Design of a new collection: You + Me, pt. 2
Posted on June 10, 2016

When the sketches are finalized and the pieces of brass, bronze, and silver have arrived, then we can start making new jewelry.
In the case of the You + Me collections, I wanted to explore relationships and human connection, how we connect, and how that translates into shape. I was also on a mission to create some sophisticated best-friend pieces, like the nostalgic necklaces we are all familiar with. I wanted to recreate that with less of an overt statement about friendship and more of a subtle nod to individual connections. Some of the best examples of this are the Tuyo y Mía ring set from pt. 1 (below, left) and the Ela cuff and Nisi cuff from pt. 2. (below, right)

Our website banner image for You + Me, pt. 1, which reflected the collection's "new love" inspiration.
With pt. 2, my focus was what happens to relationships after years and years pass–an exploration of an older love. I saw a softness, a roundness, almost like our jewelry which is tumbled for hours and hours and days at a time to take off the sharp edges–we tumble, we dance, we fall, and get back up, our shape changes and deepens over time. I wanted to explore how history and time shapes relationships and love. We curve into one another and hold each other. This is why you'll see a roundness repeated in almost all the pieces. A theme of twos emerges–two bars here, two jump rings there, two dissimilar halves of a circle, two mirroring trapezoids, etc. Again, I see strength and power in two complete things joining together to create something new.

You + Me - aka Betsy & Will - at Multnomah Falls earlier this year.
Looking from my early 20s to now, I see a fearful girl who ran into the wild wide open and discovered what it was she loved about life. I'm still doing that. I'm still learning. But I found the "me" in there somewhere and I let her fly. Looking into my future from there, this is not where I would have seen myself land. I went farther than I thought I could and I think I'm still going. Somewhere in there I found a "you" who was wholly himself from an early time, from the moment I met him. We travelled together and we travelled far far apart, but we ended up searching for each other in the end when everything had fallen into place, when we were who we wanted to be and we were our own people, fully. My husband is my partner in business and life, but we are so definitely and fully our own people. Sometimes this causes eruptions but mostly it causes collaboration and explosive connection and some very good ideas. We complement each other and we fit together, we curve into one another and we've find a softness and depth that we didn't know existed. A lot of these same things can be applied to other strong friendships and relationships in my life now.
The full 19-piece You + Me, pt. 2 collection.
The names of the pieces in pt. 2 are different languages for: time, here, turn, together, soft, life, love, light, and us. They are also places where I've adventured (slash: fallen in love...) with the love of my life. I hope you'll see these moments in the collection and find your own connection to the work. And hey, it's nice to talk to you guys again here. I've missed you. :) -Betsy P.S. For more insights into my design process, check out How to Design a Jewelry Collection: A 15-Step Tutorial and You + Me, pt. 1: The Birth of a Collection.