About Manifest Stardust

Welcome, Starlings!

Thank you for joining me on the journey - whether to browse, or perchance, to take piece of stardust jewelry home with you.  Each piece is made with joy and the intention of adorning ourselves with love, light and peace.

I believe each of us was born with a star - that we are each a manifestation of stardust. When I put on a beautiful piece of jewelry, I feel that I am adorning myself with love. When I create, each piece is infused with joy. It brings me such peace to make - to sit down and select stones by tapping into their healing energies. As I research the meaning and gift each stone can bring, I am reminded that just like these stones, each of us is a unique and malleable human being with an opportunity to grow and shine. Our bodies are a temple that needs to be adorned with beauty and can remind us of the beauty that lies within. 

About Antoinette (aka. ak.starlight)

As a small child, I collected stones. I remember peering inside each one to see if I could find "the shine"- I would get so excited if I found the druzy (the little crystalline pieces sticking up) or shiny flake on the sides.  Some of the stones would get to be displayed on my bookshelf, while others would get stored in a plastic water bottle that I would water each day. While I was a small child and didn’t totally understand the nature of stones, I knew they were meaningful objects worthy of care and attention. I had a feeling that something would grow from them someday.

Over time, the rocks slid to the back of the shelf. I began searching for amulets, creating my own jewelry box out of a shiny purple velvet candle stick box and placing objects I determined to be my amulets inside. In high school, I took a few jewelry classes and fell in love. I would come in to the workshop at any free moment. A few of my pieces got selected for a local gallery show. It was a joy that freed me from the stress and pressure of high school. The workshop is one of my fondest memories.

I spent my junior year in college traveling around the world. As I visited different countries, cities, towns and villages, I spent hours in curio shops and market stalls finding beads, pendants, metal findings and wood carved items. I began to collect pieces from all over the world. 

When I came home, just like the stones of my childhood, I put the collections on a shelf. I stored them neatly away and focused on building a career. I began to lose track of my power objects and my creative, maker magic. I turned my abilities to manifest ideas and creative visions towards social issues. A local designer with a global presence, Eileen Fisher, had started a foundation and together we started the Eileen Fisher Leadership Institute, an incredible young women’s program for self transformation.

Along my journey, I had turned to yoga to connect with my inner sources of knowing and align my body, mind and spirit. I began to share my journey with others. Through my work with the Eileen Fisher Leadership Institute, I found new avenues and outlets avenues and outlets for my own creative expression and gave young people a space to take the pressure off, find their inner sources of energy and sparks or steps towards finding the meaningful gifts they have to offer the world. While I continue to develop programs and guide this organization to reach its fullest potential, after nine years, and thanks to a dear friend, fellow yoga teacher and now fellow jewelry designer, who saw this light in me and reflected it back, I’ve returned to my own craft - to manifest stardust.

My hope is that each adornment brings the wearer love, light and peace in their own life and a reminder to shine - to manifest stardust!

~Antoinette (ak.starlight)