Tuesday, October 21, 2008
omg, there's snow in the air!
First snowflakes in the air this afternoon...and I am NOT ready for winter. Just bought tons of candy for the 400+ kids who will march down Main Street on Saturday at noon, decked out in their Halloween costumes and gathering up mountains of candy from all the merchants. Also got a couple of "emergency" backup bags of chocolate candy to be held in reserve. I'll just have to eat the candy myself if we run out of kids...such are the wiles of a confirmed chocoholic!
Friday, October 17, 2008
rochester choice awards 2008
Each year the Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester's daily newspaper, gathers votes for the Rochester Choice Awards. Strictly subjective and a total popularity contest (no questions from the judges or bathing suit competition - phew!!), the award winners are published in the paper after votes have been submitted online and through ballots available around town.
One of our customers said she had entered JOOLZ as a write-in candidate in the jewelry store category and encouraged me to get the word out. Thank goodness for e-mail...I sent out dozens to friends and customers, asking them to vote for their favorites and asking them to consider voting for JOOLZ. Now I see that JOOLZ is included in the category listing, so write-ins are no longer necessary and a click will do.
This is a great way to get visibility for the store, painless and really cheap (free) for the voters, and the end result could be that many more people in the Rochester area will learn about the best store in the area for extraordinary handcrafted jewelry! And if you click HERE you can vote too. Thanks!!!
One of our customers said she had entered JOOLZ as a write-in candidate in the jewelry store category and encouraged me to get the word out. Thank goodness for e-mail...I sent out dozens to friends and customers, asking them to vote for their favorites and asking them to consider voting for JOOLZ. Now I see that JOOLZ is included in the category listing, so write-ins are no longer necessary and a click will do.
This is a great way to get visibility for the store, painless and really cheap (free) for the voters, and the end result could be that many more people in the Rochester area will learn about the best store in the area for extraordinary handcrafted jewelry! And if you click HERE you can vote too. Thanks!!!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
beautiful design, beautiful fabrication
Always on the lookout for fantastic new finds, I have been doing a little pre-holiday shopping, getting ready for the season.
No mail on Monday, but our UPS guy, Jay, was on the job. He delivered a much-anticipated package from Shirley Price of Villa Park, California. Shirley and I met in April at the ACRE show in Las Vegas and I just loved her work. I knew it would be a special addition for the holiday shopping season and purposely waited several months to bring it in at the right time.
You see, I have a teensy little problem with the waiting game - I just can't wait to display something if it's in the store. If I put it away in the safe, it stays there only about 24 hours before I have to tag it and put it out. I want to see it in the mix and I want to see our customers' reactions to the new work. So sometimes I make myself wait to order so that once it comes, I can put it right out.
We have 4 new neck pieces from Shirley, all perfectly stunning. Working with extraordinary cabochons, highly polished but very organic, Shirley sets the stones in sterling and fine silver, and adds her signature single pearl to each piece. Hinged pieces of silver form the collars so that the neck pieces lie perfectly and are extremely comfortable. Each piece makes a statement, bold yet somehow understated at the same time. Beautiful design, beautiful fabrication. Come see for yourself.
No mail on Monday, but our UPS guy, Jay, was on the job. He delivered a much-anticipated package from Shirley Price of Villa Park, California. Shirley and I met in April at the ACRE show in Las Vegas and I just loved her work. I knew it would be a special addition for the holiday shopping season and purposely waited several months to bring it in at the right time.
You see, I have a teensy little problem with the waiting game - I just can't wait to display something if it's in the store. If I put it away in the safe, it stays there only about 24 hours before I have to tag it and put it out. I want to see it in the mix and I want to see our customers' reactions to the new work. So sometimes I make myself wait to order so that once it comes, I can put it right out.
We have 4 new neck pieces from Shirley, all perfectly stunning. Working with extraordinary cabochons, highly polished but very organic, Shirley sets the stones in sterling and fine silver, and adds her signature single pearl to each piece. Hinged pieces of silver form the collars so that the neck pieces lie perfectly and are extremely comfortable. Each piece makes a statement, bold yet somehow understated at the same time. Beautiful design, beautiful fabrication. Come see for yourself.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
fashion show fabulocity
One of my all time favorite stores for classic but updated clothing is Jane Morgan's Little House in Aurora, NY. Located in a charming little village on the shores of Cayuga Lake, JMLH is a shopper's paradise. The owner, Randi Zabriskie, has an eye for style like no other. She knows what's in, what's out, what's coming and what to avoid. She throws out little fashion tips such as "showing your wrists makes your hips look smaller!!"
