First Andean Collection Giveaway!

Andean Collection Giveaway – a $50 gift certificate – you choose the items!

Participate in our giveaway and help us celebrate our recent successful trip to Ecuador, while getting yourself a free $50 gift certificate to www.theandeancollection.com!

Winner will be announced on December 15th.

To Enter:
(WRITE ON OUR FAN PAGE WALL AND TELL US WHAT WHICH YOU DID: MULTIPLE ENTRIES ARE OK FOR A TOTAL OF 17 POSSIBLE POINTS)

1 entry for a wall post commenting on your favorite piece of jewelry
2 entries for posting this giveaway in your fb status by 'sharing' this note
2 entries for asking all your friends to be our fan on fb
5 entries for making a purchase on www.theandeancollection.com
2 entries for blogging about The Andean Collection
1 entry for tweeting about The Andean Collection
1 entry for signing up for our mailing list
3 entries for sending an email to your friends asking them to sign up (please cc Amanda@theandeancollection.com if you do that. Link to sign up: http://www.theandeancollection.com/Products.aspx?trgt=listproducts
Total possible entry points: 17

http://www.theandeancollection.com/Products.aspx?trgt=productinfo&choice=38

Behind the scenes - Ecuador Photoshoot 2

Hello from Ecuador! This has been an amazing trip and its time for some thank yous! We had such a great crew, which made the spring photo shoots and the design workshops an absolute blast. Thanks so much to Jessica Casper (Sales & Design in NYC) for being a great stylist; Sarah Howe (Production Manager and 'Fixer' in Ecuador) for taking care of every last detail and, and Guru Khalsa for his amazing photography skills and everlasting postive attitude.

On behalf of the country of Ecuador, I apologize to those who may have been left under the weather by Ecuador's...less than perfect food santitation standards....

I just had to share a preview of my FAVORITE new necklace that will be available in our spring line....

Not yet available, but keep an eye out for it in January!

These are some shots in the Colonial Old Town of Quito. There's great texture, history and culture in that part of the city and a perfect place for us to capture the combination of Ecuadorian heritage with modern designs.

Lastly, this spring will definitely be all about layering...and not just your clothes. Layer your jewelry too! Here are some options that we were having fun with!
Pambil Necklace in Multi ($35) layered with an Acai Rope Necklace in electric purple ($39). Then add 3 Riverbed Bracelets ($24) to finish off the look.
All in turquoise: Pambil Necklace ($35) Acai Wrap Necklace ($39) and a 3 in 1 acai necklace ($29)

Next up...reports from Jessica and Sarah on our adventures in Ecuador. Coming soon!

Andean Collection in Teen Vogue!

Check out a great post on Teen Vogue on the Andean Collection! And stay tuned for more shots from Ecuador soon:-)

Behind the scenes at our catalog shoot

Hello from Ecuador! We are on day 3 of our adventures down here, and our team is having a blast. So far we have had one catalog shoot, one pig roast, and one design workshop. More on all of that soon, but for now, wewanted to share some shots from our shoot. Thanks to photographer Guru Khalsa for the great shots!Our Multi Pambil Necklace with the Acai Rope Necklace.

My favorite location for our Spring Catalog shoot!

Mireya, preparing for the shoot in the streets of Otavalo, Ecuador
wearing out best selling Acai Necklace in Multi.

Next Stop...Ecuador! (and a Spring 2010 preview)

We are in the middle of a very busy week here at the Andean Collection. Jessica (our newest team member, helping out on design, marketing & sales) and I head to Ecuador on Friday to visit with the artisans!! We are doubly excited to take with us with the talented Guru Khalsa to photograph our journey. This is a big step for us, as up to now I've been doing all of the photography, but alas...it's time to admit that I can't do it all myself. So thanks Guru! He will definitely take things to a new level for us and hopefully we'll even have a video to show you all soon!

We're looking forward to shooting our Spring 2010 catalog, as well as capturing what is going on at the schools where we are sponsoring children through our non profit arm, The Andean Project. Oh, and on Sunday we'll be having an "ornado" or Pig Roast (!) at lead artisan, Olga Moran's, house. Photos and stories to follow. (sorry vegetarians...)

Also - here's a sneak preview of what is definitely going to be my favorite piece from our Spring 2010 collection! Thanks for being a great model Jessica:-)

Acai Necklace - a Statement Necklace is so many ways

Things at the Andean Collection have definitely been going well lately. We had a blast last week at an editorial suite in NYC, where we met with editors from Glamour, Real Simple, Teen Vogue, Good Housekeeping, Lucky and many more. Of course :-) our collection was very well received, so we'll keep you posted about editorials on us in the spring! Everyone's favorite statement necklace? You guessed it...
The "statement" of this necklace is about bold fashion, but also about all the lives its production lifts out of poverty. This necklace was also recently featured in one of my magazines...Boho: http://bohomag.com/recycled.html