Archive for June 19th, 2006
Arts Alive to feature unique jewelry
PLACES TO GO
Delmarva Daily Times, MD
Events
OCEAN CITY — Lynda Dashiell-Ohotnicky, a local metal smith, spends part of the year in Vermont coming up with ideas for her original jewelry and the rest of the year in Ocean City making the pieces and teaching others her ways.
Ohotnicky is one of the more than 100 artists who will gather at the Northside Park lagoon this weekend to showcase and sell their precious pieces for the sixth annual Arts Alive festival while enjoying music, food and fun activities.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Most of my sales are at retail art shows,” Ohotnicky said. She also shows her pieces locally in Snow Hill and Rehoboth Beach, and sells wholesale to shops and galleries.
No two pieces of Ohotnicky’s jewelry are the same since they are all individually hand made. “I use different metals, silver and gold mostly, and semi-precious gems,” she said. “I am really big into pearls.”
Ohotnicky collects her raw materials from gem shows and then, when inspiration hits, she creates.
“I have a good supply of raw material, and I keep them around like a painter does the colors of paints,” she said. “When I get inspiration I go to my pallet of gems.”
Ohotnicky’s semi-precious contemporary classics fit right in with the festival’s focus on fine art rather than crafts.
“We feel we are really now on the map as far as fine arts shows,” said Veronica Donaldson, special events coordinator for the Town of Ocean City. “It’s definitely different from Springfest and Sunfest.”
The festival receives more applications from artists each year and is host to 12 categories: Ceramics, drawing, fiber, furniture, glass, print making, jewelry, mixed media, painting, photography, sculpture and fine wood.
Among the selected newcomers is Michele Porta, who, like Ohotnicky, crafts her own jewelry. But instead of using gems like Ohotnicky, Porta makes her own glass beads.
“My jewelry is really becoming an artwork,” the Parkersbury, W. Va. resident said. “It’s not crafty when you make your own glass beads.”
Porta buys glass rods and melts them down with a propane torch that reaches 2,000 degrees. She mixes them with enamels, silver and gold, and then puts the beads in a kiln to stabilize.
“My degree is in chemistry and I had seen these beads and wanted to know how they make them,” Porta said.
Porta’s jewelry will be on sale at the festival and up for judging. The festival is juried by a group of judges from the field of art.
“We try to get them locally, but they come from as far as the Baltimore-Washington area and Delaware,” Donaldson said.
During photographer George Rhodes’ first year at the show, the judges awarded him $500 for one of his marine-oriented photos.
“I do very well at the show and I like the area,” Rhodes said as his reasoning for traveling from Plantation, Fla. “And nearby is Assateague where I photograph the wild ponies, which is one of my biggest sellers lately.”
Rhodes said he and his wife stay in Berlin and make a vacation out of their time spent at Arts Alive.
“We always stay a couple of days extra,” he said. “It’s just a nice package for us: the park is a nice location for the festival and the committee treats you so well at the show.”
Donaldson said 8,000 to 10,000 people will crowd around Rhodes and the other artists in the North Side Park Lagoon from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
June 19th, 2006
Tulkarem Moms Sell Jewelry to Feed Kids
International Press Center (press release), Palestinian Territories
TULKAREM, Palestine, June 18, 2006 (IPC) - - In the province of Tulkarem, many Palestinian women, especially the wives of government employees, started selling their wedding jewelry in order to provide enough money to feed their children and buy basic needs for their houses.
Following almost four months of no salaries for government employees since the international community decided to suspend financial aid to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), in response to Hamas movement’s victory in the January parliamentary elections and formation of a government, the Palestinian territories have witnessed the most disastrous economic situation in a decade.
This also coupled with Israel’s strict ban of Palestinian workers to reach Israel or local farmers to reach their own lands that fall behind the Israeli Apartheid Wall, that snakes through Tulkarem province, where most of the population depends mostly on agriculture income.
One of the wives who was going to sell her jewelry said that her husband, a government employee, has not received his salary for four months now, which forced her to sell her jewelry.
“I consider my jewelry the most precious possession I have, but I must sell them to pay the debts we have to shops, pay the rent and provide the basic needs for the house and our five children,” the woman says.
