an afternoon of sparkle

this past weekend I went to "set in style: the jewelry of van cleef and arpels" at the cooper-hewitt museum. there were so many stunning pieces on display in this exhibit, which has been so popular that it has been extended to july 4.

my favorite section of the exhibit was "personalities", which featured jewelry once owned by various celebrities and royalty. it was a thrill to see pieces owned by princess grace of monaco, who is one of my favorite style icons

.

princess grace wore this tiara to the wedding of princess caroline in 1978 (photo courtesy cooper-hewitt)

As a huge fan of emeralds, I was smitten with daisy fellowes' cuff bracelets, which have incredible detail.

(photo courtesy cooper-hewitt)

the cooper-hewitt museum did a fabulous job displaying the pieces and truly did justice to the artistic nature of all of the pieces. this exhibit is a must-see!

clothing + sparkle

I am constantly searching for dresses, skirts, and tops that complement my designs. this past spring, when searching for a dress for a friend's birthday party, I came across the amazing designs of "Project Runway" alum Kara Janx. It was love at first sight on saks.com. I wore the dress with my signature necklace to the Ace Hotel and received more compliments than I can count.

here I am in my jewelry studio modeling the Kara Janx dress with my signature necklace and glitter shoes!

my signature necklace, www.katiebartels.com

The fun didn't end there...about two weeks later I got the opportunity to meet Kara at a personal appearance at Bloomingdales! Not only is a fabulous designer, but she is also an incredibly down-to-earth and genuine woman. It was such a thrill getting to meet her and I picked up some more designs to pair with my pieces (photos to come in the future). check out her designs at www.karajanx.com

me (wearing my wood and coral necklace!) with the fabulous Kara Janx!

june birthstone: pearls!

I have been a huge fan of pearls since a very young age. as a toddler, I would wear a strand of plastic pearls everywhere I went. today, I constantly wear pieces from my freshwater pearl and gemstone collection .

freshwater pearls, a type of cultured pearl, are produced by mussels. pearls form when an irritant (such as a shell) lodges itself in the flesh of a mollusk and then the mollusk produces a nacre to surround the irritant. with time, this nacre forms a pearl. this process takes between 24 and 72 months. the majority of freshwater pearls are grown in china, but japan and the usa are also producers.

the three other types of cultured pearls are akoya (white with a rose overtone), south sea (gold-lipped or silver-lipped), and tahitian (black).

pearls are believed to offer the power of luck, money, protection, and love. the ancient greeks believed pearls were hardened tears of joy of the goddess of love. the ancient chinese believed pearls came from the brains of dragons. no matter what power you believe pearls possess, you cannot deny the sophisticated statement a strand of pearls makes when adorning a woman's neck!