October 11th, 2011
I don’t know what’s the sequence, regarding the heading of this post. Probably depends with Alice’s mood and the time of the year.
Alice H. Klein is the artist and designer behind TKO, along with her husband, Bryant and now her niece, JoAnne.
TKO is located at 100 Garfield Pkwy., #6 in the town of Bethany Beach, Delaware. Tel. 302-539-6992. Website? www.alicehklein-tko.com.
I have written about this store on 9/3/09 and on 10/25/10. You can check those posts by clicking on the months of September and October and scrolling down to the dates.
You can always find something at TKO. Her designs are beautiful and target a wide range of prices. It could be something for a friend or something more dramatic for yourself.
Alice can design anything you want or she can also update a special piece.
I was at the point in Cape Henlopen State Park last week. I always take visitors to that side of the park. You can see the town of Lewes and the Ferry on one side and on a clear day you can see New Jersey on the other.
It was windy and so many kiteboarders. I heard my name being called. It was Alice. She and all these other kiteboarders were having a blast. Actually, she might have been the only woman too. You see she has her passions; designing unique, never boring, pieces of jewelry or doing the extreme; kiteboarding.
This week I went to her store in Bethany. She opens Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
She has so many new pieces. Ones that I fell in love with were the earrings made out of shells she picked up in Puerto Rico. Here they are.
The rest is just a little peak into her designs. The pictures don’t do justice; you need to visit and have her explain to you the types of pearls, the stones, the metals, etc. etc.
Have a great day!!!…talk to you later…after I digest the subs from Casapullas; my next post….
August 25th, 2010
I have known Alice Klein for so many years now. I always remind her that I am such a loyal customer having bought a lot of her jewelry for myself, as well as for many of my friends. I have also come to know her husband, Bryant Clark, also a jeweler. This couple works together 24/7.
I wrote a post on 9/3/09 about T.K.O. and if you would like to read it, please click on the month of September on the left hand of this blog, under Archives and scroll down to the date. In it there is more information on this unique jeweler.
T.K.O. is located on 100 Atlantic Ave., # 6 & 7, Bethany Beach. Tel. 302-539-6992. Cell phone is 302-841-9088. Website is www.alicehklein-tko.com.
It is true when they say that if your job is your passion, you will never work a day in your life.
You can tell Alice is into her work; plastics, precious and semi-precious stones, pearls, gold, gold filled and silver are the materials she utilizes to make unique pieces of jewelry, recognized by the ones that know her creations.
She has been in busines for 30 years and I consider her designs to have that edge that set them apart from the ordinary.
I stopped the other day to get a present and she had so many pretty new designs. I have said it before, that the pictures and even the website do not do justice to her pieces. You have to visit the store to get the full effect.
Alice loves her custom work. Customers are known to bring their outdated jewelry and Alice will give them a “face lift”.
She has beautiful pearls and a great collection of color stones.
At T.K.O. you will find just a little something for yourself for as low as $18 or you can just splurge and spend into the thousands.
Most of all, I think Alice and Bryant, are known for the individualized attention offered the moment you step into their store.
Alice and Bryant; a couple that has been able to work together for so many years also find time to play together, as well. What do they like to do? Extreme kite surfing.
Here is a peek to some of their pieces.
Natural color fresh water pearls, wrapped in multi-colors of 14kt gold (rose, yellow, white, green)
"Porcupine Necklace" Natural fresh water green pearls, enhanced, with detachable clasp.
Another "Porcupine Necklace"
Tahitian Pearls
Have a great Day!! It feels like Fall!! Talk to you later….
January 14th, 2010
One of the best things about living in a small beach community is that it does not matter if you go into a bookstore, bake shop, coffee shop or jewelry shop, everyone seems to engage you in conversation and there is no rush. It is refreshing. The downtown retail communities in all my beach towns seem to want you to know that you are welcomed.
Some years ago I stopped by a store in downtown Rehoboth called Fun to Fine Jewelry. I think I ended up buying some Christmas presents. That store is owned by Laurie and Vince Mullay. I talked to Vince and he told me a little bit about the shop and he also said that they had one in West Palm Beach, Florida.
After the Christmas Holidays I was walking past the store and still did not stop. Last week I did because what attracted me in their windows were different bead necklaces. I will tell you about them in a minute but first let me tell you about Fun to Fine Jewelry.
The name says it all. Their jewelry is fun and edgy. It is also affordable. They also have fine jewelry, so it is a good mix.
They are located at the First Street Station, 70 Rehoboth Ave., Ste. 106, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971. Tel. is 302-227-3770. Website is www.funtofinejewelry.com and e-mail address is funtofinejewelry@verizon.net
Fun to Fine Jewelry’s South Florida location is: City Place, 460 S. Rosemary Ave., Ste. 176, West Palm Beach, FL 33401. Tel. is 561-805-9998 and the e-mail address is funtofinejewelry@bellsouth.net.
On-line shopping, by visiting their above mentioned website is very easy. Every piece is very well displayed. The company started in 2000. If you shop in their Delaware store or if you are sending pieces to Delaware have in mind that there is no sales tax. Otherwise, there is free shipping on all orders and free gift wrapping.
What is the attraction of beads? Definitely they are nothing new since they have been used since the Middle Ages. At that time and until the 18th century the bead trade was immense. They are usually pierced for stringing and made from different materials like wood, shell, bone, seed, nut and metal. So many different shapes, as well. At this point in time beadwork varies with fashion and it is as popular as so many thousands of years ago.
The bead necklaces I saw on the Fun to Fine Jewelry window that attracted me so much were from a company called She Beads.
