Impressions is a small jewelry venture, mainly dealing with pearls and artisan finds.
Hi, my name is Leah, and my friends call me Lay. I grew up learning jewelry from my mom, who loves to don big pieces as her daily wear. We would visit jewelry stores, but her favorite hunt is the jewelry shop’s subasta (auction) where items are sold at almost half the price.
I sold handmade jewelry bibs made out of mother-of-pearl, German beads, abalone shells, and different stones at jewelry trade expos and hotels in 2011. Community partners primarily created and hand-beaded my jewelry bibs.
Aside from trade expos, I sold bib pieces to clients abroad; the US, some parts in Asia and Europe, and even had regular orders from Panama.
I took beginner and advanced beading classes to learn how to create pieces, and for a time, I made small pieces for myself, family, and friends. But I cannot create a big collection because I was traveling a lot. So when I travel, I try to look for unique jewelry finds wherever I go. In my travels, I bought great gem-beaded pieces in Laos, silver bracelets in Morocco, and bead earrings and bracelets from different communities.
Impressions also carried local/international artists’ and jewelers’ pieces to sell, like the hand-painted rings by Russian Artist Natasha Costello, Em Mariano’s carabao statement rings, and Davao’s local jewelers for fine jewelry pieces.
As a creative, I flutter from one project to another, and so when I took on another set of adventures–finishing my fine arts masters in HK and France, art residences as far as Morocco, accepting projects around Asia, photographing Mindanao, starting a creative incubator, that Middle East stint, and homeschooling my third-culture kids —jewelry did not pause but the selling took a back seat.
Currently, I am working on my Pearl Specialist Certification.
Thus, I am reopening Impressions here in the US with a pearl collection sourced from different farms and jewelry expos in HK, Japan, Indonesia, etc. It’s a collection I have been working on for almost two years now.
I hope to build a shop that you will enjoy perusing. I aim to bring more rare pearls, start a statement jewelry collection, and introduce artisanal products from different Asian communities by next year.
In our journal, I will be sharing jewelry info nuggets and new learnings, photos of interesting finds from my travels, and the occasional coffee photos. I would be most happy to answer questions, and you can also share nuggets of info in the comments. We also have a contact form for a more private exchange.
Nice to meet you and welcome to Impressions 🙂 May we — art and jewelry lovers, the curious, and the coffee junkies — build a positive and supportive community.