BRINGING THE MAGIC OF THE HUAYRUROS TO FLORIDA

From April 2nd – 30th – Gallery Five is hosting a special jewelry trunk show featuring my work. I personally invite you to attend if you happen to be near Tequesta, FL. If not you can place your order through their 24/7 open shop online at www.gallery5.com

Let me share with you my history with GALLERY FIVEand I hope you learn more about this fabulous wearable art & fine crafts gallery.

After the Buyer’s Market of American Craft show last summer I was contacted by a lady named Paula Coben owner of Gallery Five in Tequesta, FL. She saw my work at the show and she wanted to carry Evelyn Brooks Designs. With this order we had received, my work would be exhibited and sold  in FLORIDA.

At 1st I thought I have to search where is Tequesta, FL? because I have never heard of it. and also needed to learn more about Gallery Five.

Gallery Five opened in November of 1982 featuring fine crafts made by American Artists.

They are celebrating their 30th SEASON! and even with our rough economy they have being able to remain in business. They not only sell at their location but they are also open 24/7 through their online shop. So no excuse to buy from them at any time

You can also visit them by appointment and call them at 561 747 555 to make your appointment.

This is a family business and I truly admire that they have been able to work together for so many years. It reminds me of my family, too. We try to help each other at any moment although my relatives are all the way in Peru. Paula’s daughter Cathy takes care of the online community and we worked together to bring Evelyn Brooks Designs available through their website; so if you like to purchase any of my jewelry designs you can do order online at www.gallery5.com

Paula says: We are proud of the success of Gallery Five and pleased that the gallery features work of more than 150 American artists from 40 states, with no imports.

And, of course, we invite you to browse through all the virtual drawers of our website to see the hand-crafted wonders by creative artists that we find in travel around the U.S. in our search for fresh and original crafts.

We will continue to offer the best service possible, both in our showroom and in our online store. Our best advertising is our satisfied customers.

Paula and their team at Gallery Five would like to invite ALL to learn about their outstanding customer service. You can also become a fan of Gallery Five on Facebook.

Hasta la proxima…

Can’t wait to share with you how we made it all the way to Boston & New York! stay tunned…

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JEWELRY DESIGNER TRAVELING ON A BUDGET

Dear friends, I am writing this email from the Boston Gift Show. I wish I could have read suggestions on how to travel as a jewelry entrepreneur on a budget; especially when you are doing those so called wholesale shows.

We are ALL living though times in is economy and we certainly have to watch every penny we spend, right?. And especially if you are doing a show far away from home. In this case I had to consider not only the booth fee, electricity, gas & parking but I also had to include airfare, hotel & meals and transportation.

So I search my hotel on Priceline and I also made a few calls/emails to my friend who work at different hotels to see if I could get a friends & family discount but their rates were higher than the one I found. In this opportunity the Boston Gift Show had special hotel rates if you booked directly with them, so I found a fairly decent hotel 6 miles away from the Convention Center for about $80, pretty descent huh?!

Don’t forget that when you travel you need to arrange pick up/drop off from the airport, too. Thank GOD I have SO MANY friends & family spread all over so luckily there is always someone living wherever I go. Although in the beginning I was thinking I don’t have anybody in Boston and it ended up that one of my good friends from high school lives only 15 minutes from the airport. We probably haven’t seen each other since high school but once we saw us it was like the time never passed and we reconnected very easily.

She picked me up from the airport and took me back to the airport. That saved me like $40  each way. The Best Western Adams INN in Quincy Massachusetts where I stayed, offered complimentary breakfast and complimentary shuttle service to and from the Boston Convention Center. Right there I saved $35 cab ride for each they of the show, and it was a four day show. So you can imagine how much I would have spend in just cab rides.

Anyways, another advice if you are trying to eat at the convention center – NEVER DO IT – How can you save money and help in this economy charging $3.50 for a bottle of coke or $3.25 for a cup of tea or coffee!!!? I think that is outrageous. The 1st day of the show I had to pay but then I saw my neighbors who brought chips, nuts, crackers, cookies, sandwiches for launch so they did not have to buy lunch. So lesson learned next time I plan on coming ready, right?

I look forward to come back to The Boston Gift Show in 2013

Hasta la proxima!

Evelyn Brooks

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A PROFESSIONAL JEWELRY PHOTOSHOOT…

When I first started to create my jewelry pieces, I was taking pictures of my own jewelry pictures (who doesn’t start like that, huh!?), but I am not a professional photographer. I’ve tried for so many times to do my own pictures and I took many pictures but could never give them the right white background or the right black grayish background plus you could see the shadows, light reflection etc., etc.….I took quick photography classes, did some internet research on how to photograph your jewelry and still was not getting that perfect professionally looking picture.

In the beginning…I couldn’t afford to pay for a professional photo session of my jewelry pieces. So I post and add on the famous craigslist and got me freelance photographers that were looking to gain expertise in product photography and who wanted to add experience to their resumes.

