We here at Turtle Love Co. love our extra-curricular activities. Amy likes to put on her wetsuit and swim in the ocean, Rachel spends time at her family’s camp on a lake, Adrianne has a garden and a three-year-old daughter, and I (Xander) am a disc jockey at Portland’s community radio station.

Born in the dorm room of a University of Southern Maine student back in the 70’s, WMPG broadcasts all kinds of eclectic music and talk radio shows. The musical preferences of the community station’s djs range from acoustic folk to blues, hardcore metal, indie rock, and a show dedicated entirely to Frank Zappa. There really is something for everyone at WMPG, and I’m really proud to be a part of such a diverse, grassroots, music-loving family!

My own eclectic music show, called Vox Pop Radio, airs on Mondays from 1:30 to 3 pm (you can actually listen to all of our fabulous djs by streaming WMPG online!) and travels through geography, time, and genre willy-nilly. Well, it’s usually not willy-nilly to me, as I hear all kinds of threads connecting kora music from Mali to, say, the soul music of Otis Redding. It’s sometimes hard to explain why I like the music I like – so maybe I’m not a typical dj. I just hope the music I play will resonate with someone else out there. Sometimes a song just hits you, wham! like it reached inside of you and plucked a string that makes a beautiful note. Those are the songs I try to play.

Here’s a song called La Llorona by Beirut, one of my past and current musical obsessions. I like this song, from the album March of the Zapotec, because Zach Condon plays with a 19-piece band from Oaxaca, Mexico. I’m a big fan of genre-bending musicians!

A lot of towns have great community radio stations. Get involved! All of those dedicated djs who volunteer their time deserve dedicated listeners.

When Michele Scholnick was a kid, she may have dreamt of being a ballerina, but jewelry designer didn’t cross her mind ‘til some years later. She had passed a major deadline in her political science grad program, and decided on a whim to take some art classes. She tried glassblowing, graphic design, and jewelry. Somehow, even though she didn’t wear much jewelry at the time, Michele got hooked within two weeks.

Michele designs and creates her fabulous pieces in her studio in Venice, California. Within a two-minute walk from her studio, she can find any three of her current favorite meals: sushi, Argentinian tapas, or freshly-made, cinnamon-sugar-dusted mini-donuts. In her spare time, Michele likes to dance salsa, read fiction, and walk her dog, June, on the beach. Michele describes June as a “terrible guard dog, but nobody knows.”

We love Michele‘s jewelry for a lot of reasons! The matte-finish on her pieces is simply luscious, and the designs are whimsical and unique, calling to mind the world of fairy tales. She also uses conflict-free diamonds in her work, which are certified as having eco- and people-friendly origins.

When it comes to engagement rings, nobody wants to compromise. The diamond ring has been an image of the quintessential symbol of love and commitment for almost a century. But diamonds are not the only classic choice. Before diamonds made their appearance in the mainstream market, a popular engagement ring setting was the bride’s birthstone. The birthstone engagement ring is quite classic - as classic as the 15^th century, in fact! This is when the trend is thought to have originated in Poland, where folks thought birthstones had many inherent powers that could benefit the wearer.

How did people come to believe that birthstones had certain powers? Well, those stories came about some time during the writing of the book of Exodus in the Old Testament… Something to do with the breastplate of a high priest of the Hebrews. Perhaps that’s a story for another day.

In any case, it’s June, and that means we get to talk about pearls and moonstones! Pearls and moonstones both have a beautiful iridescent sheen, and they are the centerpiece for a couple of our more unique designs, the Nested Pearl Ring, and the Monhegan Moonstone Engagement Ring. The moonstone is a particularly beautiful type of feldspar that seems to glow quite like the surface of the moon. Many ancient civilizations attributed spiritual understanding, good health, and longevity to the moonstone.

We love pearls not only because they’re beautiful, but because they come from something as unassuming as an oyster! (Or mussels in some cases.) A pearl forms when something gets inside the shell that isn’t supposed to be there. Gradually, over years, the foreign object is covered with many layers of a protective coating called ‘nacre.’ When light interacts with all of these overlapping translucent layers, we see the iridescent luster that makes a pearl what it is. The ancient Greeks and Romans believed that, upon being born from the ocean like in Botticelli’s painting of Venus, the goddess of love cried tears of joy. As her tears fell back to the water, they hardened and became pearls.

Eli Phant is a really special place, and not just because Xander, our Smile Specialist and Product Pro, works there part time. It’s a beautiful shop owned by Sally Struever and Peter Eiermann in the East End community of Portland Maine. Sally and Peter are a couple who, for two years now, have been combing the US and the globe for beautiful, handmade goods and sharing them with the Greater Portland community. (They have an on-line shop, too! Visit them here: www.eli-phant.com.)

Eli Phant puts the fun back in functional, with a range of silk-screened textiles, jewelry, furniture, hand bags (one can NEVER have enough bags), ceramics, and clothing. Their walls are hung with all kinds of colorful silk-screen prints by talented artists, and they even have a gold-painted ceiling!

We can really get behind Eli Phant’s ethos. Their stuff is awesome, and they feature so many talented crafters and artists! Check them out on-line or at 253 Congress Street in Portland for some great gift ideas, a special treat for yourself, or even just a little inspiration.