…you’re too close to a computer! 🙂
Rings & Things loves your heartfelt feedback, whatever the format. (Nice to see someone still has a typewriter that they haven’t cannibalized for steampunk jewelry components!!)
–Dave at Rings & Things
…you’re too close to a computer! 🙂
Rings & Things loves your heartfelt feedback, whatever the format. (Nice to see someone still has a typewriter that they haven’t cannibalized for steampunk jewelry components!!)
–Dave at Rings & Things
10 lucky people! The August winners in our Blog Partners drawing. (Have you joined yet?)
They’re a good cross-section of our Blog Partners. Professionals and amateurs, they come from around the world. Check out their blogs!
Belinda in Australia (Handcrafted Artisan Jewellery blog)
Sheryl (The Babbling Beader blog)
Donna (CellChic blog)
Elaine in Canada (Too Aquarius blog) (coincidentally, Elaine also won last month!)
Gillian in Scotland (Gillian’s Mixed Media Musings blog)
Heather Powers (Humblebeads blog)
Heather G (Heather’s Haven blog)
Jenn (Jae’s Design blog)
Kirsten (Gardenvibe blog)
Karla (Thyme2Dream blog)
Here at Rings & Things, every month we do a drawing of 10 names from our Blog Partners program. The winners receive “goodie packs” of our products. They get to do whatever they want with the goodies! (Make jewelry. Review the products. Etc. etc.!)
Congratulations to the winners of the 2010 Bead Dreams “objects & accessories” category!
Rings & Things is pleased to provide prizes to these three talented designers:
1st Place – The Elegant Bead Partition with Fluttering Cherry Blossoms, Satoko Toyoda – $300 gift certificate (Also won “Best in Show”!)
2nd Place – Swirl, Cindy Pankopf – $200 gift certificate
3rd Place – Gaze of a Rose, Olga Shumilova – $100 gift certificate
We’ll post pictures as soon as we have them 🙂 In the meantime, you can also read about last year’s winners in this category!
Our friend Miranda graciously answered my request to hear how her bracelets wound up on the network TV show “Pretty Little Liars“. It’s an interesting tale!
Thanks for your interest. It’s so exciting to share my 60 minutes of “fame” with others who are enthusiastic for me.
Well, for starters, after many years of making jewelry and being told I should sell my work, in December 2009 I finally had resources to do so. I started with an Artfire account, which wasn’t as customizable as I wanted. I had very few items listed there, but one was some peyote bands I had made 20 of for a client to give away for holiday presents.
Fast forward to a couple months later, actual business license and website, and I got an email/call out of the blue from a man claiming to be working on a TV show [Pretty Little Liars, on ABC Family] and came upon my site and liked those bands.
Well, I had heard from a couple friends about scammers trying to get free product claiming your work would be seen by celebrities, etc. So I was indeed skeptical. I googled him and got more info about the show and what he wanted. It was REAL!
We talked about a few changes, he asked if I could get him a sample in 2 days. Despite my hectic schedule I said sure. I rushed to my friend Rose’s house to borrow some beads (thanks again, love you). Got it made in the wee hours of the morning and overnighted it.
He showed it to the producers who loved it. Then he asked if I could make several more…within DAYS! Despite 12 hour days at my “real” job, very late nights, bleeding and cramping fingers and shoulders, I got them done.
It was a very long wait between April (when they were made) and the premiere on June 8th. And you can imagine how sad I was when I didn’t see them in the first episode. But then I was elated to see them in several scenes, including their own flashback scene, in the 2nd episode. There will also be some plot involvement and further scenes with them.
The reaction has been astonishing. People are so impressed, and it’s fun. I love the fact that I can say I made something that 2.5 million (according to latest stats) have seen.
And I love the fact that I can say I got the job not so much because of the product itself, but because of my diligence, timeliness, and professional manner during all stages of the transaction. That’s something I think is sometimes pushed aside in today’s more casual world.
You can see my work, and order your own custom items, including the Pretty Little Liars Bracelet at MirandAck.com
Have another success story to share? Leave a comment!
Here’s a tip of the hat to the 6 members of the winning Bike to Work Week team at our company…
Team “Rings & Things – GIRLS” whipped the boys with a superior turnout and participation this year, showing enviable esprit de corps and laudable community consciousness. Kudos!
PS: One of the above team members unfortunately got hit by a car today while biking to work; we’re anxiously awaiting further word and hoping for the best. As we’ve mentioned in this blog before, there may be quite a ways to go before car drivers are fully aware that they’re sharing the streets with cyclists and cross-walking pedestrians…
I got into a conversation the other day about “jewelry blanks”…
This is a really versatile (read “vague”) word, when you think about it.