“The closure policy imposed on us by the [Israeli] occupation forces, as well as the intransigence of the Western countries has caused this financial crisis we are suffering from,” the woman further laments.
A jeweler in Tulkarem City’s main market added that many Palestinians have started selling their jewelry in order to cover the debts they have incurred due to not receiving salaries from the government as well as the unjust Israeli embargo. What further encouraged them to sell their jewelry, the jeweler added, is the rise in gold prices compared with previous periods.
Following the formation of the Hamas-led government, the international community suspended financial aid to the PNA unless Hamas movement fulfills the international conditions of renouncing violence, recognizing Israel and accepting the agreements signed between Israel and the previous government. So far, more than 165,000 Palestinian employees are still waiting to get paid since Hamas formed its government last March.
June 19th, 2006
Many wives receive jewelry, but she gets national park
BY MATT STEARNS
Knight Ridder Newspapers
San Jose Mercury News, USA
WASHINGTON - Some guys give their wives jewelry or flowers. Ralph Regula gave his wife a national park.
Regula, a Republican congressman from Ohio, is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee. In 2000, his subcommittee created the First Ladies National Historic Site in his district in Canton, Ohio.
Regula’s wife, Mary, is the founding president of the nonprofit National First Ladies’ Library, which operates the historic site for the National Park Service. She draws no salary
“Unless you are determined and have a mission, you don’t get much accomplished,” Mary Regula said.
Over the years, Ralph Regula’s subcommittee inserted more than $2 million in special “earmarks” for the first ladies project into federal spending bills, including $800,000 to buy a mansion that once belonged to President William McKinley and his wife. In addition, the panel okayed a $2.5 million federal matching grant to help renovate a nearby bank building that his wife’s group owns.
“This is a national treasure,” Ralph Regula said of the site. “It’s the only one of its kind that tells the story of first ladies. It’s a great story for American history.”
He added, referring to his wife: “I’m proud of what I’ve done because I’m proud of the legacy she’s leaving for generations to come.”
The practice of inserting earmarks into spending bills became controversial over the past year after a spate of publicity highlighted some particularly blatant examples, especially Alaskan Republican Rep. Don Young’s $231 million “bridge to nowhere.” Lawmakers facing elections in November talked a lot about curbing the practice, but it continues.
Independent ethics watchdogs said the First Ladies National Historic Site was a particularly vivid example of how power works in Washington, and they fear that Regula soon may be in position to up the ante. House Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., is under federal investigation and has hired defense attorneys. If Lewis steps aside, Regula is a top contender to head the committee.
“I’d hope leaders who’ve made some public commitment to reining in earmarks would consider his full record before making him chairman,” said Keith Ashdown, the vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan group that monitors congressional spending.
Referring to the first ladies site, Ashdown said: “Nothing good comes from pillow-talk pork. You want these decisions to be made in the committee room, not the bedroom.”
Regula countered that his wife didn’t ask him for “much of anything.”
“I could see things that would be helpful,” he said. “I just saw it as a great opportunity to help.”
Mary Regula said that she “never expected any federal money,” adding that her National First Ladies’ Library group receives million more in private donations. Several corporations listed on its Web site as major donors are longtime supporters of Ralph Regula’s political campaigns.
Among them: Timken Corp., a Canton manufacturer whose executives and political action committee collectively are the second-biggest donors to Regula’s campaigns since 1989, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, another watchdog group that tracks money in politics.
A foundation associated with the Timken family gave $750,000 to help renovate the bank building and has donated more over the years, said Pat Krider, the executive director of the National First Ladies’ Library.
Timken gained more than $200 million in federal payments from a law Ralph Regula sponsored that curbed “dumping” of underpriced foreign goods, according to a 2005 report by the Government Accountability Office, a congressional watchdog agency.
In a news release Tuesday, Regula announced that he’d sponsored a $3 million earmark for Timken’s research on high-tech bearings. Since 2002, Regula has announced more than $20 million in earmarks for Timken, which does a lot of defense contract work.
A Timken spokesman didn’t return calls seeking comment.
