Rebecca Zemans Jewelry Blog — handmade jewelry

I am so excited to participate in another year of the Ravenswood Art Walk!  As both a small business owner and a resident of Ravenswood, this is a great weekend to get to know the community and learn more about all the artists in our neighborhood. Visit my studio in the Lillstreet Art Center this weekend - Saturday and Sunday, September 19th and 20th from noon to 4pm - to see where the magic happens!  You will find my studio space on the third floor of Lillstreet, all the way at the end of the hall and to the left,...

  In an inverse of the motto of the United States "E Pluribus Unum" meaning "from many - one", our most recent Before & After project is an example of "Ex Uno Plures" meaning "from one - many."   Our customer came to us with her heirloom cultured pearl necklace, a gift she received for her Sweet Sixteen.  Nearly forty years later, she was ready for an updated necklace yet wanted to create something meaningful to pass down to her young nieces as well. The original pearl necklace was tapered meaning that the largest pearl is in the front with...

Welcome to our ongoing series exploring the different types of metals we work with!  Palladium is a metal we are seeing more requests for in additional to traditional metals, so we wanted to educate our customers about some of the great characteristics of palladium.  Palladium is a silvery-white metal with similar properties to platinum, however it is the least dense of the platinum group metals, making it a more affordable metal option than platinum.  It is named after the Pallas asteroid which was discovered around the same time as the metal, at the turn of the 19th century.  Over half...

We hope everyone has been having an excellent summer!  The studio has been busy working with couples to create special wedding bands all season long, as well as custom tailored anniversary and birthday presents.  Our favorite projects always seem to involve heriloom materials and the transformation which takes place in using something old to create something new. Our most recent heirloom redesign was for a client's wedding band using elements of a ring from her Oma.  Our client works with her hands and needed a durable wedding band that suits her lifestyle, yet wanted to incorporate materials from family heirloom...

Citywoods is a beautiful little gallery located in downtown Highland Park, IL and specializes in unique handmade pieces from all over the country. This gem of a shop first opened in 1988 and is still run by its original owner, Diana and Robert Schaps. Citywoods showcases a vast variety of art pieces ranging from beautiful wooden furniture and room decorations to fine handmade jewelry and clothing. Nearly five years ago, at my first One of a Kind Show, a buyer from Citywoods came by my booth in the emerging artist section and bought an original Luna Pendant with peridot for...