Congratulations to the winner of our sparkling "Be Tarina" contest CAROLYN BRADEN!! The decision was not easy as we received hundreds of submissions - thank you to everyone who sent in their story and pictures! Tarina was thrilled and overwhelmed to read what everyone had written. Here's an excerpt from Carolyn's story, "The Inspiration I Needed:"

"I am incredibly inspired by Tarina Tarantino.  I’ve loved her jewelry since first seeing Cameron Diaz wearing one of Tarina's necklaces.  I went to the Tarina Tarantino website and spent hours admiring all the sparkling jewelry.  I read Tarina’s story about how her husband was so supportive and helped her make what she loved into her career.  I’ve always thought I would start a business as well.  After reading how Tarina did it, I got the inspiration to do it. I am an art teacher in Louisville, Kentucky and have always known I have creative talents.  I love making jewelry, painting, making clothes, taking art classes, teaching children, gardening, home making, and baking.  I knew I wanted to start a business, but the question was, “what kind of business do I start?” My husband Tommy, a very loving and supportive person, helped me do research on how I would start a small business.  We researched what things my town lacked and could benefit from.  My best friend Nikki Fiely and I had always talked about our love for baking.  She took classes on cake decorating and had made a couple of wedding cakes in the past.  We put our ideas together and created a cake business, Blooming Creations. We bake and decorate cakes.  We want to make our business unique by offering many varieties of cake flavors, fillings, and styles.  We are even beginning to invent some new cake recipes.  We started the business in February and just by word of mouth, the orders started coming in.  I usually wear a piece of Tarina’s jewelry to meet a bride.  They always comment on the pieces and I tell them about Tarina’s website or refer them to the stores Girltalk or the Luna Boutique in Louisville that carry Tarina Tarantino. 

Being an artist, I love being able to sketch out cake ideas for clients and then make them a reality.  Because of the amount of orders, Nikki and I are turning my garage into a small kitchen.  Currently, Nikki and I are still teaching.  (My students adore the Hello Kitty jewelry I wear.)  We love teaching children, but also look forward to the day Blooming Creations becomes our career.  I can’t say enough about the inspiration I’ve received from first discovering Tarina Tarantino.  I love her story, her jewelry, and her ideas.  She made me realize that by surrounding yourself with inspirational, supportive people, you can do anything!!"

Check out Carolyn's delicious cakes and more at www.bloomingcreationscakes.com!

Hello Kitty Pink Head has been on a magical journey to the palaces, cathedrals, and landscapes of Russia. She has brought back stories, charms and souvenirs, and all are included in this new fairytale collection. Click on the picture at left to read more about it!

The Los Angeles Times interviews Tarina on her store, her style, and her inspiriation:

"With a pink lemonade-colored resin floor, apothecary jars filled with beads, porcelain cameos of the designer for drawer pulls, and crystal flower jewelry blooming from every shelf, the L.A. store feels like a shopper's Candy Land.

'You'd think it would look like Liberace,' says Tarantino. 'But it's actually an homage to my great-grandmother Matilda Anderson, who collected curiosities. She had little shelves filled with Mason jars of sea glass, buttons, beads and vintage jewelry that I used to play with.'

In the next few weeks, Tarantino will roll out a second collaborative collection with Mattel's Barbie. 'Barbie has been every designer's inspiration,' says Tarantino, who searched for a fresh spin by scouring the Mattel archives, looking at artwork and packaging. Pieces are designed around images of Barbie from the last five decades such as the 1950s Princess Barbie with her long lashes and high ponytail and 1980s Rainbow Barbie with flowing blond locks. Tarantino also designed a few pieces that Barbie herself might have worn, such as a choker of gumball-sized pink pearls. 'When you wear them, you become a giant Barbie doll.'

Tarantino's business is still privately owned and self-financed. Though most costume jewelry is now made in Asia, hers is assembled in downtown Los Angeles, using Swarovski crystals from Austria and Lucite beads that are poured, molded and tumbled for a few hours or a few weeks in German factories. The cameo-like Barbie and Hello Kitty stones are silk-screened and lacquered, instead of the cheaper alternative — sealing a photocopied image under a plastic dome.

Although Tarantino claims to ignore trends, her owl-shaped bead bracelets and crystal-studded daisy pendants are spot on for this summer's 1970s revival. She produces more than 15 collections a year, between the collaborative lines and her own, which add up to hundreds of pieces."

To read the entire article, go to www.latimes.com or click on the image at left.

When Tarina Tarantino fan Betsy Boyle spotted the HELLO KITTY PINK HEAD By TARINA TARANTINO Bridal Collection upon its launch she knew she wanted to be a sparkling bride. Her love of TARINA TARANTINO accessories had to extend to her wedding look and she knew it wouldn't be complete without the PINK HEAD earrings, bracelet and GARTER! Even the bridal party gifts were TARINA TARANTINO. Each one of her bridesmaids was given their own set of Pink Head earrings...except for the Maid of Honor - it took right up until the actual ceremony for Betsy to realize that she didn't have pierced ears! Luckily the sparking star that Betsy is, she had an extra "I LOVE YOU" necklace on hand to gift her. Every member of the bridal party had a gorgeous piece of TARINA TARANTINO to wear for the special night and even the groom sported a necklace as a pocket watch chain. She was kind enough to send these gorgeous pictures of herself, her husband Larry, and her bridesmaids, all wearing TT - click on the picture at the left to view. Congratulations Betsy and Larry on a sparkling wedding and a sparkling life together!

Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard on the launch of the BRAND NEW TT.com!!! I am so excited and happy that you have come by to take a peek. This section (Tarina’s World) is my imaginary “Tarinaland”that has been brought to life. In this world you can read MY STORY, which is the short version of my life and love of jewelry design. You can also visit the GALLERY to check some of my favorite pictures. I love my digital camera and am always pointing it at something or someone so you never know what might end up in the gallery. The JEWELRY BOX is a little collection of my favorite trinkets with some hidden surprises inside. The hot air balloon will take you on a journey through my favorite LINKS. The CANDY drawer is where you can find treats for your computer like wallpapers and banners etc….. enter the mirror and ask me (ASK TARINA) a question...I love to hear from you and will answer you directly or post the answers right here in the BUTTERFLY JOURNAL. This journal is also a place where I will tell you about life and what’s been happening, what’s new, or about things that I love or love to do….and be sure to look for the be-jeweled rabbit hopping around Tarina’s World…rumor has it that he is also in the balloon…..!!

In the news and press section of the site, you can see a picture of the chandelier I created for the Hello Kitty 30th Birthday /Target House charity event. It raised over $4000 for the Unicef /Target house charity. Yaaa!!!!...... At the party,

This week we are debuting our new Hello Kitty Pink Head collections “Russian Nouveau” and next week “Queen of Pink” here on the website. You can read the story of each collection in the News and Press section of the website.

And now the really important stuff... the magnitude of the Hurricane Katrina disaster is impossible to grasp from watching T.V. and hopefully none of us will ever know what it is like to lose our loved ones or homes in this way. Making even a small donation to the Red Cross is a great way to help out. For the month of September we are going to donate a portion of all sales from this website to The Red Cross....so start shopping for a great cause!!! In all seriousness, we all need to learn from this disaster and be prepared. Especially we Californians who are living on borrowed time as it is, and never know when things are going to start shaking around here. Having a little “disaster kit” is really important and something we are all too busy to deal with…but need to!

It's Friday afternoon and we have only been back a few days from Japan. The trip to Tokyo was incredible and I completely fell in love with the city. It is a magical world, the home of Hello Kitty and a futuristic metropolis full of cuteness, great design and street fashion like no other place on earth. I picked up a few Japanese words, that I found myself using repeatedly, like “Kawaii” (which means "cute") and “Moshi Moshi” (what you say when you answer the phone). You also find yourself getting into the ritual of bowing very quickly but never feel like you are doing it exactly right. Our sweet, sparkling TT Japan team was so adorable and they greeted us on our first day with a box of “pink"-themed Japanese treats, including my favorite candy Meiji Apollo (strawberry-tipped chocolates shaped like little volcanoes). We stayed at the beautiful Park Hyatt Tokyo, best known as the “Lost In Translation” hotel. The views from our room were so incredible it was hard to believe they were real. An ocean of buildings that goes on forever, peppered with dark green parks and trees. The second night we went to the launch party at “Le Ciel Blanc,” a gorgeous party space in Shibuya. It started with a little show created by the famous Gothic Lolita stylist Yukari Sotoyama featuring doll-like girls embellished with our sparkling jewels. After a short speech to the crowd I was sweetly surprised when Hello Kitty showed up. Later there was a visit from the most famous comedian couple in Japan, Hayashiya Pe-Ka-Ko. It was an amazing night that I will truly never forget.

A pink platform showcased two mini vanities dressed with the latest pieces from our collections with a back of Japanese magazine style images that described our recent trip to Japan and our co-brand projects with Hello Kitty and Barbie. Downstairs there was a little movie showing our recent trip to Japan. The evening was amazing! The music and crowd were sparkling and beautiful and many Italian stars , press and Icons such as Elio Fiorucci and T.V Star Katia stopped by. Each of the guests left with a pink bag featuring a special edition “Ten Years of Sparkle” Bag Candy and Tshirt from the event. Thank you Roberta Cordani, Elisabetta Oropallo, and of course Alessandra Passera and Veronica for helping with our sparkling event! Italian girls rock (and sparkle!)….

The next day we jumped on a plane and headed down to Naples! This was my first time in Naples and I was so excited to meet the amazing people of this region and taste the delicious Pizza and Mozzarella that is so famous there. The event that afternoon was at a jewel box boutique called “Stars & Dogs” that is owned by Giovanna and Antonio Buono. We arrived to a sparkling crowd , with the people in the shop spilling into the narrow cobbled streets. Even the Naples Police were there to say hello and have some pizza. Looking up you could see many people out on their balconies waving and smiling. There were long catering tables filled with food along the sidewalk and everyone was already having a great time. It was a beautiful evening of meeting and talking with fans.