DesignFile: Nicole Tirona of It's Your Life Jewelry Designs

I was recently browsing through Etsy and stumbled upon local jewelry designer Nicole Tirona and It's Your Life Designs.

I was immediately drawn to her pieces, in which she incorporates unique and/or vintage trinkets into original necklaces and earrings.

Also I just discovered, Nicole has been briefly featured on BR before (go girl) when a previous staffer did a profile on Etsy, a great crafter site that is a selling post for all things handmade. Check out that post here. But this article is all about Nicole, so let's get on with it!

After providing me with such great responses, I've decided to just post every last one of Nicole's words instead of recapping and quoting:

What are some of your sources for inspiration?
My most favorite source of inspiration, and possibly largest source, comes from the materials I collect. I buy a lot of vintage dead stock jewelry supplies from Rhode Island in the States. I think it was some kind of crazy costume jewelry haven back in the day...

What have been your most treasured or most popular pieces?
I think my most popular piece (on Etsy) were these vintage tiny 7mm coral colored rose stud earrings. I sold way too many of them!
Popular necklace designs include ones with vintage floral shapes and profile cameos, pirate themed styles and birds. My most treasured pieces are the more expensive ones that took a good few days of fiddling and twiddling. Most of them have sold. (Sniffles and wipes tear from eye).

Are there any foreseeable trends coming up within your pieces?
More full on designs with rare vintage charms! Lockets. I see my pieces getting more refined as the months pass. I have been hoarding my precious Holly Hobbie cameo stash and will be busting out a full line soon.
I've also managed to get an intern. She is a sweet high school student named Christie, and she will be helping me with production. I will have more time to focus on making new designs without the stress of having to remake/restock the older ones.

Best guess as to what the next trend to hit Vancouver will be?
Silver is supposed to be making a comeback... but I haven't seen it.
New vintage, modern classics and asymmetrical designs. Focus on the past, rarities and nostalgia meshed with modern clean lines, sophistication and elegance. Refined and feminine instead of full on booty bling. Or that might just be me.

Favourite Vancouver designer(s) and why?
Hmm, my favorite local designer would have to be Nicole Tirona of Its Your Life, because she is awesome! Haha no, just kidding. I actually don't go out shopping much and I dress like "whatever's clean" then accessorize.
Trudy Wynans of Toodlebunny makes amazing jewelry. While in Shop Cocoon I really learned so much from her in regards to pricing my work and what my time and creativity is worth. Plus her stuff is so super cool. Mod to Modern, Raspberry Ann, Hobsnobs, Brendalyn Avender, Track and Field, Dru's Designs, Sin Manga- all the awesome girls I met in Shop Cocoon really have nice, unique stuff. Dadabase stuff, their t-shirts are so rad. I also love Simon Redekop's Lifetime t-shirt designs and Simon Redekop in general.

Lastly, where can Vancouverites buy your lovely adornments, aside from Etsy and the occasional craft show?
I think I still have a few pouches and skull flower pins in Paper-Ya on Granville Island. My jewelry is mostly in stores in SE Asia and the U.S. I have a somewhat full line at Feel Design in Beacon, New York.
I'm pushing myself to get in a local jewelry shop by mid-spring. Ill be sure to update my blog with that! There's a full on list of fabulous local jewelry shops that I would love to be a part of. Lou-Lou on West Broadway and Mintage are two shops with awesome stuff I think my pieces would fit in.

I had to snatch up some great earrings with little gold birds set in front of some wooden ovals, and Nicole was gracious enough to humor my very jumbled appeal for a new necklace. I knew I wanted one of her pieces, but deciding is quite another conundrum! I like the nautical theme and had spied some pieces on her site that had a functional teeny Japanese compass, so she's making me something similar to the piece at right, except with a chunkier chain. Exciting, and astonishingly reasonable cost!

I'd recommend you snatch up some of these great pieces before local shops clue in pick up her line (hint hint MIntage), because once that happens you'll have to shell out for the retail markup...hurry folks!

Be sure to visit Nicole's blog and Etsy page (both linked above) for tons of photos of Its Your Life creations - I put as many photos as I could on one little Beyond Robson page but there's lots more to ogle at.