jewelry » Markets of New York

Photo of the Day – August 12, 2010: Mano Jewelry Designs

The Old Cathedral Market on Prince Street in Nolita is picturesque against the churchyard’s old brick wall. It is a relatively small market, but it is filled with some pretty amazing handmade crafts. Under one umbrella halfway down the block, you will find Mano Jewelry Designs. This artisan creates handmade rings, necklaces, and cuffs in silver for men and women. He uses rich and unusual accents in his pieces. His silver rings and cuffs have bands of ebony wood around them. He has one large men’s ring in silver and ebony with a black diamond embedded in it. The combination of the earthy ebony with the dark diamond makes a seriously masculine statement.

The ebony bands come in narrow and wider widths and sizes, and people have chosen them as wedding bands. The silver bands pictured also come in sizes for women and men. Each piece exudes quality craftsmanship, care, and attention to detail.

Stop by Mano Jewelry Designs and see for yourself at the Old Cathedral Market on weekend days!

Citybitz – Mini Tributes to New York City

Artisan of the Week for the Brooklyn Lyceum’s Spring Food and Craft Market!

If ever there was a great idea for a New York City artisan, it’s Citybitz’ “photographic creations,” featuring the details and culture of the city.

Artist and designer Joan Huggard creates functional art, such as jewelry, mirrors, card cases, money clips, pillboxes, and compacts, all featuring photographic images. She does her own photography of iconic sites, both macro and micro. She takes beautiful angles of the Flatiron Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Empire State Building. But she also admires the smallest details, like the subway tiles in the Chinatown station, the crosswalk guy, and signs in Coney Island. Images you love and images you’ve never even noticed before show up in Joan’s work.

These items appeal to both New Yorkers and to visitors alike. Joan’s reversible Uptown/Downtown pendant is perfect for those New Yorkers who never go below 14^th Street as well as those who never venture above Houston. The cardholder with the word “Drama,” from a theater façade, is the perfect gift for the drama queens in our lives. For visitors to New York, it is often so hard to find unique, quality souvenirs to take home to friends and family. How many people actually appreciate receiving a foam Statue of Liberty crown (I mean, besides me)? But a money clip with an Empire State Building image, or a necklace with the Coney Island parachute jump on it are beautiful, handmade, and very special souvenirs.

Joan also does custom work. If you are commemorating a special occasion, such as a wedding, a birth, a favorite pet, or anything at all, she can take your images and create a wall mirror or other special items just for you.

Joan will be selling her creations on May 1 and 2 at the Brooklyn Lyceum’s Spring Food and Craft Market. Citybitz is a regular at the Brooklyn Flea on Saturdays and Sundays, and you can check the Citibitz website for other market dates as well. Citybitz is also a member of the NewNew Etsy Artisans Group, and she sells her work in her Etsy shop online.

Handmade Limited Edition Hats from Rocks and Salt

Vendor of the Week for The Brooklyn Lyceum Spring Food and Crafts Market and the Handmade Cavalcade!

Rocks and Salt makes cool hats. It’s almost as simple as that. But not quite. These hip, limited edition hats are carefully designed for each season, and each one is painstakingly made by hand, using high quality, unusual fabrics. They achieve that extremely elusive balance of retro, current, and trendsetting all at the same time.

There are hats for men and women in the Rocks and Salt collections, and many of them suit both. This year’s Spring/Summer line includes five different styles. The cycling cap is a jaunty addition to any outfit, especially with the printed bicycle gear on the side. This season’s Henley is a stylized bucket hat with a selection of different printed images to choose from, including a computer circuit board and a brick wall. Like all the other styles, the Henley comes in a variety of fabrics, including purple, which I admit is my favorite color. The spring and summer styles are lighter and hand-washable, whereas the winter styles are made of wools and tweeds and other warm fabrics.

In addition to their signature hats, Rocks and Salt designers and proprietors Phil and Sara also create jewelry, clothing, and a fanny pack that comes in a variety of colors and is actually cool. The knee-length skirts have a big pocket and a handkerchief hemline that is young and flattering. Using a variety of chains, silver, leather, stones, and other elements, their jewelry designs range from light, colorful dangle earrings to leather cuffs. The unifying thread is the impeccable design and craftsmanship.

When you put them all together, as in the center photo above, you have the Rocks and Salt look. Edgy, sexy, put-together – and fun!

Rocks and Salt celebrates its fifth year this April, and, as Phil says, “We’re going full steam ahead with lots of great stuff!”

You can meet Phil, Sara and their hats at the Handmade Cavalcade on April 24^th and at the Brooklyn Lyceum’s Spring Food and Craft Market. They also sell their products regularly at the Brooklyn Indie Market.

Yoga-Inspired Design Part 2: Astrid Schumacher Designs

Yoga inspires many things: enlightenment, awareness, dialog, understanding, inner peace, music, and exceptional flexibility. And it also inspires designers to create beautiful objects, which you can find in the markets of New York City.

I first saw Astrid Schumacher’s delicate and colorful yoga-inspired jewelry at the Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral Market on Prince Street (between Mott and Mulberry). Her necklaces have tiny gold or silver yoga and Buddhist symbol charms, including ohms, mandalas, Buddhas, Ganeshas, infinite circles and more. She combines them with coral colored and turquoise beads, as well as garnets, jasper, agates, pearls, and other semi-precious stones. I’ve been wearing the beautiful little silver Ganesha with deep purple amethyst accent beads pretty much every day since I gave it to myself for Christmas. Sienna Miller and Tyra Banks are repeat customers.

Schumacher also designs handbags and belts decorated with brass studs and made from synthetic, animal-friendly suede. Her Hippie Bags come in large and medium. The 3-pocket belts are stylish and perfect for to carrying your ID, credit card, lipstick and keys. They all come in rich yet subtle colors.

