Betsy & Iya Jewelry » family

Road Trip: family time.

betsy — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 07:01:18 +0000

so it's a right hand turn then, yes?

After Columbus, we headed to Virginia, our home state. It wasn’t until we started in to familiar territory that we fully comprehended the length and impact of our journey: we had just driven across the entire country.

two old friends and one tiny new one

smaller than the rockies, yes, but just as majestic.

New friends, old friends, new business, unfamiliar landscape, insane rain, summer heat burning off, leaves changing…all a perfect combination to lead us right into the warm, loving arms of family. What a trip. When I saw the sign for Roanoke, I knew we’d done something big. For us. If friends and family weren’t a part of it, it would have been nothing, really.

such a pretty group

hey, at least we didn't strap them to the roof.

The rest of our trip was full of laughter, birthday cakes, museum exploring, home cooked meals, good conversation, new restaurants, perfect hugs, unconditional support, love (lots of it), nostalgia, nostalgia, nostalgia. I am so grateful for the people in my life, the people I’ve met because of W, and the people I’ve met since starting this crazy business.

Pisco Sours. Amazing. Ask for one the next time you're in a Peruvian place.

home cooking. I'll drink to that, too.

Thank you for everything, people! We love you.

xo~betsy

Mom's warm embrace.

***Song of the Moment: I Don’t Know Why, by Stevie Wonder***

Introducing: WILBET Hefeweizen.

betsy — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:08:02 +0000

At the end of the NYC tour, we took a side trip to Norfolk, VA where W’s parents had a special engagement party for us. It was just perfect.

The home brews were definitely one of the highlights. It was a family effort and a complete surprise to us. When they gave us a beer to toast with, I took a triple take at my FACE on the front of it. From the fresh taste of the beer to the quirky, perfect handmade labels, they did a brilliant job and we all had so much fun.

Introducing to the world: “WILBET HEFEWEIZEN: Simply the best hefeweizen in all the Ports. Handcrafted award-winning chemistry results in a golden unfiltered wheat beer that is truly vibrant and clearly superb. Ever since Wilbet introduced Hefeweizen to America in 1999, ours has been the standard by which all are judged.”

The other side of the beer read: “Brewed and bottled with love in Portsmouth, VA in celebration of the engagement of Will and Betsy. Winner of 2001 KISS Gold Medal Award and 2009 Gold Ring Beer Cup. Best enjoyed on a breezy summer day in the company of good friends and family.”

…So so true. In fact, I could use one of those cold brews, RIGHT NOW!

Have beautiful cold-beer filled weekends!

***Song of the Moment: The Waves, Los Super Elegantes***

Breaking it up.

betsy — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:36:04 +0000

Miraculously, I made it out of the Portland airport and into D.C. by 3 am on Christmas Eve. I was exhausted and grateful that I was not aboard one of the 500 flights that were cancelled that day. Since then, I have been truly enjoying this break with my family. I do think I really needed it. My hands and arms were beginning to wake me in the night with loud beseeching throbs, “give (pulse) us (pulse) a break (pulse pulse)!”

Okay okay okay, I hear ya, hands. I think they just wanted to have some fun. Even though we had discussed not giving each other big gifts this season, Ash and Mom decided that I needed a better camera for my product shots. While I am so thankful for the amazing photographers I’ve found and used and will continue to use, Enko Photography and Hickok Photography, I need to be as economical as I can in these beginning stages of my business.

So the two of them decided I was to be the one to luck out this Christmas and went in together to get a great mid-range SLR digital camera for me. It’s amazing. I’ve been going nuts with it from the moment I opened it. So let’s stray away from jewelry for a moment and focus on the life that inspires it.

Great Grandma Bessie's Old House

Many of my relatives have lived in this little house in Southwestern Virginia’s beautiful countryside, but the figure who is the most memorable in my mind: Grandma Bessie. When I was a little girl, there was never a visit in this little white house when she was not making fresh sweet bread (she called it light bread and it took most of the day to make it) and coffee. I suppose that was the beginning of my deep love for coffee. The front door opened to her warm little bedroom, and her modest grandma house. My senses were opened with love the instant I walked through the door; I just wanted to hug and hold her, while her sweet sweet smells locked into my memory. There is nothing like the smell of warm sweet bread exiting the oven to cool while I sipped on my 9-year-old cup of coffee with cream.