Regula said he never personally asked Timken, its executives or its charitable foundation to donate money to the first ladies project, but he said his wife did.
Asked if she would have had as much fundraising success if she weren’t the wife of a high-ranking congressman, Mary Regula said: “I don’t know. That’s a hypothetical.”
It’s become common practice for big donors seeking to curry favor with lawmakers to circumvent the legal limits on campaign donations by giving large cash gifts to charities and nonprofit groups favored by the lawmakers and their families.
“It’s a double bang for the buck,” said Massie Ritsch, a spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics. “You win favor with the lawmaker and you get a tax write-off, which you don’t get with a campaign contribution.”
The first ladies site consists of the Saxton mansion, where McKinley lived with his wife, Ida Saxton McKinley, in her girlhood home. The First Ladies’ Library uses the bank building for an education and research center, and it is eventually to be turned over to the National Park Service. Both have been meticulously restored. The site’s mission is to preserve and interpret the role and history of America’s first ladies, become a scholarship center for first lady research and preserve the Saxton home, according to the National Park Service.
“There was a big hole in the story, and that was the role of the first ladies,” said John Debo, the superintendent of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which includes the first ladies site. “I give Mary a lot of credit for recognizing the importance of that and for doggedly pursuing it. … The First Ladies National Historic Site is an important part of the park system.”
Visits to the site since its opening in 2002 average fewer than 10,000 a year, but the park’s annual budget has grown to more than $1 million from about $600,000. Most national parks have faced tight budgets in recent years, and many have been forced to cut visitor services.
The first ladies site operates with a remarkable degree of autonomy from the National Park Service, even though the service pays about 70 percent of the site’s operating costs. Mary Regula’s group picks up the rest.
In fact, Mary Regula calls too many shots, charges the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
She used an acquaintance who had no formal training in historic preservation rather than Park Service professionals to oversee historic interpretation at the two buildings, Park Service officials said. She discouraged Park Service involvement in her plan to install an interactive exhibit, according to an e-mail obtained by PEER.
“On the one hand, you’ve got the National Park Service telling all its park units they’re going to be subject to objective standards and strict economies, and then that doesn’t apply to favored little units,” said Jeff Ruch, the executive director of PEER. “If you’re running a park that gets hundreds of thousands of visitors and can barely make ends meet, you’ve got to wonder who’s running the railroad.”
Mary Regula dismissed her critics: “How many times have they been to the library? I never even heard of them.”
June 19th, 2006
Home party business sells glitz and glam
The Courier News, IL
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend — or so Marilyn Monroe and countless other women would have us believe.
What about look-alike diamonds or other baubles that fall under the heading of fashion jewelry?
It turns out that the market for such jewelry is hot these days as more and more women buy into an intriguing retail concept.
A company known as lia sophia (pronounced LEE-uh soh-FEE-uh) has refined the traditional home party concept, using an upscale approach to market expensive-looking jewelry to women who want fashion at an affordable price.
The Bensenville-based company was named for Lia and Sophia, daughters of Tory Kiam. He is the son of the late Victor Kiam, well-known for his televised pitches for Remington shavers.
Tory Kiam, founder and president of lia sophia, has created a line of fashion jewelry modeled after the big fashion houses that, according to promotional materials, appeal to many celebrities, including Brittany Spears and Nicolette Sheridan.
More important, Kiam has given more than 11,500 women an opportunity to become party hostesses — a remarkable achievement, considering 3,500 women were selling the jewelry a year ago.
On Friday, about 3,000 lia sophia representatives are expected to attend a conference at Pheasant Run Megacenter to hear success stories, motivational vignettes and maybe do a bit of networking.
Catherine Killeen of Elgin, a party hostess and staunch believer in lia sophia, is anxious to tell her story.
Although doing well in the corporate world, Killeen opted to quit her job a few years ago to become a stay-at-home mom. At her sister’s urging, Killeen attended a lia sophia conference — partly out of curiosity — but also hopeful she could pick up some part-time work.
“I actually was intrigued by the product, because I could not believe how many people attended” the (conference, Killeen said. “I also was intrigued with the design of the jewelry and how everyone responded to it.”
