Report from the NY International Gift Fair

February is fair season for us at Greenjeans, when we go out to see what the hundreds of craftspeople and designers have been up to over the past year and look for extraordinary new work to offer at the shop.

We started with the NY International Gift Fair last week where we picked up two new jewelry makers whom we're very excited to introduce.

The first, adding to our international offerings, is Sarah Lierl of Munich, Germany. In addition to some fantastic wedding band designs (alas, I don't have pics yet), she is also doing a brilliant make-your-own wedding band "kit." It consists of two heart-shaped portions of wax which the couple can shape into whatever form they fancy, and then we will ship it to Sarah in Germany for casting and finishing. Voila, DIY wedding bands! Expect those to appear at Greenjeans in a few weeks...

Our second new jewelry maker is Brooklyn's own Serena Kojimoto, whose work we've been admiring for a couple years now. (That's her Raindrop Lariat at the top.) Serena works in silver and semiprecious stones creating stylish and versatile earrings and necklaces every Brooklyn girl will crave. Her work will also be arriving in a few weeks.

I must mention how completely impressed we always are with the German exhibitors. Walking the fair, sometimes one starts to feel as though they've seen everything before. But then we walk up a few steps onto the platform where a dozen or so German designers and artisans show their work and it's so totally refreshing and inspiring. Besides Sarah Lierl, we loved the cast iron and silver work by Berthold Hoffmann whose bold, utilitarian pieces carry on the Bauhaus tradition. (His silver Tea Service is shown here.)

This week we'll be preparing for the Buyers Market of American Craft in Philadelphia and the American Craft Council's Baltimore show. There will be lots to report on from both, and we look forward to seeing people we only get to see once a year!

I'll also be polishing up my presentation "Crafting Your Online Presence" this week, which I'll be giving Wednesday at 8:30am at the Baltimore fair. I hope you'll come if you're in town!

Posted by Amy Shaw.
Photos courtesy of the artists.