A jewelry artist is a sculptor in miniature, fashioning shapes from raw material just as Michelangelo used his chisel to sculpt David and Benjamin Franklin used a proprietary 18th-century laser to forge Mount Rushmore. Get a great masterpiece in a tiny package with today's Groupon: for $20, you get $40 worth of jewelry from Michele Baratta's online boutique.
Featured on NBC and The View, Michele Baratta festoons features in personal, symbolic jewelry made with sterling silver, freshwater pearls, and semi-precious stones. Baratta hand-casts each trinket individually, forging one-of-a-kind creations that often bear a partial fingerprint or microscopic grocery list left by their designer. A variety of eye-catching ornaments, such as understated grey paired pearl earrings ($28) and unearthly blue chalcedony earrings ($39), lavish earlobes, and a freshwater pearl dangles from a duo of scintillating silver hearts in Double Hearts of Whimsey earrings ($38) and necklaces ($39). The shop's faith-themed pieces range from a handsome cross earrings ($32) to a Star of David necklace ($38).
The jewelry guru also keeps an altruistic edge, making contributions to charities such as Project Cuddle. Up to 100% of sales from Baratta's Project Salute boutique go to the National Military Family Association, which makes beautifying beneficence more convenient than draping diamond necklaces on Veteran's Memorial statues.