These were my 1st pictures taken by me a not professional jewelry photographer…not so good right?

Then it was time to launch my men’s Moschik catalog and I was not going to invest so much time in creating a whole new jewelry collection with poor pictures and poor presentation. Two of the most amazing relationships were born. My catalog designer Alvaro Luna & my professional photographer Rui Barros. I personally find that there has to be good energy,  positive attitude and willingness to work with your business partners (that is how I call them).  Just as me they want the final product to speak highly of their work. I believe I can sense energy VERY well and I was not afraid when my dear friend Alvaro was taking the responsibility to re-design my image/logo/designing my catalog everything till he handed me my Moschik Men’s catalog.

I also knew it was going to take some time. It was not going to happen in a couple days…although I wanted see the final product ASAP.

One of the first things Alvaro asked me was you need a professional head shot…I was thinking OMG another expense to the creation of my men’s catalog. BUT I can still remember what he said to me: I refuse to create the catalog with a picture that you have cropped from some wedding and put it in this professional jewelry catalog. He said go to Rui Barros Photography. He will do your headshot.

This was my 1st professional headshots as a jewelry designer

Then our photo-shoot for the catalog took us a whole day at The Park @ 14th in Washington DC, models came on time, photographer and Alvaro took care of styling models & the photo-shoot. We ended exhausted but with amazing photos to be used in our Moschik Men’s Catalog.

What to order my catalog? (click here)

I have been working with Rui for quite sometime now. I’d say at least five years. We have shot my jewelry pieces at his studio in Arlington, VA. It usually takes us a whole day. Every time I come in he has some new tool to shoot faster and have higher quality pictures, better lighting or the latest new gadget in professional photography. Another important thing to mention is that you have to communicate well how you like your product to look like, if you want to highlight some areas more than others, etc., etc.…My advise as a jewelry entrepreneur is do some research  before you call someone to do your professional product photo-shoot. I have done so much research about it that now I feel confident to share my ins and outs about shooting jewelry pieces.

Rui is so dedicated to what he does, that I totally trust his work and I know no matter what my pieces are going to have a professional look. The look I need as a professional jewelry designer.

My Nazca Jewelry collection has recently being photo-shoot again by Rui, take a sneak pick at it

 

If you are trying to take your jewelry business to the next level and want to bring it to high end boutiques, museums, fine art fairs and so on…don’t waist your time trying to make it yourself. It is more beneficial to invest your time in what you know best. In my case I rather use my time designing more beautiful jewelry pieces. In Spanish there is a phrase that says: AL CESAR LO QUE ES DEL CESAR = GIVE UNTO CESAR’S WHAT’S CESAR

Hasta pronto

Evelyn Brooks

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LIVING AS A JEWELRY ENTREPRENEUR IS UNCERTAIN…

How great it is when you are at an art show and a couple people come into your booth, wondering a lot about your jewelry, asking you questions about how you make your pieces, why the red & black?, Are you local?….And then the best question of ALL. Do you do wholesale? DING DING…OF COURSE…

That is how a met business partners Edward Hart & Eric Nelson owners of Artfully Gifts & Chocolate  at the Alexandria Fine Arts & Wine Festival on October of 2011. We scheduled time to meet so we could talk about possibly placing an order to carry Evelyn Brooks Designs at their Alexandria location.

When I walked into the shop, I immediately fell in love with it and the variety of gifts they have to offer, BUT their hot coco’s with famous hollywood names is an ingenious idea. So if you are in Alexandria, stop by and see it for  yourself. If you feel in a mood of ice cream you can find it here, too

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I went there the other day and saw a mom with two kids trying to get some gifts…and as a mom I admired what she did…she got a cup of ice cream for each of her kids, sat them on the tables and she peacefully got her gifts…I was thinking inside myself  WHAT A GREAT IDEA!

Getting into a new boutique or gallery is always a uncertain. We did not know if my jewelry designs were going to work or not, but Edward & Eric saw my work as a great fit for their gift shop. And indeed I brought my 1st pieces by the end of November, they quickly sold and have been selling non-stop ever since.

Later in January we talked about launching my Nazca Jewelry Collection at their Alexandria location just in time to celebrate Valentine’s, too.

This exclusive line of jewelry is an extension of my eco-chic collection and it is inspired by the Nazca lines, which represented a celestial Inca calendar used for rituals related to astronomy, the Spring 2012 Nazca Collection evokes mystery and mythology. Legend has it that the Nazca lines were built by an ancient Peruvian civilization called Nazca, located in the south of Peru.

The collection is hand-made with natural seeds of red, black, and hand-texturized sheets of silver. This new collection will feature necklaces, bracelets, and earrings for women. Prices range from $68 - $950.  

Now if you have the opportunity and travel to Peru take at least to days to visit Ica and go to the town of Nazca. Where you can take off on a little airplane and fly over The Famous Nazca Lines. Once you are there, you will understand more closely my jewelry collection inspired by the Nazca Lines.

Hasta la proxima
Evelyn

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