Missed Tucson? Missing it fondly?
Either way, enjoy some snapshots we took.
18°? Those poor cactuses!
Enjoy our Facebook album of the Tucson bead shows!
Tucson memories, 2011
February 21, 2011February 28 Contest Deadline{s}
February 18, 2011
February 28 Contest Deadline
Don’t delay — enter today! There are only a few days left to enter our annual jewelry and design contest! All entries must be submitted or postmarked by midnight Monday, February 28. No entry fee. We look forward to seeing what you’ve been working on! Our Early-Bird Drawing Winner will be announced the first week of March. Contest details & entry form.
Alternatives with TierraCast®!
February 17, 2011| Alternatives with TierraCast®! Expanded design options? Yes! with TierraCast’s new Alternatives Collection. Featured: brass oxide (antiqued brass) components and black (gunmetal) components. TierraCast Alternatives were created to fill the needs of current trends among bead stores & designers. Your favorite TierraCast beads and jewelry findings now come in these great new finishes! |
 |
|
|
Jewelry Inspirations: |
||
 “Wisdom & Knowledge” Earrings |
 “Bee Mine” Necklace |
 “Vitrail Voltage” Earrings |
|
|
||
Jewelry Terms Decoded: Aurora Borealis (AB)
February 15, 2011
“Use an AB finish when you want that extra WOW factor!”
Jewelry makers have a language all of their own. We talk in gauges, and millimeters and shapes that only we understand. We don’t even realize we do it, but we do. Try asking a non-jewelry maker if they know what a briolette is or if they prefer half hard or dead soft wire. You will surely be met with looks of confusion!
Warning: bad pens!
February 10, 2011Another thing I love about working at Rings & Things:
The honesty! 🙂
Best of 2010
February 8, 2011At Rings & Things, we like to save the year-end festivities till things calm down a bit 🙂 Let’s look back at our blog’s Best of 2010!
Feb. 21: Bead soup / bead show party
Mar. 25: Neither snow nor rain…
Apr. 15: Only at R&T, only the best…
June 2: For new ideas…
June 18: No-solder bezels
June 30: Featured bead: metal-core
July 22: Vaseline & uranium-salt beads
Oct. 25: Bead? What bead?
Nov. 18: For a holiday gift…
Nov. 19: Cheapskate booth ideas
Dec. 13: Misleading turquoise information
Dec. 19: Castings call!
What’s your favorite?
Chain that charms
February 7, 2011Guest blogger, Rings & Things’ Nory, suggests:
Make a jingle to your design jangle with our inspiring new
Charm Chain.
This dangle chain is bound to add movement and improvement to any design!
Within this unique style of chain, choose from several style variations:
Each soldered link has two charms attached. This Charm Chain or Fringe Chain, as some folks have started calling it around here, appears in 5 plating styles:
- antiqued brass
- antiqued copper
- antiqued silver
- matte black
- matte silver
We currently offer Charm Chain in a generous meter portion (3.28 Feet), and a bulk 10-meter spool (32.8 Feet).
A week ago, I challenged some of our in-house designers to come up with a design project using our Charm Chain with whatever else they felt “charmed it together”. I gave each designer half a meter of the 40-092-02-AB, the classy leaf design in antique brass pictured above, and let them loose to creatively construct these wonderful designs seen here.
A meter of this chain makes 9 pairs of 2″ earrings… With more than enough jingle in a meter to get any design dangling off the ground, try it out and tell us how you love it!
Make a statement, with fired agate beads!
February 4, 2011| Make a Statement with Fired Agate Beads Add sophistication to jewelry designs with fired agate beads, including new mustard fired agate & milky fired agate. Also known as crackled agate, this gemstone’s appearance is created by applying heat, hence the name “fired.” In person, these new faceted round beads sparkle & shimmer irresistibly! More news: Contest Early-Bird Deadline! |
|
|
Jewelry Inspirations: |
||
 “Cracked & Wrapped” Bracelet |
 “Midnight Enchantress” Earrings |
 “Milky Way” Chainmaille Necklace |
|
|
||
Mardi Gras: A Celebration of Beads!
February 3, 2011Here at Rings and Things, we eat, sleep, and breathe beads. In fact, some nights I think I actually dream about beads! We are by definition bead enthusiasts. Every year I can think of only one day, in one city, that celebrates beads in a way that can possibly rival our passion here at Rings and Things: New Orleans on Mardi Gras!
Let the good beads roll!
Each year, 46 days before Easter Sunday, the Big Easy erupts into a Bead Mecca. Beads are thrown from the balconies, collected by party-goers and hanging from the trees. The city is literally decorated in beads like a Christmas tree is adorned with tinsel.
In honor of such an amazing display of beads, I have decided to design some Mardi Gras-inspired jewelry that can be easily re-created to celebrate the big day, whether you live in New Orleans or New Hampshire!
This jewelry features beads in classic Mardi Gras colors; Purple, Green and Gold. (Did you know? — these symbolize respectively Justice, Faith and Power.) There are also cute little gold Fleur de Lis charms, an image synonymous with New Orleans. The jewelry is done using all gold-plated findings.
All of the supplies to make these items are readily available at our on-line store, www.rings-things.com! Any questions on making the jewelry? Contact us at 1-800-366-2156 and mention this blog!
Mardi Gras is on March 8th this year. So hurry and get your jewelry making supplies to celebrate Fat Tuesday in style! These projects are both affordable and fun!
—Tiffany, Designer, Rings & Things
P.S.: Want more Mardi Gras jewelry inspirations? Enjoy our “Mardi Gras Memories” bracelet and “Mardi Gras Choker” designs!
Design contest: Early-Bird prize deadline!
February 2, 2011
Your Designs Rock Contest Early-Bird Drawing
Enter our annual contest by Monday, February 7, and we’ll add your name to our Early-Bird Drawing for a goodie bag!
Last year’s Early-Bird goodie bag included gemstone beads, wooden chain & gold-filled components.
Contestants are entered in the drawing 1 time for each of up to 3 complete entries submitted by February 7.
Don’t delay — that’s less than a week away! Contest details & entry form.