A Swiss native, Schumacher has experience in the fashion world, starting with modeling and then working in the flagship boutique of Rubin Chapelle in the Meatpacking District. Through her travels to India, she became interested in yoga and found that she felt extraordinarily good because of it. During her travels to Indonesia, she met a talented artisan who would hand make small batches of her charm designs. She also works with a woman from Bangladesh, who lives near JFK airport and assembles the gemstones and beads for each piece of jewelry. So not only is Schumacher an entrepreneur herself, but she also supports other talented microentrepreneurs in New York and Indonesia by incorporating them into her production process.

Schumacher spends part of the year living in Temecula, California, and the rest of it in New York City. When she first came to New York, she sold some of the clothes from her modeling jobs on the sidewalks of Astor Place to pay her rent. Years later, she is back on the streets, this time selling her wonderful designs. And she absolutely loves it.

She will be back on Prince Street when the weather gets warm. For now, you can visit her online shop: http://www.astridschumacher.com

Brooklyn Lyceum Holiday Craft Market – A Procrastinator’s Paradise

Yes, I left some of my shopping until this weekend. But I totally scored at The Brooklyn Lyceum Holiday Craft Market. In addition to cupcakes, chocolate, and sandwiches that kept me going, the handmade merchandise was impressive. The Lyceum is an excellent space for a market, and I heard a lot of people saying that they liked the way the crowd could easily flow through the aisles this year.

To see all the wonderful exhibitors, you’ll have to brave the snow yourself on Sunday. But I’ll give you a few examples of some of them.

Lovely Day Designs has hand-poured soy candles in vintage teacups, pressed-glass votives, and porcelain gravy boats, and other decorative items as well. One of the more unusual things I came across was the living jewelry from McFlashpants, tiny plants rooted in eensy vials hanging as pendants on a necklace. McFlashpants also makes unique jewelry made of vintage cutlery. Everything Tiny creates laser cut accessories using bright colors and fun images like dinosaurs, Leggos, deer, and (my favorite) dachshunds. Fortunately for my little nieces, I came across Pickleboots and got some really great kid things for them.

I really liked the graphic images printed on pages torn from unusual books by Girls Can Tell. The soaps from Nordea all smell divine, and her felted scrubber soaps in bright colors would be great stocking stuffers. The framed prints from Raw Toast Design are colorful, skillfully drawn, and darkly funny, like the “poor calamari” being eaten by seagulls. For really great T-shirts, I couldn’t resist the bright pink giant squid from Squidfire. And Miss Wit lives up to her name with some really great shirts, like the one that says, “I can’t stop googling myself.” For the nostalgic people on your list, definitely stop by Another Work In Progress for handmade spiral notebooks made from vintage board games, like Candy Land, Bingo, Monopoly, and more.

Brooklyn Lyceum: Saturday and Sunday, December 19 – 20, 11A – 7 P

Tomorrow is the last weekend day to shop! So pull on your ear grips and mukluks and hit the markets!

Midtown Holiday Markets – Bryant Park and Grand Central Terminal

12 ►

The holiday markets at Bryant Park and Grand Central Terminal make for a great way to spend an entire day in mid-town Manhattan.

The Holiday Shops at Bryant Park is a wonderland of shopping, skating, eating, and drinking. Modeled after the traditional European holiday fairs, this market has over 100 merchants from all over the world. It feels like you are walking through a wintery village as you wander down the lanes lined with brightly decorated shops.

I am excited about the artisanal and design vendors participating in this year’s market. The first thing I did was race to find New West Knifeworks, whose “fusionwood” knives are handcrafted in Japan with beautifully colorful wooden handles. (I know that a chopper will be under the tree for me, but I don’t know which color!) Mr. Ellie Poo sells 100% recycled paper products made with 25% post consumer paper and 75% (wait for it) elephant poo. New York jewelry designer Shaya makes beautiful geometric earrings, necklaces and rings. Buy crayon soaps, alphabet soaps and math soaps for your babies at Just Bubbly. It is impossible to mention all of the wonderful things at this market; you’ll have to go find out for yourself.

Tempting edibles are carefully interspersed among the boutiques. Food options range from The Sweet Shop’s caramel apples and Kettle Corn NYC, to the Dumpling Soup House and Crepe Café. Don’t miss a sample of delicious chocolate truffles from No Chewing Allowed or a bonbon from Max Brenner, Chocolate By the Bald Man .

After your first hot chocolate, go for a spin on The Pond, a 170’ x 100’ skating rink in the center of Bryant Park. Rent skates or bring your own. If you want to sit inside and have a meal or a “real” drink, definitely step inside Celsius, a full restaurant offering lunch, dinner, and drinks.

By now you are probably freezing, so head East on 42^nd Street to the Grand Central Holiday Fair. This market is held in historic Vanderbilt Hall with almost 70 vendors selling a wide range of wonderful gift items. Parable Ink Apparel sells fine graphic T-shirt designs. We picked up a nostalgic architectural ornament of the West Village at Hut Studios; they have ornaments with your favorite New York neighborhoods and iconic buildings. The market is indoors, so you can really take your time and look in every shop.

Step back into the holiday fray in the grandiose Main Concourse; but this time look up to see the holiday light show up on the famous constellations ceiling. Visit the New York Transit Museum’s Holiday Train Show too. There are countless options for food, be it a snack, a complete meal, or something delicious to take home from the Grand Central Market.

The Holiday Shops at Bryant Park: Open Through 1/3/10, Extended Hours 12/14 – 23, 10AM-10PM

Grand Central Holiday Fair: Extended Hours starting 12/21: 10AM – 9PM