RONEN ZILBERMAN / RZILBERMAN@ STARBULLETIN.COM
Interspersed between beads on this bracelet are enamel charms, from top, a surfer, pineapple, slippers, dolphin and hibiscus.
Enamel charms prove moneymaker
With a name like Sandy Moneymaker's, you can bet she was a little self-conscious about it and aimed to live up to the moniker.She may have hit the jackpot through Charming Hawaii, a company offering colorful enamel charms that come on pre-made stretch bracelets and necklaces or that can be purchased individually to customize just about anything.
Charming Hawaii offers silver-toned Tiffany-style toggle bracelets that can hold a series of charms, which run about $6 each. These can be attached by lobster-claw clasp to the ends of zippers to personalize track jackets, handbags or any chain. They come in shapes of hula dancers, palm trees, tropical drinks, sea turtles, dolphins, hibiscus and pineapples, to name a few designs.
Girls' bracelets sell for $7 to $8; adult stretch bracelets sell for $12 to $15. The toggle bracelets are $10 and feature a vintage-look hibiscus that offers a hint of what's coming up next.
Look for the charms at Hilo Hattie, Raging Isle Surf, Blue Ginger, Kailua Beachwalk, Barnfield's in Haleiwa and hotel gift shops.
NADINE KAM / NKAM@STARBULLETIN.COM
Karran Uhr shows one of the brocade purses she creates, embellished with jeweled handles. They can go dressy or casual. Uhr has seen them paired with gowns, kimono and jeans.
Evening bags show mix of skills
Like every child with a practical dad, Karran Uhr was groomed for the business world, even though her heart was in art.She pursued a degree in business after being told she couldn't make money through art, and after working for a real estate management company, she decided to strike out on her own and start a gift basket company.
Then about nine years ago, when her husband got a job here, she sold her business to move with him.
"I didn't know what I would do, but I knew I was gonna do something," Uhr said. "I was just acclimating when a girlfriend called and invited me to a bead show."
Uhr was hooked and started designing pieces to wear. From beads, she moved on to more ornate pieces involving semiprecious stones and wire sculpture.
More recently, she's taken up Japanese doll-making and combined those techniques with her jewelry skills to come up with a line of brocade evening bags in vivid silks the colors of sakura blossoms, Chinese lacquer and plums, tied off with silk cord and finished with handles of sculpted 14K gold-filled or sterling silver handles.
The handles are also accented by handmade cloisonne butterflies and semiprecious beads, jade or jet. Some bags are also trimmed in a circle of cultured freshwater pearls.
The purses are sold under the name Uhr Designs at Neiman Marcus and Neccessories in Kapaa on Kauai. Prices range from about $270 to $520.
By Nadine Kam
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