How to Use Jewelry Exhibition Opportunities

Being an artist isn’t easy, not only do you need to make work but then you also have to sell it. How do you stand out in the competitive jewelry space? Read Bella Neyman's advice on using jewelry exhibitions as a strategy for getting exposure for your brand.

Look for New Jewelry Exhibition Options

Raleigh-based artist Tara Locklear travels extensively around the country participating in craft shows, museum fundraisers, and has built relationships with galleries like Pistachios in Chicago and Ombre gallery in Cincinnati. Locklear says that she is constantly searching for new exhibition opportunities. "It is part of my work schedule yearly planning. In particular, I look for new types of events in cities that the work has not been shown in before, to continually grow the audience for my work." She also uses websites, such as callforentry.org, zapplication.org, or artfaircalendar.com to find new projects. "I do find that doing craft shows also lead to other opportunities such as group exhibitions or possible museum collaborative work pop-ups. I believe that 'showing up' at all of my work events aide in multiple connections for growing my business in multiple facets beyond just sales."

Some artists have begun to create opportunities for other artists. Kat Cole and Laura Wood founded Jewelry Edition (JE) in 2012 out of a "desire to find new methods of sharing work without relying on preexisting template." Cole and Wood told me that "in the beginning our focus was to seek new opportunities for early career artists and it has evolved to provide support for artists in the various stages of an art practice." JE puts out an annual call for work, their last one for JE5, recently closed.

The project also pushes artists to think about their practice a bit differently, "Jewelry Edition has provided a challenge for some artists to build out a collection featuring limited edition production in addition to one-of-a-kind work and has also been a launching point for artists to see the impact of avant-garde work with unexpected clients." Cole and Wood wear many hats themselves but they have really carved out a much needed space for JE. "The feedback from JE participants has been exceptionally positive: increased interest in work from a larger audience, new gallery representation, and a sense of community."

Branch Out From the Traditional Location

Finding venues for JE exhibitions is also a good lesson for other artist's who want to be more independent and needs ideas on how to do it. "We have secured venues in a variety of ways: through existing gallery relationships we both have from our individual practices, cold calls to spaces we see as exciting opportunities, and making relationships at conferences and large gatherings where these conversations happen naturally. We also include one or two experimental spaces each year. For example, we teamed up with a culinary artist in Atlanta to share clients lists and an event space for an evening of jewelry, music and hors d'oeuvres. We welcome any ideas or collaborative opportunities and we stay open-minded about how each year will develop. Jewelry Edition is an extension of our creative practices and so we are continually re-examining how it can evolve."

In the end, Cole and Wood agree that "the landscape of being an independent artist is challenging and working together and with our network of artists and collaborators has allowed us to be creative."

6 Easy Craft Ideas for Easter At Home

1. Paint, Print and Reuse

Got a few empty toilet paper rolls lying around? These recycled toilet roll Easter bunnies are an excellent way to encourage creativity this weekend, as well as reusing and recycling. Using paint, turn the toilet roll into a stamp to create your own little bunnies and decorate them any way you like! This activity is quick, simple and fun for kids of all ages. What other creative recycling ideas do you have? 

2. Make Egg-Shell Succulents

If you have some succulents on hand (or easily accessible, for example in your garden or a friend’s garden) you could take some cuttings to propagate. Crack the top of your eggs (saving the contents in a container) and re-plant the succulents inside. This is a great way to get your little ones outdoors AND decorate your kitchen. Why not use a black marker to add some funny faces to the shells?

3. Eggs-ert Their Energy

This activity is a great way to exert all that pent-up chocolate-induced energy. Use some reusable hollow eggs and add a fun instruction or exercise to each. This game is sure to bring a lot of laughs among your little ones and lasts for years to come! 

Why not try some other fun ways to hunt for eggs? If your kids tend to argue over their chocolate, try colour-coding their baskets to their eggs, so one child collects red and another collects blue. It’s so easy to organise and adds an extra challenge for your little chocoholics!

4. Build A Backyard Bunny

For this activity, all you need is a bunny template either printed out or drawn on a piece of paper. Take your little ones to the backyard and let their imaginations go wild! Find leaves, flowers, twigs and other garden goodies and glue them down to create a nature bunny. What else could they use from the backyard to build their masterpieces?

