VENDOR HIGHLIGHT: MEGHAN KEARNEY of MISS MEGHAN ELIZABETH

The third installment of the Vendor Highlight series brings Miss Meghan Elizabeth and her line of delicately designed jewelry. I've known Meg since high school and fell in love with her jewelry after I saw images from her wedding day! Brides, she is a great resource if you are looking for unique and one of kind jewelry for yourself or for your bridal party. So without further delay, let's meet Meg!

Name: Meghan Kearney Email: missmeghanelizabeth@gmail.com Etsy page: www.etsy.com/shop/MissMeghanElizabeth Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Miss-Meghan-Elizabeth/155537564484552

So, Miss Meghan Elizabeth, your jewelry collection is fairly new. How did you get started in making jewelry? First and foremost I need to say THANK YOU for featuring me in your blog Deb! Miss Meghan Elizabeth just opened in the fall and it’s an amazing opportunity. I also admire your success so much with Deborah Zoe that it’s truly an honor to be featured by you! Crafting has always been a hobby of mine, I love making things with my hands. While planning my wedding in 2009, I created a cohesive collection of jewelry, both earrings and necklaces, for my bridesmaids. After I saw my friends wearing them on my wedding day I knew I wanted to share that talent. Between then and opening my shop this past November I’ve just been practicing and now I’m able so share a great product.

What kind of pieces are in your current collection? Who would you say you are designing for? Currently I’ve been working on my signature collection, which is about the classics and include my absolute favorite pieces. I want my jewelry to complement an entire wardrobe and be worn everyday. I would say I’m designing for the woman who is independent, organic, unique, but still values timelessness, poise, and grace.

What inspires your collection of handmade jewelry? My taste in jewelry has always been inspired by my grandmothers. Grammy Wrigley always wears simple sterling silver pieces; this inspires the simplicity of my signature collection. Grammy Banville has made pearls a huge part of my life by adding a pearl each year to a necklace since I was born, in hopes one day I’ll have a complete strand. Those two inspirations along with my love of everything organic and natural had created my collection.

How do you go about choosing your materials and creating a new piece? As far as the actual making of the piece, I work on the engineering or construction first. I need to be sure my design is everyday wearable. (Maybe this is also the contractor in me… my day job is running construction projects!) I’ll make a piece with inexpensive materials and take it on a test drive. If it works, then I source the materials that will make it come alive. When choosing materials quality is priority number one. I use all sterling silver on the chains and clasps and I balance quality with affordability when choosing the pearls and beads.

What currently is your favorite piece? The flagship pearl cluster is my favorite. I have the very first one I made for myself and wear it all the time. I also love the pearl strands. It’s almost meditative to make them (they take a long time and you have to be really careful!)

Are there any pieces in your current collection that have been created for bridal wear?

Yes. The pearl cluster, pearl wreath, and pearl strand would all make beautiful bridal jewelry. I can picture them being worn for anything to a beach wedding to a formal black tie. My goal for my bridal jewelry collection is to create a starting point to give a bride a chance to make it her own. Currently bridal wear is the only pieces that I’ll customize. I would love to create jewelry collections for brides and their bridal party to really show how unique each women is.

What are some recommendations you have for brides trying to pick out jewelry to wear on their wedding day? Wear something you’ve worn before! That would be my number one recommendation. It’s easy to go over the top with earrings, necklaces, and hair accents because you get to play dress up. My recommendation would be to pick one statement piece and mix in something you already have for the other items. By making yourself mix bridal jewelry with something you wear everyday you’ll stay true to yourself. On my wedding day I wanted to wear pearls and I went with a statement, a 3 strand necklace, but then wore my pearl studs that were the first gift my now husband ever gave me. It meant so much to him that I wore them.