In the past decade, the idea of “shopping local” has been a frequent topic of conversation.  This generation wants to support those who are closest to them, and I love being able to do that both professionally and personally.  Recently I had the absolute pleasure of hanging out with Virginia of Razimus Jewelry.  I was first introduced to Virginia’s jewelry by a family portrait client of mine last June, Amy (shop her link here)… she happened to be wearing some funky bracelets and I snapped this shot of her holding her sons hand – which turned out to be one of my favorite images from the whole session!  we got to talking about them and thus sparked my love of Razimus bracelets – I quickly started my collection and kept wanting to meet Virginia but it took a while for our paths to cross!

Finally – this April we were able to connect.  I wanted her creative expertise on a really special project….

In 1978, my mom’s wedding dress was purchased off the rack for our parents’ August wedding.  It sat in a box, as many wedding dresses do, waiting for….something.  That “something” came along in January 2010 — the birth of the first grandchild.  Soon after his birth, our mom starting taking apart her wedding dress to turn it into a baptismal romper for her grandson, Mason.  Coincidentally Mason’s baptism was on the birthday of Mom’s late father, Mason’s great-grandfather. He walked her down the aisle 32 years before, and now he was here in a different sort of way with Mason and the rest of us.  That baptismal romper, made from the wedding dress, was passed down to and worn by Mason’s new baby cousin, Leo, in 2012. 

In 2013, the grandDAUGHTERS in the family started to come.  Out came the remaining fabric of the 1978 wedding dress to create a baptismal gown to be worn by Charlotte in 2013 and Nora in 2016.  There are still more babies to come in our family and, although we know they’ll be wearing Nanna’s wedding dress in some way, we aren’t sure if it’ll be the romper or the gown.  Only time will tell.

All of our kids have worn Mom’s wedding dress and now it’s time for US to wear it, as well, in bracelet form – a Razimus bracelet.  This wedding dress represents the power and importance of family — their traditions and their futures.   I’m so thankful for Virginia and the business that she has built – her creative endeavors will allow me and my sisters (my mom too!!) to forever wear a piece of the dress.

So a morning talking about creative minds – how she got to where she is and seeing so many of her beautiful creations – sparked a fun new friendship.  One that is sure to lead to many more collaborations in the future!

Virginia is the designer and owner of Razimus Jewelry – and also a mama!  She is a trained fashion designer and after having a baby of her own decided she wanted to stay home and dive into this creative entrepreneur life.  and now – its not just her.. she has a production team of other women who work to create each beautiful piece by hand using only organic cottons and upcycled materials.  i’ve loved growing my “stack” of Razimus bracelets and can’t wait to continue adding to my collection and maybe even throwing in a necklace or two!!

Virginia and Razimus Jewelry are the first of a series of blog posts you can expect all about the local businesses that I love to collaborate with to encourage everyone to shop local – support our community and work together to create the best environment we can for our ever growing families.