5. Make Magical Bunny Food 

Leave the Easter bunny more than a carrot this year! Most children love getting out into nature, so why not take them into the backyard and go exploring for ingredients? Think grass, flowers, leaves and mix them all up to make a nutritious, nature-inspired bowl of bunny food. This activity is so easy and encourages your little ones to go exploring and get creative with nature. What other garden goodies could satisfy the Easter bunny’s appetite?

6. Footprint Fun

This activity is a fun way for even your littlest one to get involved. All you need is some painted footprints, a paper plate and some decorative craft supplies and embellishments. You can get all kinds of creative with these Easter projects.

Toddlers Development Milestones

Mobility

The groundwork of infancy – when your baby learned to crawl and take their first steps – will now pay off. From months 12 to 36, your toddler will rapidly add running, jumping, climbing and even riding tricycles to their repertoire. Toddlers can also navigate stairs, kick and throw balls and will even show preference for one hand over the other by 24 months.

Reading

Some three- and four-year old children might recognise a simple word as a sort of whole – like a picture – and associate it with the picture it’s next to. But reading for many toddlers consists of recognising and naming objects and animals they see in picture books.
You can help your toddler develop a good relationship with books and literacy by reading often and reading together. Keep story time brief, though, as many toddlers have short attention spans and are unlikely to sit still for long.

Toilet training

Around 24 months old, your toddler might start showing an interest in using the toilet. You can encourage a measure of self-control by asking your toddler questions about when or if they need to go to the toilet and then taking them to the bathroom. Start with a potty or a toilet training seat and practice by seating them on it before they need to go.

Speech

By the time your baby turns one, they might have picked up a simple word or two like “mama” or “dada” – within the first few months they’ll add a handful to these. But as they approach 24 months, your toddler will be using up to 50 words and will understand many more. Once they’ve turned two, they’ll start to rapidly increase their vocabulary and be able to speak in short, simple sentences. And by their third birthday, toddlers can follow and give instructions, ask complex questions and can be much more clearly understood.

Thinking

Your toddler will quickly develop and understand a range of different concepts that adults take for granted, such as: the relationships between time and space; enduring qualities of things, like balls are round and adults are tall; and looking for and finding things that are out of sight.
With developments in their speech, toddlers can follow (or choose to ignore) more complex instructions and can even give their own.

Emotions

With the development of their communication skills, toddlers can also start to understand the ‘why’ of things, and therefore can be easier to settle and reason with. Toddlers aren’t frightened as easily now that they know why sirens are loud, or dogs bark. And you might find that although your toddler throws the odd temper tantrum, they can also just as easily self-soothe and move on quickly to do something that they enjoy.

Why It Is Great To Opt For Online Grocery Delivery

Some consumers are of the opinion that online grocery is actually expensive since you do not have the power to bargain, and moreover, when somebody else is doing the work of picking the items and delivering at your place, it naturally comes at an extra cost. But do you know that if you buy online grocery, it can actually bring down your expenses. So, it’s in fact a great idea to begin filling your virtual cart with groceries, but before that, here are some of the advantages of online grocery delivery service.

Unnecessary spending is reduced

Brick and mortar grocery stores can trigger a lot of impulse buys which are brought down to a great extent when you shop online. Moreover, many people have the natural tendency to give themselves away to the call of junk food which is usually available near grocery stores. But when you buy online you simply add the required products to your cart and go for check out.

Substantial amount of time is saved

This is by far the main advantage of buying online grocery in Gurgaon. You can log in at your convenient time, and there’s absolutely no need to travel to and from the store, or move across aisles. Again, when you are saving trips to the store, you are also saving on petrol money.

Seamless access to online discounts and coupons

It is true that in-store customers can avail a lot of special offers, but there are some offers that are solely available online and are meant only for online shoppers. So, instead of travelling all the way to make the most of deals, you can simply grab the online discounts and other offers with a single click. Sometimes, you get the added bonus of clicking on manufacturer’s coupons as you shop for grocery online.

It‘s time to get going. Your online grocery shopping cart is waiting for you!

