Chestnut and blue bracelet and matching earrings

Amanda Yu—who runs several Etsy shops under her own name and the Exotic Flavour moniker and blogs about her latest creations—has an incredible eye for fun color combinations and visually intricate but simply made jewelry.

All of Yu’s Exotic Flavour accessories have a similar look, but the pieces don’t lack their own special charm. Her hand-woven necklaces, bracelets, and earrings are made from leather or cotton cords, and it’s easy to order the color combination of your choice. Animal ally that I am, I opted for cotton goods, but perhaps due to the nice texture and quality, several people asked if my new goodies were leather. I also told her I’m partial to earth tones but that I like surprises. Several days later, my chestnut and blue earrings and matching bracelet arrived. I couldn’t have been more delighted.

The day after I received my lovely coffee-colored package from Exotic Flavour, I realized that my new accessories perfectly match one of my favorite cardigan/grandma shirt combos—called a “grandma shirt” because it literally belonged to my 90-year-old Norwegian Gram who thinks it’s wildly amusing that I wear her clothes. Sometimes I can get her to yell “Uff da!” on the telephone before she insists that we hang up. “These phone calls must cost you a fortune!” I don’t try to explain that from my home in Copenhagen, I’m ordering jewelry from Stockholm. Globalization eludes her.

Yu sends several double-sided business cards with her parcels, and you’d be well advised to keep them in a pocket if you’ll be wearing her goods. I’ve never had so many compliments on matching accessories my first day out. This is either a reflection on how few people I see on a given day, or it means I should start dressing up a bit more. When someone cries out, “Look how coordinated you are!” you wonder if maybe it’s time to fix up and look sharp.

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