Denver & Boulder

Denver Artist Catches The Attention of Celebrities

Jun 24, 2009

An artist-owned store in Cherry Creek North is beating the recession by offering unique, customized, sterling silver tags that customers can't seem to get enough of. In fact, they've been designed for a long list of celebrities.

Elizabeth Lindsay Creations carries a variety of items made by Colorado artists. Lindsay makes custom jewelry, but has hardly had time to design any new pieces lately because of the demand for little, sterling silver tags that she hand-stamps with dates, sayings, names, or anything else a customer may want them to display. They're called "Token Tags."

"It's something you wear close to your heart, like a charm bracelet, but it's a charm necklace," said Lindsay. "They're all customized, so every single piece on there is a memory of something that you hold dearest to you. The first token tag I ever made was Justice, and that was for my kitty cat who lived a very long, healthy life and was put to kitty heaven and I wanted to do something to remember her. People stopped me on the street and asked, 'Where did you get that?' And, 'Can you make me one?' That's how it all came to be and it has just taken off from there."

Lindsay makes each token tag by hand. But her true inspiration for the token tags came from her mother who was nearing the end of her 12-year battle with breast cancer. She made some tags for her father to wear. He never took them off.

"He loved them and he was just thrilled that they were personalized and had affirmations," said Lindsay.

After her mother died of breast cancer, she was approached by an organization called What a Pair to make celebrity gift bags for an upcoming event. Each person received a note in the bag saying that she would make personal tags for them in the future if they would like them. Now she has created a specialized line just for What a Pair. Most of the proceeds benefit the organization.

"We do a labor of love, which is called the Tough Love Necklace, which is a miniature of boxing gloves," said Lindsay. "Those retail for $75 on a necklace. A percentage of the sale goes to What a Pair in Los Angeles, which is a duet of famous actresses who perform duets and they donate the proceeds of their proceeds of their performances to the John Wayne Cancer Foundation, which is for breast cancer.

"My mom passed away from breast cancer about a year and a half ago after a long battle -- a very brave battle. Tough Love Necklace is for anyone who has a fight ahead of her, or survived a fight, and it's for a very worthy cause that I hold close to my heart.

"I also make a guardian token tag and that's for In Defense of Animals, which is a non-profit, global organization that is for animal rights," said Lindsay. "The guardian campaign is a campaign to educate people to call themselves the guardians of their pets, not the owners of their pets. Really it's a labor of love because I'm an animal lover. Every penny goes to them. They have it on their site as well, and they sell it on their site. So, I hand stamp those for them."

The token tags have been designed for several celebrities, including Vanessa Williams, Felicity Huffman and Whoopie Goldberg, amongst others. Trista Sutter of the Bachelorette, was featured in a recent issue of US Weekly with a tag that she had made for her daughter, Blakesley.

"I really do believe that my mom had a lot to do with that, that she was looking down on me and saying, 'Support my kid,'" said Lindsay.

Token tags have since taken off. They've become a niche that's thriving during this recession, Lindsay believes, because of their affordability and because they're a quality gift for the money people do spend. In fact, they generate the bulk of the proceeds right now at the store. Tags start at $25, and no tag costs over $100. She says people may shy away from the fact that her store is in Cherry Creek, assuming that all of the items in the area are expensive. But she says they have very affordable gifts and free parking out back.

"Token tags kind of sell themselves," said Lindsay. "One mom sees them on another mom and they come in and want to do their kids' names, or their wedding dates; or they want to do something that they value -- a word of affirmation or a word of empowerment. That's how they've how they've become so popular, because they are affordable and they are hand-made, they're hand-stamped, and truly, as corny as it may sound, every single token tag is made with love."