Featured bead: basic / black / glass

September 4, 2009

What’s true of clothing is true of beads: basic black never goes out of style.

With jewelry making, “basic” means black glass beads. I want to show you 5 reasons why everyone loves black beads…

*

Roll with these!

Roll with these!

#1: roller beads

*

Black glass firepolish teardrop beads, #23-417-021

Cry fire in a crowded jewelry shop, so you can buy up all of these

#2: firepolish teardrops

*

Doubles as a spacer!

Not a UFO, but doubles as a neato spacer

#3: disk beads

*

Black glass round beads, #23-224-021

The basic-est of the basics

#4: rounds

*

Beadie babies?

Beadie babies?

#5: E beads

*

You know we have scads more black beads. I challenge you to take 10 minutes to search our site for “black beads”, come back here, and post a comment on your favorite new find!

Heads up: plan for Rings & Things' 2010 design contest!

September 3, 2009

“Your Designs Rock!” is not just an encouragement. YDR is also the name of our popular design contest of creations made from Rings & Things products. The 2010 edition is coming soon.

Here’s a first announcement… We invite craft jewelry makers to prepare their favorite handmade designs for the contest. (Entries need not be jewelry—they can be any kind of design.)

Do you have designs?

Got designs? Rock our contest!

The Grand Prize in the 2010 Your Designs Rock contest will be a $750 Rings & Things credit. First prizes will be awarded in each of five categories, each bringing a $250 Rings & Things credit. Honorable mentions carrying $75 credits will be bestowed on additional entries singled out by the judges. In addition, winning entries (with credit to the designer) could be featured in Rings & Things’ catalog and promotions, providing exposure to an estimated million people per year worldwide.

The 2010 design-contest categories are

  • Glass & Crystal
  • Gemstones & Pearls
  • Mostly Metal
  • Metal Clay
  • Found Objects/Miscellaneous

Rings & Things is introducing a number of new features to the YDR contest this time around, making the competition more exciting than ever:

  • New-entrant drawing: First-time entrants will be automatically entered into a drawing to win a goodie package.
  • Early-bird drawing: Those who submit completed entries (up to 3) by early February will be automatically entered into a drawing to win a goodie package!
  • Expanded entry period: Entries will be accepted through January and February, 2010.

Anyone can enter, but a majority of parts in each design must be items that are available from Rings & Things. (That includes things you buy at our BeadTour bead shows this Fall!) Full contest guidelines are available online.

For prompt notification of 2010 contest details, interested designers can subscribe to Rings & Things’ e-newsletter as well as checking our blog. YDR winners will be announced the first week of June.

Start planning now! You can submit up to 3 designs!

Look ahead: October's birthstone will be Tourmaline

September 2, 2009

Where we check into possible birthstone plans for the upcoming month…

Tourmaline meteor bracelet and ring

A great design you can make with tourmaline beads…

Tourmaline beads, the birthstone of choice for October, show some appropriately magical properties. Did you know that if you rub this stone, it generates a charge that attracts small objects like bits of paper or strands of hair? (I couldn’t find an image of this. Bummer. Please submit one if you’ve got one.)

True to its name (which originally meant “stone of mixed colors”), tourmaline is found in a very pretty palette of blue, yellow, pink, red, black, green and clear stones. Here are most of those colors in a strand that we sell:

Tourmaline 21-731-035

Rings & Things also sells strands of the nice black tourmaline alone:

Black tourmaline beads 21-889-183

Here’s a great idea for using black tourmaline in a rosary:

David's Rosary uses the black tourmaline beads

David’s Rosary uses the black tourmaline beads

And don’t forget tourmalated quartz. These beads technically include tourmaline, so they add to your options for “October babies”:

Tourmalated quartz beads 21-884-100

You’ll find lots more neat background reading at our Gemstone Index ‘tourmaline’ entry! And this is the time of year when you can come to our BeadTour bead shows to look for great new tourmaline, tourmalated quartz and many more gemstone beads not found in our catalog!

Featured bead: Hollow sterling beads

August 28, 2009

“Hollow” means a lot of different things when you talk about beads and findings. Let’s look at hollow sterling beads…

Hollow sterling silver beads all have one thing in common — they’re light in weight and they’re more affordable than solid silver beads.

  • There are organic-shaped hollow sterling nugget beads. They’re hollow because they’re a continuous surface like a pebble, only empty inside:
hollow sterling nugget beads

Hollow…

hollow silver roller beads

…toroidal…

  • Silver teapot charms are hollow because they’re shaped like a real teapot, with room inside for a tiny drink:
hollow 3-D silver teapot charm

…concave

If you really think about it, “hollow” could mean even more things… how about those deeply pockmarked lava beads? Leave a comment to suggest more ideas about hollow beads!

Dapping tools and why you need them

August 27, 2009

Do you use metal clay? Or metal sheet? Or metal disks?

dapping tool set

If you do metalwork, making a smooth finished product is a major goal. Dapping punches with their ball-shaped ends are a huge help. They’re used to “dome” metal. (So some call them “doming punches”.) Think of adding depth to pendants…or making each half of your own unique bead!

“Dappling” punches (as we’ve also seen them called) are usually used in an affordable set with another dapping tool…

dapping block

Dapping blocks are a block of wood or steel with domes (half-spheres) of various sizes indented into the sides.

You just place the metal, or metal clay, against one of the dimples in the dapping block. Then you work it smooth, rounding it by “dapping” at it with the punch. See our April 8, 2011 “How to Dap and Dome Metal Jewelry” article for do’s, don’ts, and inspirational jewelry ideas.

