Search results matching tags 'Art Jewelry magazine' and 'coworkers'

Fun at the One-of-a-Kind Show in Chicago!

Kristin Sutter — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:09:00 GMT

Lunchtime on Dec. 7, 2007, found Jill, Addie, and I (plus Addie's mom and a friend of Jill's) at bluprint, a restaurant at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. We met there to fuel up in preparation for the journey we were about to take through the floor of the One-of-a-Kind Show, which was going on above our heads about seven floors up. I ended up taking a picture of my gourmet mac & cheese.

I wanted to show the picture to Naomi Fujimoto, senior editor at BeadStyle magazine, one of our sister publications. Naomi has a thing for gourmet comfort foods. The food was so beautiful that everyone wanted a picture of their as-yet-undevoured dish.

Yum!

Thus sustained, we took the elevator upstairs and spent the next five hours inundating ourselves with beautiful works of art. Most notably — you guessed it — jewelry. Many times, we stopped by a booth and asked that all-important question, "How did they do that?" (When we ask that, we know we're seeing something magazine-worthy.)

When we're scouting for jewelry artists, we try not to take too much time away from the jewelers; we understand that they're at the show to sell their work. But many people were gracious enough to take the time to hear us out about why they should submit a project or an image for gallery. (If you're thinking of submitting something, we'd love to hear from you! Check out our guidelines.)

Some artists encouraged us to try on their work for fun — and how could we resist!! Of course, some of us went home with a couple you'll-regret-it-forever-if-you-don't-buy-it pieces.

So, thanks to the art jewelry community for delighting us! We hope to return the favor! (If we did our scouting job right, you'll be seeing some fabulous work in our pages in the coming year.)

–Kristin

A peridot ring for my birthday!

Kristin Sutter — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:45:00 GMT

Last week, I celebrated my birthday. One of the coolest gifts I got was from Associate Editor Addie Kidd. As I unwrapped her gift, I realized that the box could contain only jewelry. I got excited — you know that jewelry from a jeweler will be good. Happily for me, I was right!

The box held this peridot-and-sterling-silver ring by KEW Designs (Kim E. Wilson, from Fox Point, Wisc., is the jeweler). I love green, so peridot is one of my favorite stones. And since I'm into a sort of earthy, things-coming-just-a-little-bit-undone thing, I also love the subtly rugged shank.

Word is, Associate Editor Jill Erickson helped Addie pick out the ring at the Milwaukee Art Museum's Ornaments and Adornments Show, which was Nov. 16–17, 2007. (You'll have to watch for next year's show!) I like the ring so much that I haven't taken it off since I got it, but the best part of my gift is knowing that I have such thoughtful friends and coworkers!

Thanks, you two!

–Kristin

Annual Company Party

Jill Erickson — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:32:00 GMT

Things were mighty festive around here yesterday. It was our annual company party––practically an all-day soiree where we go a little crazy. This year, the theme was “Lost in Paradise,” and the competition was “on” for each department to outdo the next with decorations, food, costumes, and overall cleverness. Rather than go the luau, beach blanket bingo, or pirate route, the AJ team designated our corner of the building “the Bermuda Triangle.” Posing as a crew that went missing off the coast of Florida, we wore military garb, handed out compass necklaces we made, and served rum balls, jet fuel punch, and shark fin chips with dip.

Since this is a time for everyone to parade through the building to check out the transformed digs, we leveraged this opportunity to take snapshots of our colleagues. We gave them a life vest to clutch and then posted their photos on a prominently displayed map of the Bermuda Triangle. It was great fun.

The focus of these parties is to acknowledge how everyone in the building works as a team to put the best product possible in your hands. Or on your computer! The surprising thing is that we not only work as a team, we party as a team. Which is absolutely a fantastic phenomenon as far as I’m concerned.