Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Pigeon Forge Show


President and designer Michelle VanBibber with Mike VanBibber at Pigeon Forge Expo
Pigeon Forge Booth


Ciao Bella Jewelry president, Michelle VanBibber spent November first though the fourth in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, for the annual International Gift Expo of the Smokies in Pigeon Forge.  The show takes place during early November and is one of the biggest shows visited by resort and destination gift shops as they begin purchasing for the next year. Two other shows take place during this time: Smoky Mountain Gift Show in Gatlinburg and International Gift Expo of the Smokies in Sevierville and busses shuttle between shows. 

The booth had visitors from all over the world and met a wide range of clients from national parks to hair salons. Michelle is particularly excited for her new Canadian clients, including a polar bear conservancy and whale watching shop. Madame Peacock, a beer and bling shop from South Dakota, is one of the most unique shops Ciao Bella will be working with this year.

Michelle says the next few months are going to be incredibly busy for the company. Many of there orders are due to ship out between January and May of 2018 so they are beginning their work now. Ciao Bella's sales representatives will begin working with each company personally to finalize orders once the initial designs are complete. The company will be stationed in a showroom with Gib Carson Associates on the thirteenth floor of AmericasMart in building #2 come January.  Interested customers will be happy to find all of Ciao Bella's newest products as well as its more traditional pieces. Michelle is looking forward to working with her new customers and continuing to add even more to the production schedule.

Monday, November 20, 2017

Custom Image Jewelry: Made Just For You


Contemporary Matisse Necklace
Custom image pieces are Ciao Bella's most unique product. The company takes pride in creating personalized products based on their customers individual needs. The company has created contemporary designs for art museums and Victorian inspired pieces for historic sites. Whatever the organization is looking for, Ciao Bella is able to make their idea a beautiful piece of jewelry. 

Ciao Bella's image products are desireable to gift shops due to the low minimums, the large selection of customization, as well as the affordable pricing. Customers provide their own logos or images. From there, the images are sized, prepared, and placed with the desired metal sets. Finally, the images are permanently set and processed in a technique that has taken Ciao Bella years to master, and includes finishing with a blowtorch. Michelle VanBibber says, "great care goes into each piece," because every final product is a permanent keepsake.

Michelle has designed products for hundreds of companies such as NASA, Dollywood, Andrew Jackson's Hermitage, Manassas Battlefield National Park, and Living Treasures Zoo. Her favorite design she ever created was a contemporary Matisse necklace. 

Ciao Bella will continue making custom image pieces because of the limited individualized options for companies. Their goal is to make unique products that represent each company they work with.