The Original Cat Lover Necklace: Why You Keep Seeing It Everywhere (And Why It Matters)

If you’ve searched online for a personalized cat necklace or bracelet lately, there’s a good chance you’ve seen my jewelry.

The strange part is, you may not have seen it on my website.

My photographs now appear on websites I’ve never heard of, advertising products I didn’t make, sold by companies that have absolutely nothing to do with Studio Blue.

Sometimes it’s the exact photograph I took. Sometimes it’s my wording. I’ve even found sites using stolen reviews and presenting themselves as small, handmade businesses while selling what appear to be mass-produced, dropshipped versions of my designs.

And meanwhile, the jewelry in the photograph is mine.

I’ve been designing and selling my own work since I was 12 years old. Studio Blue has been my business for more than 30 years. So watching someone take something I created, photographed and built a reputation around, and use it to sell a cheap imitation, is incredibly disheartening.

Because only one is the original.

And it started here.

How the Cat Lover Necklace Began

I didn’t want to make another generic piece of “cat jewelry.”

I wanted to create something that could represent your actual cats, their colors, how many you have, and the little family you’ve built together.

The black one who sleeps on your head. The orange one who appeared one afternoon and never left (like my Morris). The grey one you adopted as a kitten. The white one you still miss every day.

That idea became the Original Cat Lover Necklace.

Each one is made with genuine mother-of-pearl cat beads and assembled in the combination you choose. Some represent one cat. Some represent five. Some include cats still ruling the household and others who are no longer here but are very much still loved.

I know these aren’t just beads to the people ordering them.

That’s why these pieces mean so much to me, too.

Then the Copies Started Appearing

First it was one website.

Then another.

Then another.

Eventually, there were too many to keep track of.

And to be clear, I’m not talking about another artist being inspired by an idea. I’ve been a designer nearly my entire life. Artists influence one another. Similar ideas happen.

I’m talking about taking someone else’s photographs, words, reviews, designs and branding and using them to sell a product that person had nothing to do with.

That’s very different.

For a small business, fighting it is also exhausting. There’s no legal department handling this while I get on with my day.

I find the infringement. I take screenshots. I document it. I send notices. I file reports. I follow up.

And somewhere in between, I still have a business to run and jewelry to design.

So I Ordered One

Eventually, I wanted to know what customers were actually receiving.

One of these websites was using my photographs to sell an imitation Cat Lover Bracelet, so I ordered one.

When it arrived, I didn’t even need to take it out of the plastic sleeve.

I could immediately see that it wasn’t even close to the bracelet shown in my photograph.

The materials, finish, construction and overall workmanship were noticeably different.

And my first thought was: This is what someone thinks they’re buying when they look at my photograph?

That is the part that really bothers me.

A customer has no reason to know the photograph was stolen. They see my bracelet, place an order based on that image, and reasonably expect the product that arrives to look like it.

It doesn’t.

I’ve included side-by-side photographs of the imitation bracelet and an authentic Studio Blue Cat Lover Bracelet below.

You can decide for yourself.

Why This Matters

Yes, my copyrighted work is being used without my permission.

But there’s something else at stake.

When another company uses my photograph to sell an inferior product, my work is making the promise, and their product is what shows up in the mail.

If the customer is disappointed, they may never know Studio Blue exists. They may simply think the bracelet they kept seeing online was cheap and poorly made.

After decades spent building a reputation for my work, seeing it misrepresented this way does real harm; to my business, my name, and the trust I’ve worked so hard to earn.

I started selling my designs when I was 12, long before Instagram, Etsy, Shopify or drop shipping existed. Creating things has been part of my life for as long as I can remember.

Studio Blue wasn’t created overnight as an online storefront.

I built it piece by piece, year after year.

And the trust people place in what I make matters enormously to me.

What Handmade Looks Like Here

Studio Blue really is a small business.

We photograph our own jewelry.

We write our own descriptions.

We answer our own emails.

And when you ask whether the grey or black bead looks more like your silver tabby, that is the kind of conversation we actually have here.

When you tell me an orange bead represents the cat you lost last year, I understand that you aren’t simply ordering an orange bead.

There is a person behind this business.

There are people behind most genuine small businesses.

That matters.

How to Make Sure You’re Buying the Original

If you find a Cat Lover Necklace or Bracelet somewhere other than Studio Blue, look a little closer.

Ask who designed it. Look for information about the maker. See whether the company shows its studio or creative process. Look at whether the photography and branding are consistent throughout the site.

And if a supposedly handcrafted, customized piece is being sold for an impossibly low price, ask yourself how that price is possible.

You can also reverse-image-search the product photo.

You may be surprised by how many unrelated websites are using exactly the same image.

The Wall of Shame

The websites below are just a handful of the examples I’ve found using Studio Blue photographs without permission. Unfortunately, there have been many more, and new ones continue to appear.

I wish getting my work removed were as simple as sending an email saying, “That photograph belongs to me. Please take it down.”

Sometimes it is. More often, it isn’t.

When I find one of these sites, I first have to document everything, screenshots, URLs, dates, and copies of the photographs being used. Then I try to identify who is actually behind the website and contact them directly. (often their identity is hidden)

If they ignore me, the real work begins.

I may have to file formal DMCA copyright takedown notices with the website host or other service providers. I may report the infringing pages to Google and request that they be removed from search results. I may have to track down the company’s payment processor or other platforms they rely on and submit copyright complaints there as well.

And then I follow up.

And follow up again.

All because someone else decided it was easier to take my photographs than create their own.

For a small business, this takes an enormous amount of time. There is no copyright department at Studio Blue handling this while I go back to designing jewelry. I am the copyright department.

Every hour I spend documenting infringements, filling out forms, sending notices and chasing websites around the internet is an hour I’m not spending designing, making jewelry, working with customers or running my business.

That may be one of the most frustrating parts of all of this: the person whose work was stolen is also the person who has to do all the work to try to stop it.

So, yes, I’m calling this my Wall of Shame.

But I’m keeping it factual.

The examples below are websites where I have personally documented unauthorized use of Studio Blue photography. This is by no means a complete list. I’ll update the status when images are removed, and I’ll continue adding examples as I find them.

I would much rather not have a Wall of Shame at all.

I’d much rather spend the time designing.

One Last Thing

There is plenty of wonderful cat jewelry in the world, made by talented independent artists with their own ideas, styles, and designs.

I’m not suggesting Studio Blue was the first to make cat jewelry. I’m saying that the Cat Lover© Necklace is my original design, and there is a difference between creating your own cat jewelry and copying someone else’s specific design, photographs, words, or branding.

I’m asking people to support the artist whose work they were drawn to in the first place. 

And I’m asking the businesses copying that work to stop taking what doesn’t belong to them. Don’t use another artist’s photographs. Don’t copy their words or reviews. And don’t trade on a reputation they spent decades building to sell something they had nothing to do with.

I’ve been designing and selling my work since I was 12 years old.

More than 30 years into Studio Blue, I’m still here, still designing, still making jewelry, and still incredibly grateful every time someone chooses the original.

Thank you for supporting original work, independent artists, and small businesses like mine. Every time you choose to buy directly from the artist or maker who created something, you’re helping them continue to create.

I’ve been doing this for most of my life, and I’m deeply grateful to everyone who has chosen a Studio Blue piece, shared my work, or trusted me to create something meaningful for them.

You’re the reason I’m still here, still designing, and still excited about what comes next. Thank you.

Angela