For about a year friends and colleagues have been urging me to start a blog. I've been collecting ideas and noteworthy items to post here, and hope to find time to write each month and keep it current. 2008 has started with me hitting the ground running, preparing for the first few trade shows & trunk shows of the year. My first stop will be a buying trip to Tucson with my friend and fellow jewelry designer, Vicente Agor. Vicente and I share a love affair with Mexican opals and have been neighbors at many trade shows. We will both be exhibiting at the Global Design show in Philadelphia in February, and if we have our way, will both be sneaking our dogs into the show! Tucson is such a gargantuan show, and in many ways is so overwhelming -- it's amazing to look across a tented venue at the seemingly endless quantity of natural resources our Earth has endowed us with. I find myself to be continually drawn to a raw & organic feel in my materials, so I'll be searching for more one-of-a-kind things, translucent stones, rose cuts and as always, lots and lots of cabochons in all colors, shapes and sizes. I will post pics from the trip when I return.
The publishers of INSTORE Magazine have a new publication titled INDESIGN, targeted at retailers of fine jewelry design. The Jan '08 inaugural issue feature "The Finer Things" names my Elizabethan bangles among their top trends. A big THANK YOU to the editors who suggest that customers should purchase several at a time in order to stay way ahead of the curve! They also point out that gold is expensive these days and that customers like to wear it and show it off. This is encouraging news with gold inching its way towards $900 an ounce and showing no sign of stopping or slowing its climb.
In spite of the challenges of the gold market it is an exciting time to be making new work. I will soon post pics of new pieces, along with a studio tour. In the meantime, anyone interested in seeing more of my work can visit my website collection pages at www.stephaniealbertson.com
