Jewelry Stories with Stephanie Landsem

Thank you so much for joining me today for my latest edition of Jewelry Stories! I haven’t been able to do one of these posts in a few months because there has been so much happening – mostly moving houses! That process took so long (maybe I’ll save that for a future blog post), but we have finally found our forever home and we’re slowly unpacking and making it our own. <3

As soon as I was able to unpack my craft room, I immediately got to work on the designs I’ve been dreaming of for In a Far-Off Land by Stephanie Landsem. I hope you’ll enjoy all these new beauties, and indulge my creativity as I didn’t totally adhere to all vintage Hollywood and art deco inspired designs. 😉

I am also very happy to welcome Stephanie here today for a quick Q&A of all things related to In a Far-Off Land! Make sure to stick around to the very end for something extra special!

***

Christy: Welcome, Stephanie!

Stephanie: Thank you so much, Christy, for featuring me and In A Far-Off Land on your blog. I love all your creations and especially the lovely designs you’ve made for Mina! What an amazing and original idea to pair jewelry with books.

C: You’ve stated in a few places that In a Far-Off Land is the “story of your heart.”  Can you share a bit more about that?

S: I’ve always been drawn to the parable of the Prodigal Son, also known as the parable of Merciful Father.

In it, Jesus was telling us that his Father in heaven loves us beyond what we can imagine and wants to offer us his unimaginable mercy. No matter what we do, our Father wishes us to return to him. It’s amazing, really.

I wanted to highlight the message of this parable in a new way and remind everyone—from the most hardened sinners to the most righteous believers—of Jesus’ message: sin is real and it breaks our relationships with others and with God, but our God is a loving father who waits for us with open arms to come back to him so he can heal us and the people we love. No matter what. In short, the Father’s mercy is the answer to our broken world.

C: Amen to that. You mentioned two or three specific jewelry designs in your novel.  Did you have any particular inspiration for those pieces as you were writing? 

S: I am a very visual person and so I spend a lot of time browsing images to help me in my descriptive writing. A lot of those end up on my Pinterest board (https://www.pinterest.com/slandsem/in-a-far-off-land/) like these two images of pearl rings that I used for the ring that is an important symbol of Mina’s mother in the story.

C: There were so many real-life movies, characters, and places from Hollywood mentioned in your book.  What or who did you most enjoy researching that made it into the final story?

S: I went down far too many rabbit-holes of research for In A Far-Off Land, but I have to admit it was fun! I particularly loved watching some of Charlie Chaplin’s films. They are fascinating and even in this world of HD color and snappy dialogue, Chaplin’s genius shines through in the black and white, in the music, and the expressiveness of his silent films of the late 20s and early 30s.

I also read a lot about Clara Bow. She was the perfect illustration of how the glamour of fame can take a sordid downward spiral into destructive choices. Mina idolized Clara Bow and thought she could solve all her problems by following her example. She did and found out it brought her nothing but sorrow.

C: What can we expect to read from you next?

S: My next novel is based on a little-known story of the rise of Nazism in 1930s Los Angeles. While the Great Depression was deepening in our country, Germany was coming out of its own economic disaster with the help of a new leader, Adolph Hitler. Most Americans hardly knew his name, but he was already working on a plan to infiltrate our German communities with National Socialists and turn Americans against their Jewish neighbors. He especially wanted to gain control of the Jewish-run Hollywood movie studios in order to spread his anti-Semitic propaganda. Only one man knew Hitler to be a threat, a Jewish lawyer named Leon Lewis. He took it upon himself to set up a private spy network of Christian men and women who infiltrated the growing fascist groups in Los Angeles and worked together to stop the Nazis.

Code Name Edelweiss is a fictional retelling of how Leon Lewis and his spies foiled Hitler’s plan to take over Hollywood.

***

Stephanie, thank you so much for being here today and answering a few questions! I hope you and your readers will enjoy these book excerpts and new jewelry designs below all inspired by In a Far-Off Land. Stick around at the end to read my inspiration behind each piece plus a little something extra from Stephanie. 🙂

Then there was the dress that had cost me my last nickel. It was an emerald-green sheath, sleeveless and cut on the bias. Pearl beads weighted the cowl neckline and set off my ivory skin. . .

“Don’t wish to be like anybody else, sweet thing,” she said, cupping my face in her hand. “You have hidden talents of your own. You’ll find your way, my girl. Don’t you doubt it.”

I felt funny without Mama. Unattached. Like a dandelion seed floating on a breeze, unable to direct my own way and not knowing where I was going.

I opened my eyes to sun pouring through the little window, glinting from the polished crucifix.

---

***

There you have it – 5 new designs inspired by In a Far-Off Land! I hope you will indulge my creativity a little bit as not every single piece was art deco or 20s/30s style, but I hope you like those finished products just the same. I’ve linked each design so you can see more photos and product details.

The green jade necklace took the longest to come up with because for the life of me, I knew what I wanted but not how to get there. The excerpt said the dress was weighed down with pearls, but in my mind, that seemed to be a LOT of pearls so I improvised. I found the fan shaped pendant first, then the jade beads. After searching Pinterest for design inspiration, I finally settled on the what you saw above – hopefully, you like it! The stamped bracelet also took a little bit of time for me to decide on! I absolutely loved that passage in the book, and I initially wanted to do something with the first sentence. In the end, “find your way” summed up and matched the ending in that passage. I’ve wanted to use this pewter charm for something special anyway, and this seemed appropriate. The dandelion pendants are like the stamped bracelet – not vintage style at all. This was another passage that I couldn’t let slip away, and I love that the pink and white versions both have different designs with the dandelion flowers. <3 I never need an excuse to find a lovely cross, and while I visualized something different in the beginning, “glistening” matched this pendant with its sparkling rhinestones. Last but not least, I wanted to have one design that was inspired by the book as a whole, and since I adore 20s and 30s fashion, that was not difficult to accomplish! Those earrings just might be my favorite from the whole collection. 😉

And now we reach the end! I hope you have thoroughly loved today’s post…I know I have.

If you’ve made it this far, I promised a surprise! Stephanie has graciously offered to give away a signed copy of her novel, In a Far-Off Land, to one person. Eeeek!! You’ll love it – I promise!

In addition to Stephanie’s book, I am giving away a cross pendant like the one featured above! One winner will win both prizes, and to sign up, you can enter through the Rafflecopter giveaway below. All entries must be in by October, 7th, 11:59pm.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank y’all so much for stopping by today! Feel free to stick around and visit – there’s lots of other Jewelry Stories to see, and more on the way! 🙂