Tarina Tarantino - The Sparkle Factory: The Design and Craft of Tarinas Fashion Jewelry and Accessories

To my delightful girls, Chloe and Olivia, you put the spark in my sparkle every day.

To my beautiful friend, Alyssa, you have inspired me more than you will ever know.

To everyone that lives to dream and create, this book is for you.

2013 by Tarina Tarantino

Published by Running Press,

A Member of the Perseus Books Group

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2012944542

E-book ISBN 978-0-7624-4825-8

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing

Cover design by Corinda Cook

Interior design by Melissa Gerber

Edited by Jordana Tusman

Typography: Whitney, LaurenScript, Century Gothic Regular,

Katerino, and ITC Franklin Gothic Demi

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T ake everything your imagination conjures up when you hear the word sparkleand throw it out the window. For me, sparkle has always had a different and very special meaning. Sparkle is a state of mind. Sparkle is a way of life. Sparkle is something I subscribed to many years ago when I set out on a journey to follow my dreams as a designer of fashion jewelry and accessories. Living the sparkling life is about making the most of what you have, wherever you are, right now. Its also about finding the beauty and inspiration in everything, even when it isnt so obvious. But mostly, its about living with passion, creativity, and curiosity, and always following your dreams.

Fans near and far have asked me for advice about how to follow their dreams and make them a reality. I may not be the authority, but chasing dreams is organic for me. Thats how I built my business and how I make my living. Its what motivates me and gets me through tough times. I believe that we all have the ability to follow our own dreams directly into the sparkling life that we want to lead.

The way I do it is to surround myself with inspiration, to always try to be optimistic (look on the sparkling side!), and to be as creative as I can every day. My hope with this book is that you will also feel that spark of inspiration, get some pearls of wisdom, and give yourself permission to step outside your comfort zone and try something new. Not only will you be creating the pieces in this book and wearing them, too, but youll also be making them your own.

Because jewelry is such a huge part of my world, I think it is the best place to start. Jewelry and personal adornment are emblematic of this life: colorful, unique, sometimes loud, at other times subtle, but always making a statement and telling the story of who you are. Now, let me take you on a journey into a world that I am very passionate about: jewelry and accessories.

M y love affair with self-adornment began when I was just a little girl. As the only child of young, artistic parents growing up in a bohemian southern California beach town, I guess I had it in my DNA. My mom was studying to be a painter and had a tiny art studio off our kitchen where we would paint and make crafts. My dad loved woodworking, photography, and collecting antique bottles in all colors, shapes, and sizes. Making art with my parents is one of my favorite memories. They had wonderful, eclectic taste, and our house was always a mixture of antique and modern.

My grandparents lived nearby and loved to travel. They toured exotic places like Japan, Russia, Istanbul, Morocco, London, and more, always bringing back delightful gifts and trinkets from far-off lands. My very stylish grandmother had a beautiful closet where I would spend endless hours playing in her jewelry boxes, trying things on, and piling on her bangles, shoes, and hats. This is where I learned that the tiniest detaila hand-carved wood button shaped like a bird, a filigree slide closure on an ivory bracelet, or the bow on the buckle of a platform shoecould completely transform the simplest of pieces.

My creativity exploded around the age of five when I made my first jewelry pieces. My mother bought me some colorful blocks of bakeable polymer clay, and I immediately made elephant and rainbow pins, some beads, and a ring. I remember wearing these pieces so proudlyit was my first jewelry collection. Jewelry making was always my thing, even through years of ballet, horse shows, and piano lessons. In high school, I made collage pins out of vintage toys, watch parts, and seashells.

A fter graduating from high school, I had an opportunity to go to Europe and work as a fashion model. I ended up traveling back and forth between Barcelona, Paris, Munich, Belgium, Copenhagen, and more over the next three years. This was such an inspiring time in my life, being in the epicenter of the fashion world, traveling and working with top designers, photographers, and stylists. But I was never creatively fulfilled in front of the camera, so I began making jewelry again.

At a flea market in Paris, I found some old broken jewelry that reminded me of my childhood when I would take apart hand-me-down jewelry my grandma gave me. Feeling inspired, I picked up some polymer clay and jewelry tools on my way home. That night, I set up my design table on a folding tray in my studio apartment and started to create one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces that I had been thinking about. I made big clay crystal rings, long necklaces with flower-covered crosses, and beads and earrings that looked like gumballs. Pretty soon, stylists, photographers, and makeup artists started asking about my pieces and would often borrow them for shoots or fashion shows.