@gingerkittyd tweeted me that her this is what her customers call finger ring findings:
Which are also called ring blanks. Which confusingly also means these ring-shaped blanks for metal stamping:
Her customers also use the name “jewelry blanks” for bezel cups (which are also called pendant blanks):
(And I hesitate to tell you this, but these also sometimes get called “empty cups or empty pendants”!)
Not one to clarify needlessly, @JulieRorden tweeted, “Jewelry blanks? You mean that dark period of time when the caffeine high has worn off & the new supplies are on backorder? ;)”
What are “jewelry blanks” to you? If you don’t totally draw a blank about that, leave a comment to let us know! We’ll probably come up with 10 more definitions.:)
A real-time report on R&T bead shows. BeadTour blurbs from bead lovers like you!
From our Louisville, KY bead show, @_chelseaj tweeted an evocative stream of updates:
● Rummaging around at the Louisville @rings_things show! It’s like heaven in here.
● @rings_things Found tons of great beads today – thanks!!!
● Bag stuffed full of new beads and ELO on the radio… Yes! Life’s good.
Frann of Armored Hearts Maille blogged about a fun trip to the Grand Rapids bead show:
“When we entered we were greeting by a very friendly young guy…he was patient with the three of us Bead Show Virgins and sent us on our way.
It was all a shiny, sparkly heaven…I loved how each type of item was separated, so you knew that if you were at findings table you’d find every type of finding possible. No meandering around in a maze like confusion. Cori kept me on track…she was quick to point out some styles and colors we had been discussing for the last week in anticipation for this event.
The set up was wonderful, there was room enough for most people to wind in and around the tables…the selection of merchandise was vast.”
And Anita Ghaemi updated on Facebook with this about our Chicago bead show:
“…my spirits are over the top…I rushed in headed for the beads”!
One of our crew discovered that safety glasses can be as stylish as beads any day…
* PS, congratulations on the birth of your kid, Josh!
A quickie tip for you fans of R&T’s great big Design Gallery!
Found a design in our Gallery that really speaks to you?
Just have to share it with your friends?
See the little yellow dot with a letter “i” in it, in the top left of the frame around that design in our Gallery?
Click it.
Scroll down — At the bottom of the page now, you’ll find the “URL”.
That’s the link that takes others straight to that design! Copy it, paste it into email/Facebook/Twitter, and share…
…because we brought enough for everyone 🙂
You know, R&T’s bead truck is making a springtime visit to your town. An easy contest helps you get the most out of our bead shows 🙂 …
√ Attend our BeadTour show in your town. Enjoy R&T’s exclusive bead deals!
√ Talk about it online:
• Facebook it
• Blog it
• Twitter it
√ When I see your report of our show, I’ll put your name in the hat.
At the end of our spring bead-show run, we’ll draw several winners to receive these coveted R&T BeadTour t-shirts!
(Giveaway drawing: July 1st, 2010.)
Which show are you going to? Here’s the spring BeadTour list:
03/12: Houston, TX
03/13: San Antonio, TX
03/14: Austin, TX
03/16: Dallas, TX
03/17: Oklahoma City, OK
03/19: St. Louis, MO
03/20: Kansas City, KS
03/21: Des Moines, IA
03/22: Omaha, NE
03/24: Denver, CO
03/26: Salt Lake City, UT
03/28: Boise, ID
04/03: Missoula, MT
04/10: Bellevue, WA
04/11: Portland, OR
04/17: Seattle, WA
04/18: Mt. Vernon, WA
04/25: Minneapolis, MN
04/27: Green Bay, WI
04/28: Milwaukee, WI
04/29: Chicago, IL
05/01: Grand Rapids, MI
05/02: Detroit, MI
05/04: Louisville, KY
05/12: Sacramento, CA
05/13: San Mateo, CA
05/15: Orange County, CA
05/16: San Bernardino, CA
05/18: Phoenix, AZ
05/20: Albuquerque, NM
06/06: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
06/08: Tampa, FL
06/09: Orlando, FL
06/10: Jacksonville, FL
06/10-13: Milwaukee, WI – Bead&Button
06/12: Atlanta, GA
06/13: Charlotte, NC
06/14: Raleigh, NC
06/15: Richmond, VA
06/16: McLean, VA
06/17: Baltimore, MD
06/19: Philadelphia, PA
06/20: East Hanover (NYC area), NJ
06/21: New Haven, CT
06/22: Boston (Dedham), MA
06/24: Rochester, NY