Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Mother's Day at 1KM



How cool is this????? I'm so honored to be featured - there are so many talented artisans and artists at 1000Markets!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Market Day

New markets are popping up right and left over at 1KM these days! It's a really exciting time there with the official launch going on. The targeted co-op mailings with Amazon are bound to bring in many new customers!

I was recently invited to join the Passport market - my Maya Collection fits right in! Shopping by market is such a time saver. No more wading through thousands of disparate items. Plus it's really fun to browse through the more unusual ones, like the Day of the Dead market, the Steampunk market and the Just Hats market!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Don't look now, but the 80's are back....

This past week I finally got around to reading my growing pile of fashion magazines and checking the web for current fashion trends. I used to love lolling about reading Vogue, but now it's like reading a trade journal. I do it at my desk, I take notes and I think about how my jewelry aesthetic will fit with current styles without compromising my creativity and voice. Sometimes it's easy - the bright colors popular this spring work beautifully with my new Maya Collection that incororates a technique I've been perfecting over the past year. But other trends, like voluminous harem pants, are ridiculous, so I'll just ignore them.

All of us in the artisan community should take high fashion with a grain of salt, though. Pay some attention to it, particularly if you make a living selling your work. But remember that our niche demographic is not a slave to fashion. These ladies appreciate innovative design and craftsmanship. They understand the significance of buying local, thinking green and buying quality as opposed to quantity. And they certainly don't want to wear the same thing as a million other women.

Even though I keep an eye on fashion, my real gauge for current trends is what I see at high end shows like CraftBoston. I'm glad to report that the overriding feel to the show this year was flowing, organic and highly tactile, as seen in the photo above. My jewelry would look fabulous with any of these gorgeous items! That tells me I'm doing something right.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Art Next Door


My neighbor, Sophie Lowery, has some fabulous new work. I've watched her work evolve over the last couple of years and she's so found her voice. The landscapes of her native France capture the colors and clarity of light so typical of the area. She's also captured the essence of her adopted Charlestown - her paintings and cards of the Bunker Hill Monument are a huge local hit!

Her work is available on her website, her 1000Markets and Etsy shops and locally at the Joy of Old in Charlestown.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Market Day

With the upcoming official launch of 1000Markets, I thought it might be nice to feature a market every week or so. For those of you unfamiliar with 1000Markets, it's a new shopping and community site for quality handcrafted items. What sets 1000Markets apart is the philosophy of the market. As CEO Matt Triffiro puts it: " I have always been fascinated by marketplaces – the real, human-scale marketplaces like the farmers’ markets you find across the U.S. or the street vendors in Marrakech – These markets are populated by people, not just "things." They are a kaleidoscope of human activity: entertainment, history, art, community, and, of course, commerce. These are profound and vibrant human institutions."

Today I explored "Come to Asheville". It's a group of immensely talented artists residing in Asheville, NC. After seeing the work, I have to put Asheville on my list of places to visit. What an artistic mecca!