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Happy February and happy Friday!! In case you didn't have a chance to read our last blog post, we will tell you why we are so excited for February. We have decided to use the month for lovers as an opportunity to "Share the Love" by showcasing some of our favorite stores that carry Avindy jewelry. We decided to do this because we feel really lucky to have all of the support we do from our retailers. Without them, it would be pretty hard to share our creations. Sure, we could and do have an online store, but it is our belief that until you see our pieces in person, you can't appreciate the detail and love we put into each handmade work of art. Some of the items we make are very tiny and intricate. A web photo just doesn't do most of our jewelry any justice (even if we do say so ourselves). Anyhow, enough about us! Lets get onto the feature of the day!!
Everyone say hello to Turning Leaf! Ok, so I want to tell you that we sent out a pretty basic questionnairre to supplement what we already know about these stores/galleries. The one we received from Sherry Darling, owner of Turning Leaf, was toooooo cute!! I'm thinking that I will share some of their history then just copy and paste her interview questions straight in. I'm not sure there is anyway we can make what she wrote any better. There is actually a lot of really interesting history here, but there is so much of it, that I am going to have to pick and choose the most intriguing parts.
Sherry Darling and Gary Gardner had enjoyed living on a small yacht for several years. They cruised the islands during the spring and early summer months then returned to Florida during hurricane season and winter. Florida has some rather intensive heat and a huge population of mosquitoes so they looked for a retreat in the mountains. In 2001 they bought a lovely log home in the mountains, but were disappointed when trying to decorate their new home as almost everything they found was imported from China, Indonesia, Mexico or elsewhere.
Soon a gentleman approached them as he was planning to open a gallery in Blue Ridge and wanted to feature Gary’s Fine Turned Wood Art and Sherry’s Appalachian style baskets. When Sherry and Gary toured the facility they were both oddly affected by the idea to open a small gallery of their own and the gentleman was very supportive as he was leasing the space and hoped to create a center for the arts.
Turning Leaf Wood Art (now Turning Leaf - A Fine Art GAllery) opened in the fall of 2003 in the gorgeous little mountain town of Blue Ridge, Georgia. Blue Ridge is located approximately 100 miles north of Atlanta, Georgia and 85 miles east of Chattanooga, Tennessee. They started off in a small with 3 artists in a small gallery before embarking on opening their much larger dream gallery located in the heart of Blue Ridge's charming downtown district. They now have the ability to host 50 artists and have transformed themselves from a wood art gallery to also include a selection of original paintings, rare and unusual pottery, several exquisite jewelry lines, beautiful fiber arts, unique baskets, awesome gourd art and so much more! They are proud to admit that they exclusively offer American made works—which is quite hard to come by now a days.
What a lovely story! Apparently the story goes along with the personality of Sherry. We know you are just going to love her responses! After reading, you will understand why her last name is Darling.
 How long have you been selling Avindy products? We have been proudly offering the “Avindy” line of jewelry since early 2005. We often call the line “ahhhhhvindy” (pronounced as a quick deep breath of air as we found that the line would take a woman’s breath away. We also have what we fondly refer to as “the AAA club” which stands for “Avindy Addicts Anonymous”.
Why do you love Avindy? What’s not to love? Avindy jewelry is exquisite, unique, exciting, affordable, vintage, feminine, stunning, imaginative, essential, fresh, and created with quality materials, quality workmanship and much love!
Do you have a favorite piece that you wear yourself from Avindy? If so, explain. I have a LOT of “Avindy” but never enough! I am particularly fond of the double wrap necklaces as they are so versatile. They can be worn in many different ways in order to change the focal point and to compliment many different wardrobe styles.
See?? We told you! DARLING! Make sure you check out their website, and if you are ever in the area of Blue Ridge, Geaorgia make the gallery a destination. You won't be disappointed.
www.turningleafwoodart.com
651 East Main Street
Blue Ridge, GA. 30513
706.632.6625
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Happy February!!! This just so happens to be one of our favorite times of year. February is a special month for several reasons. First of all, it is the only month out of all 12 that has fewer than 30 days. As most everyone knows, the month has 28 days in common years and 29 days in leap years. Another reason it is special to a lot of people is Valentines Day! This 14th day of February is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other. We decided to make it special for another reason. We are going to use the month of February as an opportunity to Share the Love—and by that we mean we are going to showcase some of our favorite stores that carry Avindy jewelry. In all honesty, it's the least we could do to pay them back for their support. Alright! So let's get to sharing!
