If you've not yet heard of The Sparkly Life, with one visit to this fun and fashionable blog, you'll be smitten (stylishly) and giddy (gorgeously) over its musings and messages on beauty and fashion.  Your love of The Sparkly Life will no doubt have everything to do with the blog's founder and creator, Alyssa Hertzig, who immediately won us over with her cheerful, helpful, and oh-so-approachable attitude and style. 

With The Sparkly Life, it's as if Alyssa, who by day is a successful magazine beauty editor living in New York City, becomes your best friend in beauty, dishing familiarly but knowledgeably about the latest lotions, the most fabulous foundation, or some incredibly fun hint about creative nail art.  She's generous when sharing her experiences, and we also love introductions to her industry friends who, in turn, are kind enough to pass along their own beauty secrets. 

She is, in essence, a lovely gal, and we're thrilled to introduce her as our latest Leading Lady!  We knew from seeing her inspiration board, which she compiled on Pinterest for our project, that we were in for a glamourous creation, heavily inspired by Art Deco designs in emerald and diamond.   

Though we didn't want to influence her design right off the bat (we love showing our clients and collaborators all of the materials we have that might work, allowing them to see what appeals most, rather than forcing our preferences on them to start...) we immediately thought of a rhinestone belt buckle we'd had in our vintage collections for a few years.  It seemed stunningly perfect, but we stuck with our plan to show Alyssa an assortment of beads and vintages for consideration.  (Yes, it was hard to hold our tongue!)

We were nothing short of overjoyed when she honed in on the buckle (seen at the top of the trio above) amongst the green and white jeweled brooches and baubles we sent via digital image (though she also really loved the eye-shaped brooch, too.)  And she liked the clear beads on either end best...but when we tried them with the buckle, which would serve as the necklace's clasp, they seemed off-scale. So we opted for a cut-glass style, mixing in bits of green and silver for extra color and sparkle to tie in the buckle's glam factor with the strands it would adorn.

And we tried two versions using the buckle and beads--a more dramatic drape of the strands:

and a more ordered, closer-together arrangement of the strands:

Ultimately, Alyssa decided she preferred the strands closer together, with the buckle clasping them at the side.  (Though the jeweled beauty may be worn anywhere she pleases in this design.)

And then we sort of panicked for some reason.  It seemed like the whole design came together so quickly and easily--which would, in most non-neurotic worlds seem dreamy and fun--but for a designer with a bit of crazy compulsion in the mix (full disclosure, friends!) we sometimes just can't help ourselves.  So we sent one last proposal image using the alternate materials Alyssa had liked from our initial selections.  

And, though we felt better after sending it, Alyssa confirmed our instincts: the buckle was it.  She loved it and didn't want us to change a single thing about it.  So--no more second guessing--we enjoyed how seamlessly the process flowed, how easily it all fell into place...and we sent it along to her happily in time for a trip to California.

We think Alyssa looks lovely in her Art Deco-inspired jewel--and though, being a beauty editor, hair and make-up are always spot-on, we were equally enamored of her ensemble...what wonderful contrast in color and texture.  Gorgeous!  Many thanks, Alyssa, and enjoy your new necklace!