As you prepare for your long-awaited vacation or next business trip the following tips will make packing jewelry for your upcoming adventure easier.  While cramming all of your favorite jewelry pieces into your luggage is appealing – hey, having lots of options is a good thing, right?  - there are safer and more efficient ways to travel with your jewelry treasures.  Who needs the stress of a tangled necklace, losing a favorite earring, or a special family heirloom getting damaged? I’m betting not you; so don’t leave your jewelry plans to the last-minute. Instead, review these helpful jewelry travel tips.

A behind the scenes look at everything that went into creating the "Angels & Gems" editorial featuring Michelle Pajak-Reynolds jewelry.

A behind the scenes look at Nolcha Shows New York Fashion Week and the Emmy Awards Red Carpet with jewelry designer Michelle Pajak-Reynolds

Most preschoolers have trouble deciding between Play-Doh and finger paints. Not Michelle Pajak-Reynolds, though. Even at the age of five, the Cleveland native knew she wanted to create jewelry: powerful statement jewelry, not unlike the bracelets and tiara that Lynda Carter brandished on television's Wonder Woman. 

I’ve designed jewelry since I was 5 years old so my work has evolved a lot over the decades. My first pieces in the early 1980’s were made with pop-beads and jelly bracelets. As I got older I spent my babysitting money on beads and jewelry supplies from craft stores and taught myself how to make the pieces I wanted to wear.

The following interview by Beth Anderson was originally published on Chic Galleria on August 1, 2016.

Michelle Pajak Reynolds is on a mission to dress us up in her jewellery of armour, so that we too can change the world. This comes from Michelle’s childhood, as she sat and played with her pop-beads and jelly bracelets, Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman was showing in the background on the television. “Wonder Woman’s jewellery gave her super powers, confidence and enabled her to change the world. "

I’ve designed jewelry since I was 5 years old and my art is my life.  I can’t remember a time when being an artist or creating jewelry wasn’t a major part of my day. I love the creative process and sharing my work with others. To do anything else doesn’t feel right.

Michelle’s pieces first crossed my desk, and caught my eye, a few years ago when she started getting involved at New York Fashion Week as an independent designer. But her history with jewelry stretches back decades.