Paper Trail is a fine paper/custom invitations/gift/jewelry/accessories shop located in the historic Hudson Valley village of Rhinebeck NY, which is about 2 hrs north of New York City. They carry everything from scarves and handbags to journals and pens. This is a one stop shop for all things beautiful and mystical.
The store has been selling Avindy for about 5 years now. Their best selling Avindy piece is the Gold Bead Necklace with Beaded Horseshoe, citing that they have many horseback riders in the area of Rhinebeck. As of late they have been ordering a lot of different looks, layered necklaces and more precious pieces with diamonds and such, just to keep it interesting. They tell us that their, "customers love the combination of gold vermeil with oxidized silver that Avindy does so well." Woo hoo! They love us, they love us!
Let it be known that if you can't find the time to make it out to their brick and mortar store, they also have a beautiful and easy to navigate online store, which you can find here: www.papertrailrhinebeck.com. They have even taken the time to sort their products for Valentines Day, making it a breeze to find jewelry and other lovely gifts for your loved ones.
To top it all off they offer amazing gift wrapping services, not only in the store, but for your online purchases, as well. Their signature tissue paper wrapping with raffia ribbon is only $2.00. For your online purchases, all you have to do is specify gift wrapping when checking out. They also offer a variety of more elaborate gift wrapping options out of their vast selection of exquisite papers and ribbons. If you are interested in these options, simply call the shop to discuss their many wonderful possibilities. Their online store goes above and beyond by letting you know when gift wrapping is not available for a web ordered item due to its size by notating it in the description section AND in the shopping cart. Talk about cutting down on the confusion. Thank you for that!!!
And there you have it. Our first showcase of the month. We hope you will take the time to check out their website, like them on Facebook and all of that other fun stuff. We will provide you with their address and phone number below. If you make your way out to the store (or call for that matter), ask for Serine. She just might be wearing her favorite Avindy piece, our Chunky Gold Cross Necklace.
PAPER TRAIL
6423 MONTGOMERY STREET
RHINEBECK NY 12572
845-876-8050
www.papertrailrhinebeck.com
Paper Trail on Facebook
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We know it is really really cold out for most of us right now, but just hang in there because it's almost Spring!! The best part about Spring for Avindy? Introducing our new jewelry!! We have a few different collections to share with you in the coming days, but for now we are going to kick it off with Rain—which springs (no pun intended) from our brand new 2012 Gemstone Collection.
To be frank, there isn't really an exciting story about how this collection came about. We just simply fell in love with the combination of stones that we found on a gemstone searching trip. Rain is overflowing with Labradorite, Aquamarine and Chalcedony. All beautifully magnificent stones that pair perfectly with brushed brass, which we also used in this collection. You will certainly find that these gemstones reflect an abundance of nature and an endless range of colors, contours and facets that blend together in ways both subtle and striking. As always, Avindy gemstones are hand-selected for brilliance and balance, shade and texture, and are paired with unexpected materials to achieve Avindy’s signature symbiotic beauty.
Chalcedony (pronounced kal SED' uh nee) is a most interesting gemstone. It comes in several different color varieties, but for our collection we chose the blue variation. According to The Blue Chalcedony Mine, this quartz gemstone has a pretty long history in jewelry and archaeologists have dug up Babylonian and Assyrian chalcedony cylinder-seals on Minoan Crete at the Palace of Knossos, dating from 2500 to 500BC. WOW! That being said, there are a few conflicting views on where the name and the gemstone itself originate from, although most claim that it is named for the ancient seaport of Chalcedon (now called Kadiköy) located in Asia Minor (Turkey, to be exact). None the less, today deposits are found in many parts of the world, but the most prized Chalcedony are from India, Madagascar, Burma, Brazil, Mexico, and USA.
Although there seems to be conflict on where the gemstone and its name originate from, there is little argument on its healing ability and mystical powers. This beautiful stone is believed to banish fear, hysteria, depression, mental illness and sadness. Chalcedony is worn by many to promote calm and peace, and also to stimulate creativity.
So now, without further ado, we introduce you to Rain. You can click on the individual images to view a larger version of each piece.