For several years Randi has taken her clothing on the road, producing fabulous fashion shows at a few different venues. Today the show was at a women's club in Rochester and Randi wanted to accessorize a few of her outfits with joolz from JOOLZ. I drove over to Aurora on Sunday with a selection of joolz and let her take her pick - sterling silver ribbon earrings by Reiko Ishiyama, a white cotton ball neck collar by Abra Gorby and a peach-colored keshi pearl and sunstone necklace by Gretchen Gray. It was such fun to watch Randi match the joolz to the outfits - like the pairing of a good wine with a gourmet meal. She really knows her inventory and her models - both were a perfect match for the chosen joolz and the show was a resounding success. Thanks for the collaboration, Randi. I hope we can do it again sometime.
For several years Randi has taken her clothing on the road, producing fabulous fashion shows at a few different venues. Today the show was at a women's club in Rochester and Randi wanted to accessorize a few of her outfits with joolz from JOOLZ. I drove over to Aurora on Sunday with a selection of joolz and let her take her pick - sterling silver ribbon earrings by Reiko Ishiyama, a white cotton ball neck collar by Abra Gorby and a peach-colored keshi pearl and sunstone necklace by Gretchen Gray. It was such fun to watch Randi match the joolz to the outfits - like the pairing of a good wine with a gourmet meal. She really knows her inventory and her models - both were a perfect match for the chosen joolz and the show was a resounding success. Thanks for the collaboration, Randi. I hope we can do it again sometime.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
welcome to JOOLZ, tahmi!
In April, my daughter Kate and I attended the ACRE (American Craft Retailers Expo) show in Las Vegas. We saw several artists whose work is already at JOOLZ and discovered others whom we thought would fit in nicely. One of those was Tahmi DeSchepper of Fairfield, Iowa.
Tahmi (pronounced Tammy) handcrafts silver and other metals into links forming bracelets, earrings and necklaces. Her work is classic but updated, just like a lot of our customers. She's also designed a great clasp that goes on easily and stays closed while wearing the jewelry. No need to call for help while getting dressed and no worries about losing the joolz when you're out and about.
We learned that JOOLZ is the 100th gallery to carry Tahmi's work - quite an honor to be included in that group. Welcome to JOOLZ, Tahmi!
Friday, October 3, 2008
simply elegant
Toronto artist Lisa Ridout comes up with the greatest names for her jewelry pieces. Her latest creation is her "Charlotte's Web" necklace, available in both black and brown stretchy nylon mesh, combined with a large, faceted Swarovski crystal and Lisa's handmade sterling silver chain. The black necklace comes with either a jet black or a clear crystal, and the brown comes with a choice of smoke, champagne or copper. The necklaces are lightweight and comfortable to wear, go perfectly with a darker clothing palette and make a pow! statement. Simple elegance at its best.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
it's a new year
Our trip was planned so that we would return before the end of our fiscal year (September 30). There are always bookkeeping bits to tie up and our insurance requires that we do a physical inventory at year-end.
QuickBooks has a physical inventory worksheet that can be printed and I also do my own listing of total numbers for each artist. Our inventory is so unique that we can tell if something is missing from the items that we put in and out of the safe every day. However, we have several artists whose numerous pieces are keep out of the safe at night, and keeping track of their individual pieces is not quite as easy.
We learned that one inexpensive pair of earrings was missing and was probably taken by a visitor to the shop. I won't call him/her a customer because it wasn't paid for, wrapped, etc. We try hard to keep an eye on anyone visiting the shop, but when large groups of friends come in at once it can be a challenge.
The loss isn't bad financially (our only loss that we know of, since we opened in May, 2007) but just the idea that someone would come in and take something that wasn't theirs is disturbing. I'm not so naive as to think that no one would shoplift in a nice, upscale gallery, but now that it's happened, it saddens me. I was raised to be honest and to treat others as I would like to be treated. What doesn't everyone else feel that way?
QuickBooks has a physical inventory worksheet that can be printed and I also do my own listing of total numbers for each artist. Our inventory is so unique that we can tell if something is missing from the items that we put in and out of the safe every day. However, we have several artists whose numerous pieces are keep out of the safe at night, and keeping track of their individual pieces is not quite as easy.
We learned that one inexpensive pair of earrings was missing and was probably taken by a visitor to the shop. I won't call him/her a customer because it wasn't paid for, wrapped, etc. We try hard to keep an eye on anyone visiting the shop, but when large groups of friends come in at once it can be a challenge.
The loss isn't bad financially (our only loss that we know of, since we opened in May, 2007) but just the idea that someone would come in and take something that wasn't theirs is disturbing. I'm not so naive as to think that no one would shoplift in a nice, upscale gallery, but now that it's happened, it saddens me. I was raised to be honest and to treat others as I would like to be treated. What doesn't everyone else feel that way?
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