at Louis Morgan in Amanda's hometown of Longview, TX and it was fabulous, as always! We have another trunk show this week at Melanie Gayle in Snider Plaza in Dallas. Melanie has been carrying Amanda's jewelry since 2005, and we always look forward to her events. Melanie Gayle Trunk Show: this Thursday & Friday from 10am to 6pm. Stop in and see all of the new fall product.

Leather Cuffs, Amanda, and Birthstone Necklaces @ Louis Morgan Trunk Show

Melanie, Amanda, & Andrea at a Melanie Gayle trunk show last Spring

Melanie Gayle/6818 Snider Plaza/Dallas, TX 75024/214.369.1700

The Women Behind the Breast Cancer Collection

Andrea from Amanda Sterett walking in the Susan G. Komen
Race for the Cure, which she does every year!

You all are now familiar with our Breast Cancer Collection, and how we're giving 20% of the proceeds to Breast Cancer Awareness & Research, but we wanted to give a little insight into the women behind the collection. Each piece is named after a woman that has battled the disease, and here is a little bit of information about each of these courageous women.

The Bev Hoop, a delicate huggie-style earring hand-wrapped with faceted pink quartz. This earring is in honor of Bev Sorenson, who was diagnosed in 2009 and is currently undergoing treatment.

The Bonnie Earring, a delicate linear earring of faceted pink opal. This earring is in honor of Bonnie Sheets, a 20-year breast cancer survivor.

The Bridgie Earring, a linear chain of four hand-wrapped circles with faceted drops of pink quartz. This earring is in honor of Dolores "Bridgie" Cowan, who was diagnosed at the young age of 29, and after undergoing treatment, was in remission for 10 years before it took her life at a young age of 41.

The Danielle Earring, a small hand-wrapped 14k gold-filled circle adorned with faceted pink quartz and pink opal. This earring is in honor of Danielle Miller, who was diagnosed in 2009, underwent treatment, and is now cancer-free today.

The Foster Hoop, a 14k gold-filled hoop hand-wrapped with: pink opals, pink quartz, and 14k gold-filled frosted beads. This earring is in honor of Claire Foster, a dear friend to Amanda and her family, who was diagnosed at the age of 81 in 2002 and after undergoing treatment, is free of breast cancer today.

The Monica Earring, a small stone of pink opal nested in 14k gold-filled wire. This earring is in honor of Monica Taylor, who has been cancer-free for a year.

The Virginia Earring, a faceted stone of pink opal wrapped with pink garnets. This earring is in honor of Virginia Adams, Amanda's grandmother, who was diagnosed and battled breast cancer during her life.

The Debbie Necklace, a delicate chain made of hand-wrapped pink quartz dropped with a pink opal pendant wrapped in faceted pink quartz. This necklace is in honor of Deborah Stephens who was diagnosed October of 2009 and is currently undergoing treatment.

The Maria Necklace, a delicate necklace of hand-wrapped faceted stones of pink quartz on a 16" 14k gold-filled chain. The necklace is in honor of Maria Melgarejo, who was diagnosed early in 2008 and passed away just before Thanksgiving in November of 2009.

The Tara Necklace, a delicate 14k gold-filled chain with a small hand-wrapped 14k gold-filled circle adorned with faceted stones of pink quartz. This necklace is in honor of Tara Hohenberger, dear friend to Amanda, who has survived breast cancer at the age of 35 and has been cancer-free for one and a half years.

Looks We Love: Jewel Toned Velvet

We’d like to think that this fabulous fall trend is inspired by the tones and rich colors found in the latest Amanda Sterett Collection. With its usage of deep tones like red garnet, pyrite, olive pearl, and onyx it perfectly coincides with the Jewel Toned Velvet trend. Velvet dates back to the 1300’s and is traditionally associated with the noble and elegant, but velvet can also be edgy.

Take the royal blue velvet blazer from Juicy Couture. It instantly adds some depth and texture to an ordinarily plain outfit. Put on the Tina earrings of blue moonstone and you have a dramatic and sophisticated day look. To take it to a night-time look, add the Gable Choker in chunky chains and edgy stones.

If you want to just ease yourself into the velvet trend, these House of Harlow ballet flats are a great embellishment to jeans and a plain t-shirt. Don’t forget the Annie olive pearl and pyrite earrings to further spice things up.

The Brian Lichtenberg leopard print red velvet dress is for those risk-taking fashionistas. It mixes together two fabulous trends this fall, velvet and animal print (which we’ll talk about later!). To be worn only with the black Grace Earrings, they’re the perfect dramatic match!

The Free People Foliage Dress shows the sweet side of this trend. It goes wonderfully with the Emma Necklace, a beautiful harp-harped treasure, and with the Alexander Wang Duffel as a cross-body bag.

So whether you’re sweet, edgy, elegant, or it just depends on the day, velvet can be an easy addition to your wardrobe. Just make sure you’re adorning it with some complimentary rich toned baubles!

Looking for Interns

Introducing the Breast Cancer Collection

Everyone knows an individual who has been affected by breast cancer in some form. According to research, 1 in 8 women (roughly 14%) will have breast cancer during their lifetime. In 2009, 40,170 women were expected to die. This number has been decreasing since 2009 due to treatment advances, earlier detection through screening, and increased awareness. Although Amanda has never been infected with breast cancer, a few of her loved ones have, as well as those close to her family and friends. This is her opportunity to remind others how important it is to remember we can help!

Each piece of this collection is named in honor of a woman that has battled Breast Cancer, hand-made in pink opals, pink quartz, and 14k gold-fill. 20% of proceeds from each piece sold from this collection will go to Breast Cancer Awareness & Research. Check out the entire collection here.

Maria Necklace
Delicate princess necklace in 14k gold-fill with faceted pink quartz.