Uncle Chuck noticed me taking the pictures just outside of his house and he said efficiently, “Come with me.” I knew I was in for a treat:

I feel like I had heard of this graveyard, but in all my 28 years of living, I don’t think I had ever braved the wooden walk into this sanctuary. A short walk past the little white house is a tiny cemetery filled with my ancestors. I was taken by this particular moss topped gravestone. My great great grandfather, J.P. Neathawk, and great grandfather, Galen Neathawk, harvested the wheat for the community and milled the wood for their homes. Even though Chuck said it’s time to clean up this graveyard, I like how nature and death looks when it has merged.

Of all the 250 photos I’ve taken since being introduced to my camera, this might be my favorite. It was taken on the walk back to the farmhouse from the woods where the old rusted over john deere tracker and sawmill that JP Neathawk used to make a living resides. It reminds me of the beautiful intricacies, the ups and downs, ins and outs of this path we call life:

the path

My 35mm camera was stolen from my car in San Francisco in 2003. Before then, I was obsessed with taking amazing photos. It wasn’t until this Christmas day when I really remembered the joy I find in taking beautiful images. I think, though, that I needed the break to appreciate what’s most important: the experiences and spirit that inspires them.

Now off to explore D.C…more images to follow.

***Song of the Moment: Pale Lit Sea, by Kotogoto****

The Truth Behind the Name

betsy — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:38:00 +0000

Quite often I am asked the question: Who is this “iya” (pronounced “eye-yah”)?

There is a perfect truth to this answer. She is NOT a figment of my joyously creative imagination (though she does feed it). She is NOT my alter-ego. She is actually not even a co-owner or creator in the business (though she does give me very sound advice on all issues that involve, well…everything). She is not my boss, though pointed out by my dear friend, sometimes it helps to pretend that she is my boss–waiting for me to show up to work on time, to take a chance with my wild ideas that I might be feeling insecure about, to implement a solid business infrastructure so that I might continue on for years, to encourage me to put one more foot forward, to fire me on a design job where I’m not pulling my weight and send me in the direction where I truly excel, to tell me to not give up when I feel like throwing in the towel…basically, the COOLEST boss ever.

The truth is that she is nothing short of one of the most amazing women I’ve ever known. When I was toiling over the best possible name I could offer my business and the work it highlights, she is one of the first names that came to mind.

When I was a child there was one person who showed me the ropes like no one else, the one person who had my back no matter how insane the situation, the one person who believed in me maybe more than anyone else. To this day she has honored those ideas I always had of her, just by being herself through and through. She handles herself with grace and poise, love and passion. She has the most keen (yet subtle) fashion sense of anyone I’ve ever known. She has always been who she always was. When I was a mere pup, I couldn’t pronounce her amazing name: Ashlyn. So I improvised by calling her, “Iya.” When speech proved less challenging for me, I held onto that name, secretly and strongly, in my little heart. She continues to be a major source of inspiration for me. We have grown into our own women selves, both very different and both very beautiful. We have both supported and loved each other on our own paths, without condition. I am eternally grateful for this woman.

I named the business after both of us. I wanted it to be personal. I wanted it to be a reflection of me and my work. I can think of no better way than: betsy & iya.

Betsy is classic, like a part of my designs. Iya is more exotic, like a part of my designs. Betsy is old; Iya is new. Together they are a perfect match. Together they make me feel bigger than I am. Together, I am stronger.

This name is a dedication to my beautiful sister, without whom, I would be less of who I am.

I love you, Iya.

(betsy on the left, cousin jenny in the middle, iya on the right.)

***Song of the moment: Whole Lotta Love, by Led Zeppelin***
(She also had a HUGE influence on the kind of music I would grow up loving. On a rainy teenage Sunday afternoon, you could have found us rocking out to all songs Led Zeppelin on a slow parkway drive. )