The company’s address is 1824 Johns Drive, Glenview, Ill 60025. The tel. is 888-920-1923. Fax number is 847-904-7182 and the website is www.sbstore.com.
She Beads are hand rolled clay beaded jewelry. They are not painted, even though they look like they are. They are made from polymer-based clay and every single one is rolled and strong by hand. The website shows how they are made.
The founder and owner is Sandy Rueve. I don’t know her but I do have one her necklaces. A love for perennial gardening inspired her to envision this one of a kind, signature She Beads Collection.
Years ago, this mother of 2, with 3 jobs was juggling everyday life. One of her jobs was working as an X-Ray technician for the Chicago Bulls. She started her “cottage” business and began to design and sell jewelry and accessories. Apparently, it caught Michael Jordan’s eye and she designed and handcrafted beads for him; She Beads was born. Again, her whole story is in her website.
You wonder, why I am writing about her if I have not personally met her? Well, I think it is enlightening to hear how people like her want to give back. Think about it, pretty much everything you hear is bad news; economy, personal problems, bankruptcy, murders, weather disasters, etc.; this is a good one. Read on…you will see.
She Beads has selected charities and The Charity Bead Collection was developed. It is not just about donating funds, but to become supporters for education, to create that awareness, and touch people with experiences that are similar.
In her Charity Bead Collection, these beads are special and represent each individual charitable cause.
In the past years, I have had several friends with breast cancer. One of She Beads selected charity is The Pink Ribbon Girls. Pink Ribbon Girls help young women diagnosed with breast cancers. Please visit www.pinkribbongirls.org for more information.
Another chairity is The Chicago Ovarian Cancer Alliance (COCA) and Sandy called it The Teal Ribbon Beads. This company support women, family and friends with ovarian cancer. Please visit www.ovariancanceralliance.com.
The Gold Ribbon Beads are for CureSearch, which is the National Childhood Cancer Foundation. Cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease in children. Please visit www.curesearch.org, which is a combination of Children’s Oncology Group and the National Childhood Cancer Foundation.
Red Dress Beads – Go Red for Women. These beads are created for the American Heart Association. Need I say more? We all have been touched with a family member that has developed heart disease. Please visit www.goredforwomen.org.
The Oneness Beads – For thousands of years beads have been used in many cultures. Oneness is a foundation that promotes racial unity through the arts. Please visit www.oneness.org.
She Beads is on Facebook and Twitter, so check this company out. In the meantime if you are in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, West Palm Beach, Florida, or on the web, you can visit Fun to Fine Jewelry; they have a good representation of the She Beads collection.
See you and have a good one….
November 7th, 2009
Just like in the Delaware beaches and Ocean City, Maryland, Delray Beach, Florida is another of those popular beach towns where businesses are popping everywhere. Two of the newest ones are:
Unique Boutique
This small but very sophisticated jewelry shop opened last February on 204 East Atlantic Ave., in Delray Beach. Telephone is 561-272-6654. The e-mail adress is uniqueboutique2@comcast.net and the website is www.uniqueboutiquejewelry.net.
Besides jewelry, it also has accessories, but the jewelry is what attracted me to the store. The owner of the store is Karen Beaton and she buys from 9 designers. The jewelry is distinctive, with great combination of stones and metals. Very affordable as well. Sometimes when you are on vacation, it is good to splurge a little so check out this store and you might be wearing something new for that special evening ahead.
Unique Boutique is not the only jewelry store that Karen Beaton has. There are 2 more and their locations are:
Mashpee Commons, Cape Cod, MA 02649 and the telephone is 508-477-3900.
1185 Third Street South, Naples, FL 34102 and the telephone is 239-643-8900.
The other business that opened on Atlantic Ave., and is actually next to Unique Boutique, is Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine.
Yesterday, Thursday, Anita and I decided to have lunch at Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine. I wanted to experience it so that I could write a post. It was a beautiful day to have lunch outside.
The address of the restaurant is 200 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach, FL 33483 and the telephone is 561-276-2502.
Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine is owned by Linda Bean and if the name sounds familiar is because she is the granddaughter of L.L. Bean. She is 69 years old and sits on the board of L.L. Bean.
This is the first restaurant, and I believe, the idea is to sell the franchise. We spoke to one of the employees that told us that it opened 1 month ago and it has been crowded and exceeded expectations. We wondered why Delray was picked and he said that it was because it is a hot bed for franchises.
Anita had the lobster roll and I had the Fancy Green Salad with lobster and chili lime salsa. This was a large salad with a lot of lobster and it was $12.95.
Anita’s Lobster Roll, which was a quarter of a pound was $15.50 and she really thought is was very good.
Even though we had iced tea with our lunch, this restaurant serves wine and beer. They even have Dogfish 60 Minute IPA, which is from the Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware, near the Delaware beaches.
It is a very casual restaurant; ordering at a window and food brought to the table by a server. Actually, very relaxing.
They have a very good menu with live and steamed shellfish, seafood roll baskets, panini sandwiches, a simpler fare like the “Pause for Claws”, which is a quarter pound Maine lobster claw meat, with melted butter, and, of course, Maine Clam Chowder and Linda Bean’s Lobster Stew.
For the salad lovers there are plenty of them. I told you that the one I had, the Fancy Green with the Lobster, was delicious.
If you would like to have more information on Linda Bean’s Perfect Main, please visit the website www.lindabeansperfectmaine.com.
I think they are going to do very well. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Note: In a perfect world there would be a gluten free roll for the lobster and seafood rolls.
There are other business about to open for the new season, so be on the look-out because they will be here before you know it.
Sooooo…once again, writing from Delray Beach, Florida….I remain…
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