How-To

In the spirit of multipurposing that our “grow your business” project often mentions, we’d like to report on some great uses people have recently invented for Rings & Things’ chokers.

We’ve been seeing some brilliant applications of wire-wrapping to our choker forms. A number of ideas involve wrapping part or all of the form itself. This turquoisey design is from Tish:

Another take by Tish on the wrapped-choker idea:

Dawno combined an inspiration from abstract artist Piet Mondrian with choker wrapping:

Melanie at Earthenwood Studios found our choker blank provided a good structure to express her ongoing steampunk inspiration:

At her “A Bead A Day” blog, Lisa wrapped the entire choker form and added a pendant and coordinating bead accents:

In a similar vein, Tish went for a softer feel, designing a loosely ribbon-wrapped choker:

(Tish provides a full, excellent tutorial on making this one!)

How about wrapping wire on some other element of your design? Dawno beaded the choker form itself, but wrapped the great dangles in this design:

And Lisa made a stunning wire-wrapped focal piece in this choker design:

Another wire-wrapping idea for a focal is this stunning bit of sculpture by Dawno:

Somewhat more minimal wire work is involved in the hammered tendrils dangling from this “Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright” choker by Margot Potter, a.k.a. The Impatient Crafter:

What’s your inpiration for using choker forms? Share a comment–or even a picture!

March news: New monthly lottery, right here on the Rings & Things blog. Here’s how it works:
* You enter by leaving comments. Comment on any March post(s).
* At the end of March, I’ll randomly draw 2 winners of surprise goodie packs! …So read the blog regularly to see if you won!

Rena Klingenberg mentioned a great idea in her “Jewelry Business Blog” (link removed 2019 because the original site no longer exists and now goes somewhere bad). Here’s a pretty artistic way to grow your business:

There’s more than one way to use metal stamping!

Brand your jewelry! Now, Rings & Things is in the western USA. But I’m no iron-brandishing cowboy. I’m talking about a kinder, gentler way of making a lasting impression on your customers.

Mark your jewelry with small custom metal tags. They’re durable, they show that you care about the quality of the items you make, and they can coordinate with your designs.

• There are companies who will sell you pre-made tags in the shape you like: hearts, ovals, diamonds and more.
  By shopping around, you can find these in sterling, gold fill, copper or other metals.
• Just add your business name or logo to the tag — you can also get a metal stamp (die) custom-made with your design.
• You can personalize the tags even more. How about enameling the stamped design? Or a quick bit of antiquing solution?

If you get tags in some quantity, you should be able to do all this for several cents to a dollar per tag. But there’s a way to lower the cost even more! Consider using metal-stamping tools, for a very quick and simple “logo”. Why not overlap stamped letters on each other for a monogram (or cattle-brand) look? And most metal stamp sets include one more more dies for symbols like &, @, or ?… With a bit of your creativity, you’ll have a memorable logo in no time at all. (Just think how recognizable the Calvin Klein “cK” logo is.)

Attach your snazzy metal tag to each jewelry item with a matching jump ring. You’ll be amazed how sharp and professional the results can look!

A side benefit: metal stamping jewelry keeps growing in popularity. You can use the same tools to create focal pendants and more…

Have you discovered other useful ways to “brand” your line of jewelry? Share them in a comment!

March news: New monthly drawing, right here on the Rings & Things blog. Here’s how it works:
* You enter by leaving comments. Comment on any March post(s).
* At the end of March, I’ll randomly draw 2 winners of surprise goodie packs!