Winter adventures
By avindy
1/23/2011 1:03:00 PM
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It's trade show season, when we get to go out and say hello to lots of the lovely people who carry avindy in their stores, but it's also blizzard season, and the two don't match up well!
Earlier this month, when the south and the northeast got smacked by two big storms right in a row, we had quite a time of it: all our displays and table cloths got stuck in New York, Avril got stuck in New York, Cindy had pneumonia and was stuck at home in Atlanta in the snow BUT we pulled it together! Avril and our new employee Raven made it home two days later on Thursday, Cat and Cindy put together a makeshift booth for our next show at the last minute and poof, here we are with a snowy addition to our booth:
And just to show that it's never a dull moment even without weather shenanigans, here's a crazy local marching band wandering through High Design at the Atlanta Gift Show!
We hope your winter's going well: low on inconvenient snowstorms and high on cocoa consumption.
xoxo,
Avril & Cindy
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 We're just back from NY International Gift Fair and ENK Accessories Circuit. Both were crazy busy. Lots of new customers, lots of loyal existing customers, and a fabulous response to the new fall/holiday collection. Here are the highlights!
Our booth this time around got fun with shaggy cloths (right). Some best selling avindy themes: Pyrite sparkly nuggets, red garnet with raw aquamarine, metallic magnet strands which look great as necklaces and bracelets, funky pearls layered with oxidized chains, pale blue opals and labradorite to complement charcoal color palates in fall clothes, layered charms with diamonds in antiqued sterling silver mixed with hammered gold, and leather wraps mixed with diamond bangles. Phew!
We loved the newly renovated Handmade Section at the Javits Center. We were surrounded by other amazing artisans. We got excited about recycled soda bottle glassware from The Green Glass Company, white ceramic birds on rusty railroad hardware from Stiles in Clay, and oversized vintage inspired dominoes from Sugarboo Designs.
A surprise highlight of our trip was
Chelsea Market – WOW! We stumbled upon the Chelsea Market on our way to Iron Chef Morimoto’s new restaurant.
The market is housed in the old Nabisco factory (home of the Oreo!). What a diamond in the rough. Gorgeous old building with exposed brick, wrought iron, old wide plank hardwoods, industrial light fixtures and tucked in every nook and cranny was foodie heaven. Cheese shops, meat shops, bakeries, tiny restaurants, gourmet book store, and more!
 The proceeds from this wishing well in the Market (right) go to feed the elderly.
As for Morimoto’s restaurant: to die for! An eating experience and our top favorite restaurant from the show trips. Whole fried sea bass with fried rice. Watermelon gazpacho for app. It's a funky eclectic little restaurant in Tribeca. We highly recommend it!
The weather in New York was also amazing: sunny, cool and breezy. Finally, a taste of fall…
xoxo,
Cindy
Mom & Dad (Avril and Stanley Joffe)
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We’ve just gotten back from an amazing trip to the
Sundance Resort Trunk Show, coinciding with the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
Cindy and Avril with Brent Beck
We were incredibly lucky to stay with Brent Beck, who ran
the resort with Robert Redford and later started the catalog with him. We wanted to adopt him and his wife Fae
as an extra set of parents! They were so good to us. Among other things, Brent
is a fabulous cook! Made us gourmet breakfast every morning and soufflés for
dessert at night.
The Trunk Show was a wonderful
experience. We got to show a little
bit of everything – new pieces, one of a kind pieces, pieces from our holiday
collection. Gemstones, diamonds, the works.
Cindy and Avril showing Avindy pieces at the Trunk Show
We’ve always had a very special place in our heart for the
Sundance Catalog, since it led Avril to her initial interest in beading. Plus the celebrities were out in force: we saw Robert
Redford and Bill Gates!
You can see lots more pictures of the trip in our Facebook
album (including Redford and Gates).
Snowy Sundance, Utah.
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African Inspiration
By Avindy
10/17/2009 3:22:00 PM
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 Things are crazy hectic at the Avindy studio these days. We might actually be busier than we've ever been, getting tons of orders ready to go out -- 50 pieces here, a shipment of 500 there. It gives the loft that nice buzz that comes with everyone being happy and busy.
This week, we're heading to Africa, which is always an excellent source of both inspiration and material. Our work has always been very influenced by Africa and our time living there, particularly intricate African beadwork. Its vibrancy and mix of colors -- not to mention its seed beads -- show up in a lot of our pieces.
So we're hoping to come back with fresh ideas, and maybe some great finds in the form of unusual gems and other pieces.
And stay tuned for exciting news about Avindy and the 2010 Sundance Film Festival!
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