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DANCING BRIOLETTES - ITEM #101.1512
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FUNKY BOX CHAIN WITH AQUAMARINE, ROMAN GLASS, LABRADORITE AND MYSTIC TOPAZ - ITEM #180.107
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ROMAN GLASS DUO - ITEM #222.1182
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RAIN BRIO BURSTS - ITEM #595.242
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FUNKY BOX CHAIN LAYERS WITH ORGANIC WHITE FRESHWATER PEARLS AND VINTAGE SILVER BRASS BEADS - ITEM #198.3247
These items aren't for sale on our site yet, but you can always use our store locator to find a store that sells Avindy jewelry near you. We have listed the item numbers above for your convenience. Be sure to check back often in the next few days. We will be tickling your fancy with some more items of beauty and brilliance. In the meanwhile, you should be getting your loved ones buttered up for Valentines day...which is right around the corner :) We have this fancy thing on our site called a wish list. You can sign up for an account here and access it. The wish list feature allows you to save items that you like and email them to others. Kind of like a little :wink wink: or :nudge nudge: for someone who might be thinking about getting you a gift.
Oh and don't forget to add us on Facebook for quick updates, industry news and the occasional special deal.
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This time of year we are always extremely busy. The holidays simply run us ragged—and while we are slap in the middle of the holiday season we have to be multitasking by not only shipping out hundreds of orders, but also researching trends for Spring, creating the Spring collection (which we do by hand), going to photoshoots for the new Spring collection—all while scrambling to get everything for the Spring collection finished so we can leave the shop to head out for show season to showcase the Spring collection. Which, might we add, entails gathering booth materials for all of the shows we will be attending, not only in Georgia, but also around the rest of the country. Whew!
So, it is always nice to know that hard work does indeed payoff. That being said...Woo hoo, more press for us!! We don't mean to gloat, we are just really really excited!!! That's because our best selling items this past holiday season, the Avindy Letter Stamp Necklaces, received a little notoriety in the December issue of Gifts & Decorative Accessories Magazine, a very well respected trade magazine that has been sending out monthly issues since 1917!!!
About the necklaces
Our letter stamps are hand stamped, by the one and only Kitty Carswell, using a mallet and the vintage letter stamps pictured in the magazine. The stamps never come out perfectly centered, which our customers seem to love because it makes each and every necklace very unique. The necklaces come in 4 different styles (silver, gold, with diamonds and without) and several different price ranges. Click the images below to buy.
   
P.S. Make sure you check out tomorrows blog post where we will finally show you that new Spring collection we have been babbling about since yesterday. We just know you are going to love it!!!
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 It's that time of year again! America's Mart Atlanta is in the midst of hosting it's largest annual event—The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market, also known as The Atlanta Gift Show. This is one of the countries largest exhibitions of it's kind with 2,350 exhibitors and an estimated 100,000 attendees all packed into in a humongous 404,783 sq ft of real estate. Over the past 50 years, The Mart has created a reputation as the leading international source for consumer goods. For Avindy, The Atlanta Gift Show, which just so happens to be nestled in our home town of Downtown Atlanta, is a spectacular venue to introduce Avindy jewelry to new vendors while not forgetting to dazzle the loyal ones with fresh pieces. This blog post is also a darn good excuse to show you pictures of our booth at the show—which just so happen to include a very tiny sneak peek of some of our new, until now, unseen pieces!! We are so excited to share and can't wait to introduce you to them formally! Enjoy.
SNEAK PEEK ^^^^^^^!!!!!!!
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We have a confession to make. A few of us here at Avindy are a little obsessed with Pinterest. I mean, can you blame us? There are endless recipes, craft ideas, items for the home, hair dos, shoes, jewelry...this could go on forever! If you don't know what Pinterest is, let us be the first to invite you to a new obsession. The site basically lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web—sort of like bookmarking, but way more fun! It's like social networking for grown ups. You can read all about it here: ABOUT PINTEREST
And in the case that you are more visual like us, we found this nice video that explains what it is and how to use it.
Now, let's finally get into the reason that we are going on and on about Pinterest. We found these cute, but different ways to organize your jewelry while engaging in our daily browsing. The first way is a little more crafty and a little less traditional. It uses an old rake, some paint and some decorative items. We would love to give credit for this simple yet functional idea, but we aren't sure where it came from because it was not linked to any blog post or website.
Here is another beautiful and crafty way to organize your collection. It incorporates an antique mirror frame, some lace and your favorite shade of paint. 3 items that are pretty easy to find at a yard sale, your local craft store and hardware store. If you aren't so much the crafty type, you can buy jewelry organizers like this on Etsy at The Vintage Treehouse store.
This particular one sold already, but it looks like they make several versions of this frame that comes in all different shapes, colors and sizes. This bright pink one is currently for sale.
