Happy New Year and Welcome to Studio U!

Happy New Year and welcome to Studio U!, the blog for Uniquities! Jewelry and Accessories.

Uniquities! Jewelry and Accessories is the artistic collaboration of Mark and Myra Johnson and features our own handmade art beads and finished jewelry creations.

Our love of collecting vintage jewelry such as Coro, Weiss, Trifari, and Sarah Coventry, inspired us to create our own artisan-crafted jewelry line and while we are wholly self-taught, which allows us to infuse a completely intimate and personal quality into our designs, we constantly seek to improve and refine our techniques.

Since each of our handmade beads is unique and represented by a distinctive color pattern, every jewelry design using our handmade beads is unique as well. All of our items are handcrafted with great pride in our Kentucky-based home studio.

Studio U! will be our way of continually letting our many clients, supporters, and friends know about what's going on with Uniquities! Jewelry and Accessories. We'll be placing pictures of new collections and commissioned and finished work here, as well as communicating our upcoming shows and other important events.

2008 was a banner year for us. Not only were we recognized in Polymer Clay Magazine and in multiple editions of Bead Style Magazine's newsletter, but, just as importantly, we met a number of wonderful people and clients who commissioned and purchased our jewelry to adorn themselves and their loved ones and provided us with very humbling comments. To all of you, Myra and I say "Thank-You".

In 2008, we also launched the Grand U! Collection, our highest quality showpieces featuring our handmade beads, more highly finished to a glass-like appearance, embellished with exceptional quality sterling silver, Czech Glass, and Swarovski Crystal components, along with 14K, 18K, and 24K gold-filled/plated finish enhancements.

We increased our gallery of distinctive color patterns, each inspired by some aspect of our life--a favorite type of music or antique, a favorite artist or craftsman, or an aspect of nature--to over 50.

We also launched our Seasonals Collection line, featuring limited production color patterns inspired directly from nature's changing seasons.

We also started selling our art beads at Fish Wisdom Beads in Berea--Kentucky's folk arts and crafts capital.

2009 holds the promise of being even better than 2008 and we'll be updating Studio U!--The Blog at least monthly. Please leave a comment or two and let us know what you think.

Here's to 2009!

Blessings to you and yours!