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| Laurie Sherman |
1.
ETTT: How did you come up with the name Walt's Time Fine Jewelry?
LS: My father and uncle, the Sherman Brothers, wrote a great scrapbook style
book called Walt's Time. I have always loved the 'very Sherman' play
on words. I was asked by the WDFM (the Walt Disney Family Museum) to
create a line of fine gemstone and metal jewelry based on characters
that were created before 1968. That Walt had a hand in. So the
collection now seen at the WDFM is all pre-1968. Walt's Time Fine
Jewelry seemed like a great name for this collection. I kept the name
for the entire collection.
At D23, there will be Walt's Time Fine Jewelry representing characters from Mickey to Moana!
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| Laurie, Her Husband John and her late Father Robert Sherman at the White House. |
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| Sherman Family circa 1960's |
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| The Sherman Brothers with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang |
2.
ETTT: How did you get into creating jewelry? Do you keep all the profits? or do you donate any part of it?
LS: 10% profit from all sales goes to our local food bank, Resources.
LS: I have been creating jewelry since I was little. My little sister Tre
was very good at it. I started working on jewelry professionally when I
retired, mostly, from International Strategic Communications in 2003
3.
ETTT: Who are your favorite Disney Characters?
LS: I have so many. Mary Poppins, Bert, Mrs. Banks, Mr. Banks, Jane and
Michael... I love them all. I love the strong women! The Pooh family.
I loved Sterling Holloway. One of my first recording jobs was with
him.
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| Laurie has her hand on Sterling's knee. Her younger Brother Jeff is in the bottom right corner. |
I love Charlotte and Fern from Charlotte's Web. I love Snow White
and got to fill in at DL in the parade as Snow White when I was about
17. Now my hair is Snow White! Mulan, Belle, Esmeralda, Maleficent, Pocahontas, Megara, Tiana, Nala, Ariel and Ursula, Tink and Wendy and
Tiger Lily, Jasmine. Ah, I love all of them...
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| Alice in Wonderland |
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| Mary Poppins inspired |
4.
ETTT: What type of things influence what you put into a certain piece of jewelry?
LS:
I think, "What would Mary Poppins or Pollyanna wear to her wedding, to
work, with her kids." And think, more as an actress than as a designer,
for a bit, about what these folks would truly want. My goal is to
create jewelry that can be worn 'as is' and just reminds us of the
character and character traits that we admire (or hate!). Then,
magically, I turn back into a jewelry maker and figure out gemstones and
styles and metals... and I create these one-of-a-kind pieces. I make
men and kid's jewelry as well. I also wholesale. I actually do mostly
custom work. I love co-creating with my clients! I keep my work
reasonably priced so that it is accessible to many. And they are
heirloom pieces!
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| Beauty and the Beast |
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| Snow White |
5.
ETTT: What themes will you be using at the upcoming D23 Expo in July?
LS: Wearable Gemstone and Metal Fine jewelry that brings the best Disney
characters into our daily lives and our most special occasions.
6.
ETTT: What are your favorite rides at Disneyland? Ours are Haunted Mansion & Pirates of the Caribbean, and DLR.
LS: I would be remiss not to mention It's a Small World. I loved the Carousel of Progress. (I have a great story about my son, Joshua, at 16
months, waiting in line and seeing a video with Walt, Uncle Dick and
'Grampa Bob'. He went up and down the line with a sense of amazement
telling everyone there that that was his Grampa up there. People loved
him. He was definitely a ham!
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| Laurie and her Father Robert circa 1960's |
7.
ETTT: We understand you are a world traveler, where is your favorite place to visit?
LS: Favorites again. Truth: My backyard in Tucson.
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| Laurie and John |
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| Tucson Az. |
I love visiting the SF Bay Area. I was in college at Stanford (my 40th
reunion is later this year!) and I will go up in late April or early May
to do a product roll-out at the WDFM before D23!
My Dad loved London and we lived there awhile. I have been back many
times and love it there. I love Rome and Florence Italy. Salinas,
Ecuador is wonderful. I lived in Australia for 5 years and part of me
has never left.
8.
ETTT: We understand that The Walt Disney Family Museum is carrying your
Walt's Time Fine Jewelry. Will any of your new pieces be featured at the
D23 Expo or at the Museum in San Francisco?
LS: I will have the entire collection at D23!
The WDFM gift shop has 25 pieces of the classic Disney Collection and,
while plans are not solid yet, we are working on a 'trunk show'
presentation with all or many of the pieces in late April or early May.
I hope that there will be a time for questions and so on.
9.
ETTT: Where can we find your jewelry? Do you have a website or a online store?
LS: Right now,
www.SatyaRisingJewelry.com. In a few weeks we will have a website up that is
www.waltstimejewelry.com. (Or WaltsTime Jewelry.com, not sure yet, own all the names)
I have a new logo!
10.
ETTT: What are you looking forward most at the D23 Expo?
LS: Meeting everyone! Seeing my Uncle Richard I hope.
ETTT: Just in case people don't recognize you is there anything else you might want to add?
LS: A couple other things that might or might not be interesting to your blog followers:
I was a recording artist for Disney and other studios from 1959-1974. I
was also a pro actress, classical dancer, playwright, director, etc.
I have 1 BA, 4 MAs, an MPH, and a PhD. I like school. I have worked in
the Arts, in Environment, in Public Affairs and International and
national Public Health. I was the director of the first US AIDS
prevention program, America Responds to AIDS. I was the director of the
National Environment Center of Australia, a nonviolent action trainer
(head of all training in Australia/New Zealand/Pacific and taught in
Europe, Asia etc). I taught Shakespeare at Oxford, and have been an
adjunct professor at Australian National University, UCLA and more. I
was an originator of Cultural Tourism in the US and Europe. I have won
lots of awards and titles in Communications including being inducted
into the Public Relations College of Fellows and getting awards from
over 50 cities (mostly for my work in AIDS and Keeping Arts in Schools
(in part with Disney Radio!) plus for interactive programs on race in
our country. I have written 6 plays, been published as a poet many
times, since I was 8 y.o.... I have worked as a consultant at Lincoln,
Kennedy and many other Arts Centers in the US. I have been presented
with Presidential Honors and Department of Health and Human Services
awards as well.
www.satyarisingjewelry.com
Wow!! You are a amazing woman, We would like to thank Laurie Sherman for taking time out of her busy schedule to chat with us here at the "E" Ticket to Tomorrowland Blog.
Update: Due to illness Laurie, will not be able to attend the D23 Expo in July.
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| Laurie's Cat JoeyO |
I want to thank Laurie for sharing her beautiful photos, and D23.
If you wish to see the pictures larger, just click on them.
Thanks everyone for viewing our blog.
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