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Design

Meet the Judges!

August 11, 2011

Last week we opened our Uncommon Jewelry Design Challenge and are thrilled with the submissions we’ve received so far.  We’ll share the designs we like on the community voting app at the end of the month, then our panel of judges will pick the winner, who will receive $500 and the chance to join our lineup of unique jewelry.

Artist Kiel Mead knows good design when he sees it.  Kiel finds inspiration for his jewelry from common objects, then crafts them into unique, one-of-a-kind pieces such as the Forget Me Not Ring.  His work has been featured in a variety of publications, including Lucky Mag, ELLE, and New York Magazine.  In addition to designing jewelry and furniture from his studio in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, he supports emerging and established designers as a founding member of the American Design Club.

If you’ve ever bought any of our jewelry or accessories, you can thank UncommonGoods buyer Erin Fergusson for her great taste in daring pieces, including some that can’t be found anywhere else.  Erin loves bright colors and funky patterns, and is especially a fan of handmade jewelry and keepsake designs.

Style and beauty expert Jenn Falik is nationally known and trusted for her style advice, and is passionate about sharing her great finds.  Jenn has appeared on The View, The Today Show, The Rachael Ray Show, E! News and Tyra Banks, and is a regular presence on New York City’s own local media  such as NY1 and Fox5.

Think you’ve got an uncommonly awesome jewelry design that Kiel, Erin, and Jenn would love?  Send it our way by midnight on August 31 for a chance to show off your own creativity and talent!

Gift Guides

Top 10 Wedding Gifts

July 19, 2011

With summer well under way, your weekends are probably booked with weddings.  Help the happy couples in your life decorate their new home together with our top 10 wedding gifts!

We broke down the best gifts UncommonGoods has to offer for each of the uncommon couples in your life:

Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.
For the high school sweethearts that have been together forever, the Heart in Orbit Album is a beautiful way to preserve memories from prom to proposal.  Each copper-bound photo album is handmade in San Francisco.

Give the newly-wedded new homeowners a pair of beautiful, earthenware nesting wedding bowls inscribed with the couples’ names and wedding date.  Choose from two patterns and five warm colors to welcome them home.

Encourage wanderlust in your favorite pair of travel bugs even after they’ve returned from the honeymoon with our set of 3 continent pillows.  Whether journeying abroad or settling down, they’ll always remember that home is where the heart is.

If the paramours in your life are pet lovers, they’ll love a dog blueprint of their pooch.  Pick from a wide (and growing) selection of breeds to showcase their other best friend.

A cooking couple with a cabinet already stocked with pots and pans will appreciate our brand new steam tower, a simple and healthy way to steam three dishes at once.  Included is an inspirational cookbook to further fuel their foodie fun.

Help the Earth-loving pair begin their new eco-friendly lives together by giving a ceramic countertop compost container.  More elegant than most composting systems, the container is elegant enough to sit atop the counter for easy composting and minimal mess.

Our custom Personalized Tree Plate is perfect for the young at heart.  The simple design is engraved onto recycled glass and can be personalized with two sets of initials and the date of the wedding.

The cozy couple will be delighted by a personalized couple pillow.  Pick from a variety of styles for man, woman, bride, or groom, and mother-daughter artists Mary and Shelly Klein will hand stitch the special design.

Any party-throwing pair will love the rainbow hors d’oeuvres set, a beautiful and creative tool to display appetizers or small bites for special events or simply snacking.

Sports fans and lovers will cheer when they receive a reclaimed gym floor frame, hand crafted from the maple floor of Kendrigan Gym in Ashland, Wisconsin.  The 4×6″ frame is ideal for displaying photos of their big day or memories of past big games.

Take a look at our other wedding gifts for even more giving ideas, or if you’re the lucky ones in love, sign up for our gift registry!

Maker Stories

Sugar and Spice

July 15, 2011

Next month, we’re hosting an Uncommon Jewelry Challenge, with an open call for jewelry and accessories from designers across the US. This month we’re highlighting our favorite jewelry and accessories makers. Find out more about our design challenges and learn how you can become UncommonGoods’ next favorite jewelry or accessory designer.


At UncommonGoods, we love that our customers have a taste for uncommonly cool accessories. We took some time to chat with artist Stephanie Simek, whose crystallized sugar jewelry was added to our line-up of unique jewelry when you approved it through our community voting app!

Continue Reading…

Maker Stories

State Your Location with Custom Necklaces

July 14, 2011

Next month, we’re hosting an Uncommon Jewelry Challenge, with an open call for jewelry and accessories from designers across the US. This month we’re highlighting our favorite jewelry and accessories makers. Find out more about our design challenges and learn how you can become UncommonGoods’ next favorite jewelry or accessory designer.


Whether you’re feeling homesick or a proud transplant ready to rep your new ZIP code, Rachael Sudlow’s custom state necklaces are perfect for showing off some local pride.

Continue Reading…

Maker Stories

Potato Chips and Wine

July 11, 2011


Image via StoneSculptures.org

Brooklyn-based UncommonGoods artist Robin Antar is internationally known for her lifelike and often life-size sculptures of everyday objects such as candy, jean jackets and most recently, a bag of potato chips.  Robin was recently featured in Crains New York for her potato chip sculpture. Carved from a 6,000 pound marble slab, Robin says she was inspired to capture part of America. “What is America? It’s junk food.”

Robin’s also known for her beautiful wine displays, like this unique wine knot, which elegantly displays two bottles or stands alone as a bold home accent.

Design

Get Out the Vote!

June 23, 2011

UncommonGoods and City Harvest’s design challenge is well under way! We’ve picked out the top 24 semifinalists, now we need your help in choosing which designs will move on to our final round.  Get your votes in before 5 PM Eastern Time tomorrow!

Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.
We’ve tallied up the results so far, and here are your 10 favorites: An Apple a Day Keeps the Hunger Away, Word Cloud, Enjoy the Harvest, Hey, there’s food on my plate!, Feeding Birds, Heart of the City II, Delivering Bread, Big Apple Feeds, Heart of the City I, and Fruit of the Harvest.

Don’t see your favorite design included?  Use our Community Voting App to tell us which design you’d like to see printed on our next Plate With Purpose™.  You can give a thumbs up or down on each design, and we’d love to hear additional feedback in the comments.

We’ll pick one design from the top 5 entries, which will be announced on Monday, June 27.