Back in August my boyfriend, Chris and I had the pleasure of visiting Seattle for the first time. It is a beautiful, laid back city. Notorious for it's rainy days, we were lucky to have only one in the 8 days we were there. We did a lot of touristy things like visit The Space Needle, Chihuly Glass Museum, Pike Place Market, and the Experience Music Project, but we spent most of our time exploring Seattle's unique neighborhoods. Seattle has some of the best vintage shops I have visited.

A friend of mine, Gillian moved to Vashon Island right outside of Seattle from Cincinnati a few years ago. I decided to give her a call to catch up while I was nearby. The island is about a 30 minute drive/Ferry ride from downtown. I have never been on a full size ferry, so that in itself was an awesome adventure for me. Gillian, who is a jewelry designer, lives in a house she and her fiance Nick are rehabbing on the island. Nick built her an amazing work studio surrounded by trees in the backyard. It is a dreamy space. The island is very secluded. At one point it was so quiet it was scary.

I am absolutely in love with Gillian's jewelry. Under her company name Aislinn Designs, she makes rings out of wood she finds on the island. She showed me a little bit of her process while I visited. Every piece is unique and made with Gillian's love. She can personalize the rings by engraving the inside. She also makes gorgeous sea glass necklaces and earrings. Below are a few images I grabbed (with permission) from Gillian's Facebook page.

Visit Gillian's website Aislinn Designs and her Etsy store for more images and info about custom orders.

See more images I took while in Seattle over at Love and Wander where they are featured.

Gillian not only uses materials that are native to her surroundings, she also pulls inspiration from the island and water surrounding it. Above are sea glass necklaces and below are her moon boat earrings. The inside of Gillian's work space.

A few images I captured of Nick and Gillian.

This is our view from the Ferry.This was on the island. It was late August, everything was so green and lush. We ended the day with a sunset picnic. More images of Seattle featured here .