Dreams of M & M's - A BESTeam Feature

If you thought this was going to be a post about those great little candies that melt in your mouth and not in your hand, I'm sorry to disappoint you... The M & M's I'm writing about are Melanie & Meghan Mina, two creative sisters with complementary talents and a dream of sharing their creativity with the world. Collectively, they're known in the handmade community as Ardent Reverie and they are members of Etsy's BESTeam.

This duo is already making some serious strides towards realizing their dreams. July of 2010 saw them being honored as the Fashion Accessories Designer of the Year by RAW:natural born artists - a grassroots organization for artists, by artists. Originally showcasing handpicked "best of" underground and indie artists in Southern California, RAW is currently expanding their scope to encourage and promote local artistic talent in film, fashion, music, visual art, hair & makeup artistry, and performance art in 22 cities across the country.

Their success hasn't come without hard work. Childhood school projects had sown the seeds of creativity for these two, and college saw Melanie earn her degree in Graphic Design while Meghan chose a degree in Fashion Marketing. Incredibly enough, when it comes to accessory and jewelry design, they are both self-taught. I'm happy to share some of their current work with you to see what great teachers these two sisters/business partners have been!

Melanie's love of origami goes back to 1st grade when their class was visited by a group of students from Asia who showed them how to create some origami pieces. Says Melanie, "The girl assigned to teach me was flawless at creating her piece. I was in awe. In my eyes she was like an origami goddess!” Melanie laughs. “Ever since, I became hooked.”

And she is still hooked - and quite proficient at the art herself as you can see in this beautiful example of the ancient art. ( Crane Hair Clip - Midnight Blue )




Considered one of the most stunning natural phenomenon of our times, the appearance of the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, is related to geomagnetic storms in the earth's atmosphere which cause an amazing display of rippling rainbows of light in the skies of the arctic regions. (Just so our friends in the Southern Hemisphere don't feel left out, they have their own version of this phenomenon in the Antarctic Circle - there these are known as the Aurora Australis!). Equally stunning is this lovely fascinator - their Northern Lights headband - that I believe was crafted by Meghan (maybe she'll stop by and verify that in comments? Hint, hint...) This is just one of the many amazing fascinators you'll find at ArdentReverie!

The girls' foray into the world of jewelry design has provided an eclectic array of designs made with an exciting medley of fabric, metals, resins, and beads. From diminutive charm necklaces to the statement of fun made by this Gracefully Messy Necklace with a Detachable Flower Clip, no matter which way you turn, you're sure to find something that appeals to your sense of fashion style at ArdentReverie!

You can find out more about Melanie and Meghan and all of the other projects they have underway by visiting their website where you'll find not only their blog, but features of other artists in many genres, as well as Ardent Radio where you'll hear some of the best new talent there is! Join their growing twitter following as well!