This next idea comes from the I Heart Organizing blogspot. It uses radiator grates (from Home Depot) as a surprisingly pretty way to organize jewelry. We could totally see this being used in one of these old school industrial lofts here in Atlanta.
We really love this idea! It uses cutlery trays as a way to hang and organize jewelry. You can buy these trays at Ikea for like $2.00. The hooks you can pick up while you are at Home Depot for the last project we listed. Again, we don't know where this idea came from because no source was cited, but we feel compelled to spread the love.
And last but not least, this next little crafty organizer looks like it may be made from a spice rack. What an amzingly simple idea! Again, if would rather take the easy, less crafty route, you can buy it on Etsy at the Spirit Ranch Creations store. We would never judge you! They also have an array of other organizational items for jewelry amongst other things.
We hope you enjoy these creations as much as we do. If you happen to make or buy one and put it to use, post your pics on our Facebook wall. We would love to see your collection and creativity!
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We received some exciting news for Avindy by way of some very sad news for one of Avindy's retailers. Everyone always likes to hear the good news first so we will start with that. Shania Twain bought some of our jewelry!!!!! We don't know when it was or what she bought, but we found out about it today when we read an on-line article about one of our retailers, Accessity, today.
And now for the not so good news: Accessity, an accessories boutique located in Ontario Canada and open for 32 years, has decided to close down shop. According to the article from thestar.com, Accessity has been host to tons and tons of Hollywood stars during its 32 years on the retail encumbered Bloot Street—including, but not limited to, stars such as Whoopi Goldberg, Halle Berry, Carol Burnett, Heather Locklear and Jennifer Love Hewit. Just like The Toronto Star article says, "Who didn't shop here?!"
 Owner, Oriella Stillo, wants to stress that it's not a bankruptcy issue. It's just that when she was asked to renew her lease for another 10 years, she wasn't so sure that she wanted to commit to the business for that length of time. Who can blame her? After 32 years of success, a woman is entitled to a nice retirement if she so chooses.
You should also know that Acccessity is having a going-out-of-business sale with items reduced from 30 to 70 per cent off. So, it seems we have made a little good news, bad news, good news sandwich—meaning there is more good news than bad, and for that we are happy! So, cheers to Oriella, her success and her retirement or whatever she so chooses to do with the rest of her life! We very much appreciate her loving Avindy enough to have it in her store and we also appreciate her mentioning us in her interview.
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Meet Avindy and several other top Jewelry Artisans from Atlanta at the High Museum for the Holiday Jewelry Artist Market this Saturday, December 03, 2011 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. in the Robinson Atrium. Good to know: Museum admission is not required to shop the Artist Market.
Can't wait to see your pretty faces!
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YOUR EYES ARE NOT DECEIVING YOU!!! In order to celebrate the holidays and our 10th year in business, we have decide to host a contest where the prize is 2 free diamond rings from Avindy! Want to know how to enter? Then just meet us over at Avindy.com/thanks to learn more. The basics are, like us on Facebook, give thanks to someone you love by taggin them on your Facebook status update (and also tag Avindy), and you are automatically entered to win! Simple as that. The drawing will be held on December 25th.
We are so excited and we hope you are too! Now start spreading the word. The more the merrier!
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What's better than landing a 10-page feature in a magazine dedicated to some of the most creative women on the planet and their workspaces??? Sharing the spotlight with one of your best friends from childhood! Cindy (owner at Avindy) and Becky (owner of Sugarboo Designs) have been best friends since they were 11 years old. That being said it makes perfect sense that they would both indulge in mixing textures and find most of their inspiration from times past. It's also no wonder that since they share a similar aesthetic, both of the ladies products are often found in the same stores across the world.
While catering to their respective booths at the NY International Gift Show, Avindy and Sugarboo were approached by the amazing Jo Packham, creator of Where Women Create. The meeting ultimately led to a photoshoot for both of the Atlanta based companies and their workspaces, and a rockin' magazine feature for each. To quote Cindy, "Jo is a burst of creative energy and inspiration. We didn't want her to go home! We are so proud to be a part of Where Women Create because it gives credence to the very core of our business, our creative process, our inspiration and our products. Jo focuses on featuring artists for their true talent, process and history and we are so grateful to be able to share our story."
We hope you love the article as much as we do! Oh and one more thing while we are at it, check out Sugarboo Farms, they are opening a campground—where glamorous women such as ourselves can take some time to go "glamping!" We'll share some pics and fun we had during our own glamping adventures later on. In the meanwhile, read, enjoy and share:
Avindy featured in Where Women Create Magazine
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