4 Things That Make Online Grocery Stores Score Over Local Stores

With the internet being omnipresent, it is quite common to shop online for electronics, books and a number of other items. But buying grocery, beverages, and personal care items online is gradually becoming the next big thing, mainly due to the convenience involved. How do these online stores score over the local market? Let’s get to know.

1. Increased Variety

An online grocery store is similar to any other ecommerce business, since it also has a wider variety of products in comparison to what you will come across at your local store. In fact, there are a range of collections from several brands available, so it is much more convenient to find the product you are looking for. Also, you can go through the special deals available in a single platform.

2. Several Delivery Options

Everything will be delivered to you at your doorstep. While most stores provide same day delivery for groceries, there are highly efficient ones who will offer you delivery within a few hours of order placement or even within one hour. In addition to this, you can also choose a particular time slot for delivery in line with your schedule.

3. Convenient Returns

You might feel that when you are buying grocery online, you are at a disadvantage because the products you are purchasing cannot be tangibly checked. This is no doubt a serious concern when you purchase perishable items. But rest assured that a reputed online grocery store will always stock the freshest of products, and in the rarest case, if a product is found defective; there are flexible return policies for which you simply need to consult customer care.

4. Faster Price Comparisons

If you need price comparisons at the local supermarket, you need to hop from store to store. But comparing prices online for similar products can be done in a jiffy, just by the click of a mouse.

An online store can do what the local store cannot. So, try out the most reputed grocery service online and experience the best!

Grocery Shopping a Healthy Affair

How to Make Your Online Grocery Shopping a Healthy Affair

As you think about picking up items from your online grocery shopping store, keep it in mind that the healthy choices that you make are the ultimate source of good nutrition for your family. After all, how can you prepare a healthy meal if you do not have the proper ingredients at your disposal at home? Shopping often becomes a difficult job, mainly owing to the large number of options that are placed in front of you. Good stores will stock a lot of items, and here is a precise guideline for healthy shopping online.

Plan a bit early

Before selecting your items from any online grocery shopping store, it is best if you can plan a week’s meal. By doing this, creation of the shopping list becomes easier. Planning for the week takes only a few minutes, but just think how much time you can save by planning early, because you do not have to run to the store to buy any ingredients that you have missed.

Purchase good amount of fruits and vegetables

It is important to pick up lots of vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, poultry, lean meat, dairy as well as fish from your online grocery shopping store. So far as the diet is concerned, variety is always good. You can consider purchasing sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes, since sweet potatoes are healthier.

Say yes to whole grains

To remain healthy, you must ensure that at least 50% of the grain products which you consume on a daily basis are whole grains. While doing your online shopping for grocery, consider buying a variety of different grains including barley, rice, quinoa, which are free from sodium. If you are looking forward to buy packaged grain products, consider those that have low fat, salt and sugar content.

Prefer short ingredient lists

If you choose to buy packaged food from any online grocery shopping store, spare some time and take a look at the ingredients list. Reputed online stores will definitely stock healthy products, but still it would not be out of place to go for the product with a short ingredient list. A long list might include additives for taste enhancement or increasing the product’s shelf life. However, if you prefer a certain brand which incidentally has a long list, go for it. Additives are usually not harmful for the health, but they might be a hindrance to the original taste and nutritional factors. If you are extremely health conscious, you can check all the ingredients before making your purchase.

Purchase canned foods

When you are shopping online for grocery, there is no problem in opting for canned fruits and vegetables. These products are good and quite nutritious. In order to prepare a nutritious meal within a short time, it is good to keep your pantry stocked with canned vegetables, fruits, legumes and broths.

Following these things will always help you stay healthy as you go ahead with your online shopping. Many might argue that nutritious foods are a little high on budget, but it does help to be healthy in the long run.

Top 10 clothing brands in the world

The clothing industry is one of the most ancient industries. However, today very few companies in the field of clothing manufacturing earned the top positions globally.

The world saw the emergence of new trends and new fabrics in the clothing industry. Very few brands got famous all over the world and are still amongst the global best sellers.

The key is in the quality, perfection and setting trends.

