magine being a jewelry designer and having your line represented at a major fashion week. That's just what happened for Emmaus High School graduate Chelsea (Nolt) Bond, whose eclectic, handmade jewelry debuted during last month's Fashion Week Dallas 2012.
Bond, an emerging artist in the Dallas fashion scene, had the opportunity for exposure of her unique jewelry line, when it was modeled by celebrity model/social media coach Jenna Ryan during the designer showcase held at the Texas Museum of Automotive History. Bond's jewelry, comprised of exotic couture necklaces and exotic hair couture, enhanced the Celebrity Runway fashions at the Red Ball AIDS Awareness Benefit and Award Gala benefiting the South Dallas AIDS Walk. Bond also rubbed elbows with Ashley Roberts, one of the gala’s emcees and host of "DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) Close Up," who invited Bond to be her featured guest on KDAF-TV's CW33 broadcast.
Bond, 28, currently resides in Dallas with her husband, Eric, 32, and their two miniature dachshunds, Tinkerbell and Kermit. Eric is a 1998 graduate of Nazareth Area High School and an account manager with Cigna Insurance in Plano. Bond started her {Red-i} By Chelsea business in 2010, after planning her own dream destination wedding that took place that June on the beach of Riviera Maya, Mexico.
"Eric is an amazing support, and I always say that I could never have done it without him, especially since the whole thing started with our wedding," she said. "My life completely changed during the planning process."
It was when she was searching for the perfect bridesmaid jewelry for her wedding party that she could not find accessories that inspired her enough to purchase them for her special day.
"I wanted jewelry that would show my bridesmaids how appreciative I was of them for taking the time and effort to join us in paradise for our wedding week," she said.
That’s when she tapped into her artistic side. She took up the challenge of designing eclectic, one-of-a-kind collections for each of her bridesmaids that included “stretchy, glamorous and versatile” barefoot jewelry, necklaces and earrings. Her creativeness and determination in working with shells, Swarovski crystals and various metals and wiring techniques presented gifts of fashion meant to be worn both on and off the beach.
The feedback from wedding guests was "amazing," Bond recalled, especially when they viewed her wedding photos and kept asking where her bridesmaids purchased their jewelry. That was enough encouragement to leave her advertising job in Dallas and take the risk of starting her own business of designing exotic, travel-inspired jewelry and exotic hair couture for brides and bridesmaids planning destination weddings.
She explained that the inspiration for the name {Red-i} was "the cross-country, red-eye flight to incorporate the travel element. I replaced 'eye' with 'i' to represent each person's individual style when it comes to jewelry."
Bond's custom jewelry creations and hair couture have since proved successful for those planning destination weddings, trash-the-dress sessions, vow renewals and honeymoons. There's no doubt, her pieces are specially made to warrant center-of-attention and international flair for the wearer. It is fitting that her company motto is "Have Jewelry, Will Travel."
Bond said she always had a passion for fashion and travel since the age of 5, appreciating the vibrant landscapes, people and cultures of foreign lands. She was constantly drawing, painting and "doing anything artistic" she could get her hands on.
"I was never without my purple drawstring bag filled with markers and a sketch pad," she said.
After graduating from Emmaus High School in 2001, she majored in Spanish and minored in international business at West Chester University. In her junior year, she attended La Universidad de Cadiz in Spain which, she said, was enough of an experience to have her longing for more travel. She moved to the West Coast before departing from Vancouver, B.C., for 100 days of Semester at Sea in the fall of 2004.
"That was the most incredible experience of my life," she said, citing an itinerary that included Japan, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, India, Tanzania, South Africa, Brazil and Venezuela. "I loved how the tribal women in Africa made their accessories and how they wore them with their garments. They greatly influenced me in many of my pieces," Bond described. "From the bright colors in Thai jewelry and clothing to the samba dancers in Brazil – there were so many influences and I think I've managed to mesh them in my head to transform them into my own unique style. I always wanted to tie in my travels with a job, and I managed to not only tie them in with a job, but a passion."
Bond primarily uses organic materials, including stone, semi-precious gems, glass and shell seed beads, stone and wooden beads, and suede, in her jewelry line – each piece represents a place she's visited. Her creations reflect such exotic influences as the marketplaces of Cape Town in South Africa, the turquoise waters of the Andaman Sea and the Caribbean, the colorful spices of Morocco, and the beaches and rocks of Kho Phi Phi Island in Thailand, to name some.
She recently partnered with her destination wedding photographers, Del Sol, who completed a "Trash the Dress/Jewelry" photo shoot of her new "Bond Girl" collection in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. She described the line as "sexy, travel-inspired designs that incorporate 007-style barefoot jewels, bold cuff bracelets, ethereal floral necklaces and exotic hair couture." A project with a destination wedding/event planner in Los Cabos, Mexico, also is in the works.
Arts Roundup:
More than 30 objects created by children at the Theresienstadt ghetto (now the Czech Republic) will be on exhibit from the Beit Theresienstadt Holocaust Museum, Archive and Educational Center in Israel beginning Saturday, Feb. 18 through May 13, at the Reading Public Museum. The exhibition, titled "Theresienstadt's Children and Their Art," includes collages, drawings, embroidery, dolls, diaries, magazines, games and marionettes.
Saturday's opening reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. will present Inge Auerbacher, a survivor of the Theresienstadt ghetto, author and inspirational speaker who spent three years between the ages of 7 to 10 at Theresienstadt. She will present a special members-only video of "The Olympic Doll," the story of her and her doll, "Marlene," with whom she survived her ordeal at Theresienstadt, on Sunday at 11 a.m. The doll has since been donated to The Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
The Theresienstadt Ghetto (Terezin in Czech) was established in the northwestern part of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia on Nov. 24, 1941. It was alleged to be a "Jewish town" for the Protectorate’s Jews but was, in fact, a Concentration and Transit Camp which functioned until its liberation on May 8, 1945. During its operation, 12,171 Jewish children (born 1928-1945) were sent to Ghetto Theresienstadt; 9,001 of these children were departed to the "East," of whom 325 survived. For many of the children, these objects are the only things that remain from their lives.
The exhibition is part of "The Theresienstadt Project," a collaborative educational effort among the Reading Public Museum, the Reading Symphony Orchestra, and the Jewish Federation of Reading. It also involves Fleetwood Area High School, Holocaust Library and Resource Center at Albright College, Berks Classical Children’s Chorus and Berks Opera Workshop. The museum exhibition is presented by Vist Financial.
Related programming at the museum includes traditional Jewish music by "Klingon Klez" on Feb. 26; a Readers Theatre presentation of "The Diary of Anne Frank" by the Genesius Theatre Players on Feb. 23, 25 and 26; and a lecture, "Lost and Found: The Confiscation of European Art by the Nazis and Its Repatriation" by Dr. Pamela Volkman on March 30. Hans Krasa's children’s opera, "Brundibar," will be performed on May 6 at the Sovereign Performing Arts Center, in collaboration with the Reading Symphony Orchestra, Berks Opera Workshop and Berks Classical Children’s Chorus. More special events are being held throughout the community and can be found on the museum’s Web site.
The Seventh Annual SATORI Student Chamber Music Competition takes place Saturday, Feb. 18 at 1:30 p.m., in the Rodale Room (3rd floor) of Community Music School in Allentown. The event features high school ensembles competing for a cash prize and an opportunity to perform with SATORI. The public is encouraged to attend this free event, followed by a reception, and experience the future of classical music in the Lehigh Valley. (Snow date is Feb. 19 at 10 a.m.)
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