We'll be in Toronto again..at our own jewelry show

We're preparing for our first jewelry trunk show in Toronto at a retail store, Avenue Couture, in the fancy Yorkville section of Toronto. This is exciting because it will be the first show handled by our new Director of Sales and Marketing based in New York, Marlene. She's been doing a great job so far and I'm quite confident she will represent the Liz Mannette brand well in Toronto.

With the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of visitors going to Toronto for Caribana, we are certain that those who love steelpan music will be happy to know they can finally buy the pieces in Toronto.

So this is the beginning of our trunk shows - where we go to a store or area, for a few days and display the Collection. This is all a prelude to a permanent location serving the folks in Canada. So stay tuned for more.

liz

sending thanks

Hey,
I just sent thank you emails to all the folks who bought pieces of jewelry in Paris two weeks ago at the PanArt festival. I feel great that I actually was able to get those emails out. Sometimes it's that small follow-up that makes people feel appreciated. And I do appreciate all who purchase items.

Now, the question is...do they all read English. Well. I do hope they find someone to translate for them if they don't.

My first designs

As I share in my bio on the site, this fashion design company really started when I could not find quality pan items for myself and to give as gifts. This was about three years ago in 2005. And so, I decided to create my own jewelry and accessories.

However, since I did not know how to make jewelry and frankly, I had no strong interest in doing so, I did the next best thing, which is to find someone with the skill and expertise I did not have.

And so, after a search for a local jeweler who was willing to spend the time and effort to work with me to create a design --the bass pan line of items was born. The first piece I designed was the bass pan pendant. And I chose the bass pan because I had never seen any jewelry with the bass pan. Most of what was available were variations on the tenor pan. And I say "variations" because they were all rough approximations of a pan. This really offended me, because I felt that if I were to wear a steelpan, it should be an actual ("authentic") design of a pan.

This led me to Ellie Mannette's company where I borrowed some note layouts and found the accurate bass pan dimensions and specifications. So all the pieces are proportionate to the existing 55 gallon oil drum

I would love to hear from you if you have seen steelpan jewelry anywhere in the world that you like. If we can create an online marketplace with the best steelpan accessories and lifestyle products of the highest quality, I think it would be just great.