Tarina Tarantino

I just had to blog about one of my favorite jewelry designers, Tarina Tarantino. I just happened onto her website about a year ago when I began dabbling in making jewelry. I knew nothing about jewelry design and had the impression that most people that made jewelry were either metalsmith designers or beaders. I did not really care for traditional "beading" and knew nothing about working with metal. Being a graphic designer by career, I knew I liked to "put pretty things together to make them prettier." I also liked pretty skulls. I liked how something "evil" could be made beautiful. It was during my research of this current trend that I found Tarina. "Oh my gosh!," I remember thinking, "If I made jewelry, this is totally the look I would love to create!"

I read her story and looked at all of her product and have watched some of her video work as she opens her new store in Milan, Italy. If I could sit down with anyone and chat with them about how to build a business and market your talent, it would have to be her. And the pink hair! Awesome! I would never have the courage to wear such a bold color, but it works for her.

One aspect of her business that I truly admire is that everything is assembled in her warehouse in California, not overseas, which is something many companies do not do when they grow so large. I stumbled across this article from a back issue of Swindle magazine that is an interesting read:
http://swindlemagazine.com/issue04/tarina-tarantino/

And, if you want to see some amazing, sparkling jewelry, see her shop at http://tarinatarantino.com/