Since having my son Gino I’ve become overly obnoxious about having every little keepsake possible out there in the jewelry world that can be personalized to represent him. Whether that entails engraving his name, a cute letter G, his zodiac, his birthstone, his Chinese New Year animal…you name it, I want it. It has sort of become a fun little collecting game. Fun for me, not for my bank account. I thought I had exhausted every personalized possibility, but one day while scrolling through my personal Instagram, low and behold, I spotted local blogger Amelia Styles who posted her custom portrait silhouette charm of her daughter. I instantly fell in love and had to know more!
The company who makes the silhouette charms is Vana Chupp Studio — they’ve been creating personalized jewelry since 2008. I love how their silhouette charms come in different sizes, as this aspect is actually more important than you think! I always see so many charms that I love and they’re only available in one size (usually too large for my taste). Le Papier gives you the option of Large, Medium and Tiny. You can also get your charm engraved if you’d like — there are three choices for that — all uppercase, upper & lowercase, or script. Once you decide you want your very own custom silhouette, the next step is taking a perfect profile shot of your loved one.
This part was easier than I thought after I watched a few tutorials they have on their Instagram page. What worked for me was turning on the TV for Gino to watch or holding up a book. I sent in maybe 3 or 4 options of his profile and in a few weeks they emailed me a proof. As soon as I opened the proof I got so emotional — it was exactly Gino! I didn’t think it could convey him to a tee, but it totally did! I went with an engraving on his name — all caps.
What I love about my custom silhouette charm from Vana Chupp Studio is how versatile and easy to wear it is! It doesn’t matter what your style is — it will blend seamlessly with whatever you’ve got going on. I like to wear mine either on a shorter chain and layered with other necklaces…or on a longer box chain, sometimes with other sentimental charms or by itself. Starting a necklace stack with a unique vintage piece is a great tip — like a herringbone, large link or a strand of quartz. I also like to add touches of color with my son’s birthstone — emerald!
I just love how this piece turned out and I will treasure it forever. I highly recommend it as a gift for any occasion, whether your children are grown and out of the house (you can go through old photos and I bet you’ll find a profile picture) or a new mom!
