H.O.W.L. (Handle Only With Love)

This week’s rising star = a beautiful COUPLE! Miami-based Tini Courtney and Jason Masik, founders of jewelry line H.O.W.L. (Handle Only With Love) share their inspiration and talk to us about true love, style and their sexy path to enlightenment.

LF: You are well-known for your beautiful, extravagant dream catchers, a Native American symbol of unity, a protective charm. How did you become fascinated with them?

HOWL: We both have very similar beliefs to what the Native Americans did along with all of the ancient cultures and tribes of the world. We happened to stumble upon the dream catcher and a deep fascination sparked. When we started to make them we didn’t anticipate for all of this to happen. It was only when we realized that other people shared the same beliefs that we became obsessed and had a baby named HOWL.

LF: Every love story is one of a kind, just like every one of your pieces. How did you two find each other?

HOWL: We were best friends in past lives and happened to bump into each other in this one. Continuing the love this time around was easy. It was finding each other that took some time but we managed to do it. Our story is still young and unveiling itself to us even as we write this together.

LF: Tell us a little about your process.
HOWL: 1. We go treasure hunting all over the place. 2. Come home and put the stones outside to be cleansed under the full moons light. 3. Then we put together the puzzles of destiny or destiny puzzles, as we like to say.

LF: Your jewelry has been coined karma swag. Discuss.
HOWL: Not sure who said this but we like the phrasing. Its pretty self explanatory.

LF: We’ve seen your pieces on celebs like Miley Cirus recently… if you could see one person, dead or alive, wear H.O.W.L., who would it be?
HOWL: Shakyamuni Siddhārtha Gautama

LF: What can we expect from you / be excited about for the next few months?
HOWL: We are launching the new website in two weeks with all of our new creations  along with our  new blog where we will share our mutual inspirations and journeys with everybody building the H.O.W.L.  Network.

HOWL: One of the qualities that we love about each other is that we are both very in tune with our inner child, we hope to never grow up but instead grow with knowledge by seeing the world with an open mind and heart. We want to go to every corner of the Earth and learn as much about this world as we possibly can.

LF: What is currently on your playlist?
HOWL: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Eddie Vedder, The Dead Weathers, Caligula, Four Nonblondes, Ratatat, Black Keys, Rodrigo and Gabriella, Zeppelin, Massive Attack, The New Pornographers, Pink Mountaintops, Pixies, Radiohead, Ray Lamontagne, The Stones, Thin Lizzy, The Dalai Lama, Bowie, Buena Vista Social Club, Beck, Devendra Banhart, Emily Wells, Eckhart Tolle, Gogol Bordello, Goldfrapp, Gorrilaz,  Ali Farka Toure, Beethoven, Dylan, Checofski.

LF: Valentine’s Day is coming up. What advice can you give to single people who can’t seem to find love?
HOWL: Not to be cliche, but buy a dream catcher and give it to that special someone that you want to be your valentine. Its a sure thing they will have a huge smile on their face.

LF: How FAST do you live?
HOWL: We live fast by staying up to date with the world and the things happening in it. We stay true to ourselves and our beliefs thoroughly enjoying life to the fullest everyday.  In short, we work to live instead of living to work.

HOWL: Were big on vintage and thrift stores, finding things that no one has but most importantly staying comfortable. Cloaks, over sized shirts and genie pants are a few favorites. Steampunk is really cool. all the anachronistic technology and futuristic innovations mixed with the 19th century Victorian style is far out. Love the creativeness and the twist on time, technology and of course fashion.

HOWL: Wendy McDaniel, Jeanine Maleno,  Nunca, Osgemios, Aiko, Shepard Fairey, Alex Grey,  to name a few.

HOWL: We are secretly obsessed with oysters.

LF: Travel Talk: How do travels affect you?

HOWL: Traveling is one of the things that inspires us most.  Since all of our pieces are one of a kind, we are constantly finding new troves and treasures to incorporate into our collections . The world around us, interesting characters, and the things that we find along the way are what keeps us inspired to create and share with the world.  Climbing to the top of mountains is a favorite and brings the best inspiration. The farther our horizons the wider and more open our minds will be allowing inspiration to flow freely. The reward of silence achieved at the peak of a mountain is unlike anything else. ENLIGHTENMENT.

Photos by Ashley Noelle

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