So Girlie :: About Us

The name “So Girlie” came to me one night in a dream. I knew I wanted something original and catchy and I didn’t want just a combination of my daughters’ names or even my own…that’s just too long! So one night as I was tossing and turning, So Girlie just popped into my head and I thought it was perfect! This was the beginning of my attempt to take my passion for jewelry and turn it into a career.

Growing up in Iowa, I always considered myself a “girlie girl” on the inside but acted and sometimes looked like a tom-boy on the outside. Since my mother didn’t allow me to wear make-up or high-heeled shoes at the tender age of 12, I would ask my best friend in middle school to bring her Candies to school (c’mon….we all know exactly which shoes I am talking about) and I would change from old-school white leather and red striped Adidas into the most beautiful electric blue Candies, line my lids with the thickest black liquid eyeliner I "took" from my mother's stash of 1960's make-up and slide on brightly colored bangle bracelets. No earrings because I wasn't allowed to have pierced ears until I was 16….how lame was that!!

I think what really started it all though was for years I watched my Grandmother scour garage sales and amass an enormous jewelry collection. I loved going to Grandma’s house to see all the new sparkly baubles and beads that she had bought that week. Her garage was virtually converted into a “jewelry store” with wall-to-wall tables covered with these beautiful trinkets. What I would give to go back in time and get my hands on that stuff! Luckily, Grandma did keep this up for years and has passed on a few treasures for me to work into my current designs. I can’t wait for the day she breaks into the vault of the “good stuff”. That will require a trip back to Iowa for a shopping spree!

I find inspiration in not only the materials I use but the people in my life and I try to keep with trend without being trendy. I love working with all that sparkles, like Swarovski crystals, which can be found in many of my creations.

I believe all of So Girlie's handcrafted designs are of superior quality compared to mass-produced items because of both my meticulous attention to detail and my self-diagnosed disorder PPP (Passionate Pursuit of Perfectionism).

I hope you are just as happy with your So Girlie purchase as I was creating it.

Love,

Each So Girlie piece is beautifully designed and handcrafted by Lynnette Turner-Azcarraga in Irvine, California, using the finest materials available both domestically and abroad including genuine Austrian Swarovski crystals and pearls, semi-precious gemstones, freshwater pearls, unique glass beads, .925 sterling silver components and handcrafted Bali sterling silver from Indonesia. This means that each item is unique and may have slight variations from piece to piece. Also, since many of our items are one-of-a-kind or very limited in quantity, we can make no guarantees of availability but will strive to keep the website as up to date as possible.

We have made every effort to display accurate colors in the photographs on this web site, however, due to numerous variations in the settings of your monitor, we cannot guarantee that the colors that you view on your screen are the exact colors of the items. If you are unsure about an item, please feel free to contact us with any questions.

The following are some brief descriptions of some of the quality items used in our designs:

Swarovski Crystals: Swarovski is the acknowledged producer of the finest quality full-lead cut glass crystals in the world. In addition to their precise edges and angles, Swarovski crystals are renowned for their brilliance and clarity. This comes from the incorporation of lead into the crystal refining process. In terms of overall quality, full lead crystals are simply a cut above other glass crystals.
Swarovski Pearls: These are crystal glass based pearl beads with a very heavy pearl coating which is resistant to chipping, scratching, oils, and UV ray fading. They are beautifully made and are weighty in feel, much like a natural pearl.
Freshwater Pearls: This type of pearl is cultivated in mussels, not oysters, in freshwater lakes and rivers in China, Japan and the United States. Due to their easier cultivation, freshwater pearls offer an affordable alternative to the more expensive and more rare saltwater pearl. A pearl is a natural object and is not designed to be in contact with most manufactured chemicals such as perfume, make-up, skin care products, hair spray or similar compounds. Contact with these items can alter a pearl's luster or color. With this in mind, it's best to make pearls the last thing you put on and the first thing you take off.
Bali Sterling Silver Beads : These specialized types of sterling silver beads are characterized by intricate designs and delicate, ornate wirework. They are handmade and are imported from the “Island of Beauty”, Bali, Indonesia. Because these items are individually crafted there may be slight variations in size, form, hole size, and oxidation.
Sterling Silver: All jewelry components including silver beads, crimps, crimp covers, clasps, and wire are made of 92.5% pure sterling silver and are considered the best type of silver for jewelry. So Girlie chooses only the finest sterling silver components unlike many competitors who try to cut costs by using cheap base metal or silver-plated components.
Gold-Filled: Gold-filled metal is created by fusing the gold to the base metal, thus creating a long-wearing metal, which is more resilient than gold plating and less expensive than pure gold without compromising look of the peice.
49-strand Beadalon® Wire: This stringing wire is made from 49 incredibly fine strands of stainless steel wire with a smooth, kink resistant nylon coating. This professional quality beading wire is considered the strongest, most flexible wire available and is used in all our necklace and bracelet designs. It is more expensive, but superior for holding its shape, resisting kinks and most importantly, withstands 26 lbs. of pressure before breakage occurs (more than the average “snag”).