happy new year!

Today, September 30, is our fiscal year end. I chose it originally because our insurance requires that we do a physical inventory of all our joolz at year end. Thinking ahead...I said "why on earth would I want to be counting inventory on New Year's Eve?" And I also thought it would be good to know exactly what was in the store going into the holiday season.

Good news all around. I spent the afternoon doing a complete inventory, and everything that is supposed to be here IS here. We have had no theft, no unusual disappearances, no question marks since September 30, 2009. And we currently have over 700 pieces of jewelry from 60+ jewelers to show our customers.

It's been a great year. We moved. We successfully transitioned into the new store. We hired an additional staff member. We increased our customer base and our sales since the move are up exponentially. Thanks to all for helping us achieve all these accomplishments.

So now it's time for our New Year's resolution: Get the online store up and running again. We'll report back at the end of next year. Happy New Year!

a name that works

One of Rochester's well-loved newspaper columnists was Peter B. Taub. He wrote about all sorts of things, but was best known for his pieces on people. He especially loved to connect someone's name and what they did for a living - and would say "now, that's a name that works!"

Our newest artist at JOOLZ, William Glasner of Victor, NY, has a name that works. A glassblower of long standing, he first opened his studio in 1978. He's been part of the Middlesex Folk Art Guild for over 30 years and has had his work exhibited and collected throughout the United States, Canada and the Far East. Formerly creating vessels of carved glass, he now focuses on much smaller pieces that make up his glass jewelry, but the process is still the same.

Traditional techniques are combined in an innovative way to create a historically new bead style Since no two beads are identical, each piece of jewelry is an original work of wearable art.

All the beads are made entirely by hand in his home studio. Hot glass is pulled into long handblown tubes which, when cold, are sawn into bead-sized segments. These are individually carved by hand with diamond wheels using traditional cut glass and Italian "batutto" techniques, then finished with a proprietory polishing or acid etching process. Other components are sterling silver.

We're delighted to have William Glasner as one of our JOOLZ artists, and invite you to stop in to see his very interesting and unique work.

(all photos courtesy of William Glasner)

twisted tuesdays

Webster artist Kerry Bogert, one of our favorites who has been with us since the very beginning, is one talented girl. Not only does she produce gorgeous lampwork glass beads and sterling wire work jewelry, she's a fabulous photographer. She and her husband, Ron, came to JOOLZ for a visit recently and she took some snaps. Today, her visit to JOOLZ was featured on her blog. Check it out and see her great pics of the store and Joolie, our shop dog.

"restaurant critic"

I've just returned from visiting the Memorial Art Gallery's annual Clothesline Show. Now trimmed down to about 400 artists from across New York State, this show draws lots and lots of visitors, many of whom return each year to check out their favorite artists and to discover new ones.

I've been attending this show for so many years I can't count them. But since I've opened JOOLZ, I go to troll for new jewelry artists and usually just waltz on by the other booths - painting, ceramics, glass, photography, wearable art, etc.

Today I ran into Penelope, who owns F. Oliver's in Canandaigua. She and some friends were in a jewelry booth, checking out all the yummy designs. She proclaimed me to be like a restaurant critic: I go into the jewelry booths anonymously, check out the goods and then make an internal decision as to whether or not I will identify myself. Unlike a true restaurant/food critic, I don't get to eat the product I am reviewing (darn!) and my likes and dislikes are not printed in some publication for others to read.

Visting many of the jewelry artists today, I was happy to be incognito until I revealed my JOOLZ connection...or not. That got me thinking about the many celebrities in this world who can't go anywhere without 99.9% of the people around them knowing who they are. Certainly many of those by-standers feel as if they "know" the celebrity, having read all about them in magazines or on the internet. What a constraining, claustrophobic lifestyle that must be. Thanks very much, but I'm happy to be an anonymous "restaurant critic."

email frustration reaches boiling point

The email situation with our shop email account finally got to me - hard to access while away from home, constant spam getting through the filters, difficult to save into cohesive folders, etc. etc. etc.

So as of today, JOOLZ has a brand new email address:

shopjoolz@gmail.com

Try it out and say hi.

just in from california

We can't seem to keep Shirley Price's pendants in stock. We place and receive a new order and within days they start to leave the store with happy customers.

Shirley worked through the night to get us this latest order in record time. Just take a look at these new, delicious creations:

Emperor's Dragon

Twilight

Samurai

These are just a sampling from the latest order. Come in and see them all for yourself.

jewelry made from a car's radiator?

Mckenna Hallett, our newest JOOLZ artist, has just joined us from Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii. Scouring her beautiful island for reclaimable materials that she turns into fascinating jewelry, Mckenna proudly lists the odd materials that have made her famous in her own community. She says "My list includes roofing and gutters, airplane engine parts, radiator sections, plumbing and electrical discards, and some items I can't even identify. I call them UFO's: unidentified found objects."

Ceremonial Kimono necklace

Designing with a decidedly Asian bent, Mckenna first created the necklace above for Neiman Marcus. Now our Canandaigua (and beyond) customers can have their very own edition. Each time this piece is created, it's new and different - never are the metals exactly the same.

Origami necklace

Each necklace is adjustable for length and all are amazingly lightweight. Even the earrings tell a story:

Dangling pieces of repurposed copper gutters - now lovely squares tied with copper wire. How old was the building that "discarded" this metal? Who lived or worked there? How many hurricanes did the building survive? If only this jewelry could talk...