Here is a list of Top 10 Bestselling, Popular Clothing Brands In The World, with a sneak peek into their bios

10. ARMANI

The Brand Value of this famous company is about $3.1 billion. 

Armani provides impeccable tailoring, glamour and amazing dressing.

Hollywood stars are most loyal costumers of this brand.

Armani brand has expertise in the making suits. Their clothing will be of luxurious fabric condition.

Armani, Emporio, Exchange is the most expensive clothing under this brand. They even produce perfumes, leather bags and belts, glasses, shoes and other materials. Thus they stand in the tenth position in the list.

9. FENDI

The total brand value of this company is about $3.5 billion.

Paola Fendi was the founder of this company.

The Company was launched in the year 1925.

Fendi expertise is in the production of world-class dressing and also bags and other accessories.

The handbag series was introduced in 1997 which is called as Baguette.

This company also owns its atelier.

Fendi keeps up its standards by making their creations up to date in the world of fashion.

LVMH owns this company. Thus this is 9th in the list.

8. HOUSE OF VERSACE

The total brand value of this company is about $5.5 billion.

Versace’s current revenue is about $1 billion. 

This is an Italian company.

Versace was established in 1978.

Gianni Versace established this company.

House of Versace is one of the most profitable lifestyle brands in the world.

Versace is known for their intrigued embellishments, vivid print, cocktail and iconic gowns are amazing. Versace introduced many types of clothing. Thus they are in the 8th position.

7. BURBERRY

This company has a total brand value of about $5.87 billion.

The company gets revenue of about $4 billion.

Burberry is a British company.

Audrey Hepburn is one of the most iconic figures associated with the Burberry brand.

This company is famous for its innovations.

Burberry has even obtained a royal warrant.

This company even launched an exclusive and expensive skincare range. Thus this is one of the expensive and also exclusive company. It is in the seventh position.

6. RALPH LAUREN

This company has a total brand value of about $6.6 billion.

The revenue obtained by this company is about $7.1 billion.  

Ralph Lauren entirely focuses on luxury and strives to provide all sort of dress materials for you to live your desired life. The Ralph Lauren clothes are worn by many famous personalities in the world.

Polo is also one of the renowned brands under Ralph Lauren. Thus this company stands in 6th position.

5. CHANEL

The brand value of this company is about $6.8 billion.

The revenue collection by this company is $5.4 billion.

Coco Chanel founded this company. The brand is very well known for women’s clothing.

The company strives to make sure that women are comfortable in their clothes and they should feel proud.

Timeless little black dress was introduced by the Chanel brand.

Chanel is one of the most expensive brands in the world. Thus this company is in the 5th position in the top ten list.

4. PRADA

This company has a brand value of about $7.3 billion.

The revenue of this company is about $3.7 Billion.

Prada was established by an Italian leather manufacturer named Mario Prada in 1913.

The Prada brand is one of the most expensive brands and every girl would love to have this one.

The brand offers clothes with amazing design, style, and colour and makes every girl feel special. Thus this is in the top 4th position.

3. HERMES

This company has s brand value of about $10.6 billion.

The revenue of this company is about $5.3 billion.

Hermes brand was established in the year 1837 by Thierry Hermes.

Throughout the journey of all these 176 years, the company had been very successful.

Hermes is famous for its Kelly bag and also silk scarves.

They are experts in the production of belts, men’s and women’s sportswear riding gloves etc.

2. GUCCI

The brand value of this company is about $12.4 billion.

The revenue of this company is about $4.5 billion. The company aims at providing quality clothing.

Gucci is known to produce clothes which are worth wearing for a red carpet event.

The Gucci company was started in the year 1921.

The founder of this company is Guccio Gucci.

Gucci is one of the most expensive brands, and also they are known to produce rich and luxury clothing, thus they are in the 2nd position.

1. LOUIS VUITTON

World’s most expensive brand is Louis Vuitton.

The brand value of this company has reached about $28.1 Billion.

The revenue collection of this brand is about $10.1 billion.

Louis Vuitton is very well known for its use of leather, excellent tailoring of trench coats, ready to wear dresses, shoes, accessories, watches, sunglasses, jewellery, books and many other accessories, and deservingly have taken the 1st position in the list.