Glass act
For Atlanta’s Nicole Carter, glass adds glamour to her edgy and elegant jewelry designs.
The company: Atlanta-based StyleBLISS Jewels creates sleek and sophisticated jewelry.
The founder: A native New Yorker now based in Atlanta, Carter graduated from American University in Washington, D.C. A style enthusiast, Carter is self-taught in jewelry design.
The goods: Necklaces ($80 to $300-plus) and earrings ($40 to $100-plus) in neutral tones and geometric accents.
Materials: Primarily glass in various shapes and shades, sterling silver, Swarovski crystals and fine fabrics, as well as antiqued, plated and precious metals.
What's hot: Jetsetter necklace ($275); Dreamscape necklace ($169); Daydreamer II Necklace ($225); Illumina earrings ($48); and Stargaze earrings ($89).
Where to buy: www.styleblissjewels.com. In the Atlanta area, find Carter's jewelry at Beth Ann Style boutique, 47 Irby Ave., in Buckhead.
Celebration Box
An old Jack Daniel’s barrel in his sawdust-filled workshop inspired North Carolina’s James Broyhill to create his first piece of furniture, then a company.
The company: Founded in 2012 in Charlotte, N.C., Heritage Handcrafted designs and makes furniture, accessories and gifts from reclaimed whiskey, wine and scotch barrels.
The founders: James Broyhill and Robert Grajewski were childhood best friends. Broyhill, the company designer and lead craftsman, is a Winston-Salem native and graduate of Appalachian State University. He is the great-grandson of the founders of Broyhill Furniture Industries, which started in Lenoir, N.C., in 1926. Grajewski, who holds two advanced degrees from the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) and Harvard, directs the company's business side.
The goods: Adirondack-style chair with ottoman ($650); bench ($475); chandelier ($1,395); Celebration Box ($299); and whiskey and wine barrel cuff links ($85).
Best-sellers: Adirondack-style chair and ottoman and the Celebration Box. The handcrafted box features a cedar-lined humidor, a four-shot glass insert (and four shot glasses, plus room for your celebratory libation, which is not included). Personalize the box top with initials and/or the event date.
Big break: Products featured as "Top Gifts" and "Best American Made Products" in various national blogs and magazines, including Town & Country, Southern Living, Robb Report and Cigar Aficionado.
Claim to fame: Asked to join in a collaboration with the Kentucky-based Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery and Pappy & Company to create a unique gift set and presentation box made from reclaimed Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve bourbon barrel wood. The first-ever collaboration of its kind.
Where to buy: www.Heritage-Handcrafted.com. But looking in the Atlanta area for the right shop to carry its products. Please contact: inquiries@Heritage-Handcrafted.com.
Go fish
In recent decades, American-made caviar has had a comeback. There are several American sturgeon caviars as well as many fish roes, such as salmon, whitefish and trout. For a tasty, special-occasion treat, try the caviar from North Carolina’s Sunburst Trout Farms.
The company: Founded as Jennings Trout Farm in 1948 in Cashiers, N.C. The family-owned company moved to Canton in 1963. In the early 1990s, the company changed its name to Sunburst Trout Co. In 2011, it became Sunburst Trout Farms.
The founder & owners: Dick Jennings Jr., originally from Pennsylvania, owned land and a vacation home in Cashiers. The now-90-year-old started a trout farm as a hobby, but saw a need for healthy, sustainable aquaculture. Dick's daughter Sally Eason later became the co-owner. Now, the third generation (Wes and Ben Eason) is running the farm.
The goods: Caviar ($26.25 to $30 per ounce); trout jerky ($6.99 per pack); fillets ($14.99 per pound); hickory smoked trout ($7.99 for 5-ounce pack); cold smoked trout ($14.99 for 4-ounce pack); and smoked trout dip ($11.49 for an 8-ounce tub).
Top sellers: Caviar, fillets, hickory smoked trout and smoked trout dip.
Fun request: When fishermen have been fishing in the river above or below the farm, but have been unlucky, they stop by the farm and ask for a whole fish to take home and show their spouses.
What's new: The company, now the second-largest trout supplier in North Carolina, is completing a new processing facility in Waynesville.
Where to buy: sunbursttrout.com
Best of the South
Do you have favorite finds from around the South that you give as gifts, buy for your home or rave about to friends? If so, send your suggestions to: lljerkins@gmail.com. Also find more Southern-made products, featured in the AJC, at Southernfinds on facebook or twitter@southernfinds1.
