There are few things as intimate as wearing poetry against your skin, and I have fallen madly in love with Jeanine Payer’s beautiful collection of emotionally engaging yet subtle jewelry where she and her highly skilled team of 15 metalsmiths hand engrave poetic verse onto precious metals creating wondrous pieces that are at once both powerful and private.  Payer’s designs are graced with the words of both contemporary and ancient voices.  “Each person brings their own particular meaning to the jewelry, therefore each piece becomes highly endowed,” says the designer.  “These pieces become talismanic as they are chosen to mark emotional and philosophical moments in each person’s life.”  A precious baby bracelet caught my eye today at Bluebirds and Hollyhocks with an inscription that read: I’m youth, I’m joy, I’m a little bird that has broken out of the egg.” – J.M.   Can you imagine a sweeter heirloom? Daneen