Dapping blocks are also wonderful for forming a domed filigree, as Mara Marlow did in her “Eglantyne” necklace for the Rings & Things Your Designs Rock design contest:

Domed filigrees made with a dapping block

Domed filigrees made with a dapping block

Share dapping ideas or questions — leave a comment!

Happy alabaster anniverary, Rings & Things

August 19, 2009

I found a website that says your 37th is your alabaster anniversary…

mint alabaster

Happy anniversary to Rings & Things! We celebrated our 37th “birthday” this last weekend. It was a big, fun bash. I wanted to share a couple quick photos!

A wire-wrapping demo with the EuroTool ladies

A Wubbers & wire (wrapping) demo with the EuroTool ladies

Visitors took in lots of demos: wire-wrapping, SoftFlex stringing with Sara, and metal-stamping “make & takes”.

Finding fun Czech beads was as easy as shooting fish in a barrel...

Finding fun Czech beads was as easy as shooting fish in a barrel…

We had absolutely piles of great new beads that you haven’t seen in our catalog!

Dyed composite magnesite beads were an attention-getter!

Dyed composite magnesite beads were an attention-getter!

For another fun perspective on Rings & Things’ big event, read SoftFlexGirl Sara’s blog…and mark your calendar for 2010 for our tourmaline anniversary. (I think we can provide some special anniversary beads for that one!)

…Got a jones to check our shows? If you live near Rochester, Boston, New Haven, northern New Jersey or Philadelphia, put in your name to be our Guest Bead Helper the last week of September!

Start conversations…about your craft jewelry

August 13, 2009

From a thread of conversation over at Twitter. Thanks, tweeter friends!

Craft business tip (1): Always carry your business cards with you.

Craft business tip (2): Wear your craft jewelry wherever you go.

Craft business tip (1+2=3): Wear your jewelry and hand out your business cards. It’s amazing how many people have told me about someone approaching them asking “Where did you get that great jewelry? Oh my gosh, you made it??” The next step from there is obvious: snag a new customer.

Craft business tip (3+1=4): Make a t-shirt that artfully invites, “Ask me about my jewelry!” How about a button too?

Ask me about my etsy store

Ask me about my etsy store!

It works.

Share a story about “conversation starters” that led to sales–leave a comment!

Love our bead shows? Win a 'Guest Bead Helper' job!

August 10, 2009

If you live in the Northeast USA and can attend one of our late September bead shows, you could be a winner!

We’re scouting for our first-ever Guest Bead Helper! You could be an honorary BeadTour bead-show worker, with all the fame and glory that come with that honor.

Who set that table so nicely?

Who set that table so nicely?

For our first foray into roadie recruiting, we’re looking for someone who can say “Yes” to all of these questions:

  • Can you leave a comment below, to enter?
  • Can you attend one of these bead shows?
  1. Rochester on Sept. 24
  2. Boston on Sept. 26
  3. New Haven on Sept. 27
  4. East Hanover NJ on Sept. 29
  5. Philadelphia on Sept. 30
  • Can you “set tables” with trays of beads?
  • Will you let us buy you lunch and give you a goodie tote?

Other perks of the “job” include meeting our friendly crew and getting a behind-the-scenes look at how bead shows are put together — not to mention getting to start bead shopping before we open the doors to the public!

PS: It’s a bonus if you’re an active Facebook-er, Twitter-er or blogger. We’d love it if you talked online about your roadie experience!

We’ll announce our winner on Wednesday, September 16th. Good luck to everyone who enters the drawing!

So enter by leaving a note below…mention which city you’d like to help us in!

R&T follows the Yellow Brick Road

August 7, 2009

Also known as Garland Street (in Spokane)!

Two Rings & Things artisans are featured in an art show celebrating the 70th anniversary of “The Wizard of Oz”. Appropriately held at the stalwart Tinman Gallery in Spokane, this OzVitational exhibit showcases artists’ unique takes on the legacy of Dorothy and friends.

Sondra Barrington, our Sales manager by day, mixed found objects with quality vintage-feel findings for a steampunk bracelet titled “Flying Monkeys”. Like a wearable video clip (from the scariest part of the film!), this piece sports stills from the classic movie transferred onto copper stamping blanks.

flyingmonkey bracelet sondra barrington

Some R&T stock used in the bracelet:
…and some Tim Holtz Idea-Ology items, plus a “cash & carry” strand of smoky quartz nuggets as sold at Rings & Things road shows and in our showroom.
margot_kurt_kurtozbx

Kurt (Metalman) Madison is our Art Clay Silver certified expert. He and partner Margot Casstevens created a collaborative print/sculpture/jewelry piece that the Inlander newspaper called

“one-of-a-kind pendants — ruby slippers, a yellow brick road, the heart so sought after by Tinman himself — hang[ing] from inside their gray weathered box. A knothole in the wood becomes the “O” for Oz and the wood itself is said to be from Dorothy’s Kansas farmhouse…if you let yourself drift to where childlike wonder lives, you can almost believe.”

margot_kurt_kansasoz

The exterior of Kurt & Margot’s “OZ BOX”

Many other gifted artists are in the show, too. So if you’re in Spokane any time this month, head to the Garland District for a visual treat!

Big contest, lots of winners!

August 4, 2009

Announcing the lucky winners of our ‘Review a Product’ contest…

Pick. Buy. Review!

  • Mara Nesbitt-Aldrich
  • Maneki
  • Christy Minnis
  • Jody Blackwell
  • Dawno

Congratulations! Each of you was randomly selected to win a $50 Rings & Things gift certificate. Just get in touch with me (Dave) on Twitter or Facebook to claim your prize.

Thanks to the dozens of you who entered, and be sure to keep reviewing items in our online store. Did you know?…according to a Nielsen poll, most people trust product reviews as the most reliable source of information about an item they’re thinking of buying online.