Killeen has found a comfortable niche, because as hostess, she is free to line up her parties around her duties as a mother without the need to schedule child care.
Representatives of lia sophia not only earn a percentage of their own sales, they also get a portion of the sales generated by people they have brought into the company, commonly referred to as their “down” line.
In the three years Killeen has been involved with lia sophia, she has built her down line to 27 people.
Killeen says she is stunned at the amount of money she has been able to make.
“I got in this just to make a couple hundred dollars extra a month,” Killeen said. “I make thousands of extra dollars a month.”
Xhail Traub of Lake in the Hills says she got hooked on lia sophia after attending an in-house show.
She then attended a lia sophia conference, where Traub, in her words, “grasped the big picture,” realizing she could actually have a lucrative career selling jewelry. “Out of 900 women that attended this conference, probably half the room stood up to indicate that they were making six figures a year,” Traub recalled. “And that’s what appealed to me.”
Promoted to manager in May, Traub has five people in her down line, all of whom are generating recruits of their own, she said.
Algonquin resident Michaelene Gabl, who prefers to be called “Micki,” was a special education assistant with Community Unit School District 300 for eight years when she began pondering a career change. She became impressed with what lia sophia had to offer while attending an in-home jewelry show.
Although Gabl never had worked in sales, she decided to give it a whirl.
The results far exceeded her expectations. “Actually, I wish I had done this 20 years ago,” Gabl said. “It’s been wonderful.”
Gabl said she soon racked up enough sales to qualify for two vacation trips. After just 2½ years with lia sophia, Gabl quit her full-time job with District 300 to concentrate her efforts on jewelry sales.
The income potential, Gabl admitted, keeps her motivated. But she also loves the “fun” atmosphere of the in-home parties and considers lia sophia a “family” rather than a corporation. “They treat us (hostesses) very well,” she said.
Another perk Gabl appreciates is the opportunity to purchase favorite pieces of jewelry directly from lia sophia, at a considerable discount.
“My husband bought me a jewelry box for Christmas,” Gabl said. “It’s now an armoire.”
06/18/06
June 19th, 2006
Tomei founder’s passion for gold rubs off on four children
Malaysia Star, Malaysia
THE Tomei group has experienced slow and steady growth since it started manufacturing jewellery in 1968. And that’s the way founder Datuk Ng Teck Fong likes it.
“We believe in having sustained growth, even if the momentum is a bit slower, as we are very careful in our ventures – we are here for the long term and being a prudent and solid company is very important,†Ng stressed.
Ng’s passion for gold and jewellery has also rubbed off on his children. All four are involved in the business – in the operations, procurement, manufacturing and wholesale divisions of the group.
Ng’s children have been visiting the group’s retail outlets ever since they can remember, thus inculcating an interest in the gold and jewellery business.
Said Ng’s son and Tomei’s managing director Ng Yih Pyng: “We were never forced into the business but joined because we wanted to help build up the company.â€
And build up the company, the Ng family did.
In 1973, Soon Hin Enterprise Sdn Bhd was incorporated to manage the group’s business operations. This soon developed into a retail operation and the group opened its first outlet in Campbell Shopping Complex, Kuala Lumpur.
In 1977, Tomei Gold & Jewellery Holdings (M) Sdn Bhd was incorporated to handle the fast expanding retailing business.
Then, Yi Xing Goldsmith Sdn Bhd and Tomei Gold & Jewellery Manufacturing Sdn Bhd were set up to undertake the design and manufacturing businesses.
In 1997, Gemas Precious Metal Industries Sdn Bhd was incorporated and later formed a joint venture with German-based jeweller Eugen Schofer GmbH & Co to develop and manufacture white gold jewellery.
In 2001, Tomei’s first jewellery concept store, My Diamond, was set up to cater to the younger market segment.
The group further enhanced its retail market share by developing a new brand, T.H. Jewelry, to tap the high-end jewellery market. Its flagship store began operations in 2003 in 1 Utama Shopping Centre, Petaling Jaya.
Besides My Diamond and T.H. Jewelry, the group’s other retail brand, Tomei, targets the mass market.
June 19th, 2006
