Solstice Designs came into being in 1997 after much encouragement from friends and family to sell the beach stone bracelets that I was making. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I had a business.

Usually I collect my stones from beaches in my neighborhood though occasionally, I travel and explore other beaches in the state and around New England.

It is important to me to use stones in their natural form. I search only for stones that are an appropriate size and shape to be used in jewelry so that I don’t have to alter them at all. To me, the natural materials are most interesting.

All of my pieces are one-of-a-kind, simply because every stone is different and unique. This variation makes it impossible to show examples of everything that I do on this site but, what’s here, should give you a good idea of what my work is all about.

I like to incorporate pearls with stones and sometimes use sea glass, pottery shards, shell, and other organic, found objects in my work.

Charlotte has worked in the corporate world for the last 20 years.  She has gained valuable business knowledge through those experiences. She has always had an artistic side and knew that one day she would focus a career around it.

Charlotte began creating jewelry in 2002.  She made pieces for herself and gifts for others. It wasn’t too long that people started asking her if she sold her jewelry anywhere.  She began having home shows that proved to be very successful. Many of her friends encouraged her to take it further. In April of 2006 she began taking a serious look at forming a business. She enrolled in a 12-week class that helped to develop the idea about a jewelry business. When the class ended, competition proved to be tough and she wasn’t so sure that her jewelry was unique enough for the market.  She took a rest for about a month and the idea of embedding charts in resin surfaced, and since that moment, she hasn’t looked back.

All of our jewelry is the result of focused hand production in our Portland, Maine studio.

A special thanks to Charlotte for her contribution to Gita Pullapilly and Aron Gaudet!!  “Real Weddings Maine” (the Pro Bono organization) will be hosting an entirely donated high-end wedding event for this very deserving couple in October 2009…and we are so lucky to have custom cuff links!  Thank You Charlotte!