Next month's birthstones: aquamarine, bloodstone, & jasper

February 11, 2009

Planning ahead for March birthstone jewelry? Our crystal ball (actually a book we sell) says you can use aquamarine or bloodstone. Some folks use jasper too!

The zodiac says March is the month when most Pisces are born (February 20-March 20). Since Pisces is “the fish”, the hue of aquamarine (literally “sea water”) is a great color theme to use in birthday jewelry for these folks. Enjoy the organic feel of gemstone chip beads,

or make a more regular design by lining up some smooth round beads.

Perhaps better for quick-tempered Aries (March 21-April 19) would be bloodstone. An intriguing thing about this gemstone is how variable the colors can be, since it’s a combination of dark green with deep red in various proportions. Check out these 8mm rounds to get an impression of the color range:

And sometimes you’ll find this stone much more on the green end of things, like these 12mm rounds.

Jasper is a whole world unto itself. There are so many varieties in such a phenomenal range of hues–it’s worth browsing our catalog to absorb them. A couple of my favorites will give you an idea what I mean. There are fancy-jasper faceted diamond-shaped beads:

Another variety is leopardskin jasper, shown here in 8mm rounds:

Yet another type is ocean jasper. How about these tip-drilled puffed marquise beads?

And don’t forget to browse for color matches. We always have hundreds of styles, including aquamarine-colored crystal beads!

Have a March birthstone-inspired jewelry tip? Share it here by Replying in the comments section!

Exciting news: every month, we’re going to hold a lottery right here on the Rings & Things blog. Here’s how it will work:
*At the beginning of each month, I’ll announce a new lottery.
*You enter by leaving Replies, also known as blog comments. Comment on any post(s) this month.
*At the end of the month, I’ll randomly draw 2 names to receive surprise goodie packs!

Contest: Rings & Things goodie-pack lottery

February 10, 2009

Here’s another great idea that came from talking with one of our readers. (In this case, thanks go to @Rockcreekcreate on Twitter!)

Exciting news: every month, we’re going to hold a lottery right here on the Rings & Things blog. Here’s how it will work:

  • At the beginning of each month, I’ll announce a new lottery. (That’s what I’m doing right now, hint hint.)
  • You enter by leaving Replies, also known as blog comments. Comment on any post(s) this month.
  • At the end of the month, I’ll randomly draw 2 names to receive surprise goodie packs!

These packs will include a themed selection of Rings & Things stock. Of course I can’t tell you now what they’ll contain, but an example might be a bunch of jewelry findings, or maybe a variety of beads. You never know. 🙂

Leave your replies here to be entered in our Feb. 28 drawing!

Greening our commute

February 9, 2009

09_pinnacle_11At Rings & Things, we actively promote commuting alternatives through “Trippin’ to R&T” and the Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) program, using tools such as http://www.mycommute.org. We and our stellar Employee Transportation Coordinator, Selina Shehan (at center in the photo), have won a variety of awards for our commitment to “greening” our workers’ commutes.

If we could share a few highlights, they’d include these:

  • January 2009: Selina Shehan and Rings & Things win a second “Way to Go!” Pinnacle award. The Pinnacle Award is given to just three employers in our state each year, based on innovative trip reduction strategies, ETC commitment and participation, continued enhancement of their CTR program and management support.
  • September 2008: Rings & Things receives the Washington state Governor’s Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Voluntary Employer in the CTR program.
  • January 2007: 2006 Pinnacle Award.
  • September 2006: September All Star Coach, Selina Shehan.

From time to time we’ll share other tidbits about our efforts to make Rings & Things and our industry the greenest they can be. You might be surprised by some of what we say. Stay tuned to learn what I mean by this!

Have ideas for “green” beads, findings, advertising or business practices? Share them through the Replies section below!

Exciting news: every month, we’re going to hold a lottery right here on the Rings & Things blog. Here’s how it will work:
*At the beginning of each month, I’ll announce a new lottery.
*You enter by leaving Replies, also known as blog comments. Comment on any post(s) this month.
*At the end of the month, I’ll randomly draw 2 names to receive surprise goodie packs!

Never lose your bookmarked beady websites!

February 6, 2009

To paraphrase Billy Joel, I’m in a bookmarks state of mind. I was writing about book thongs the other day, and now on to social bookmarking.

What is social bookmarking?! Is that like Stitch ‘n Bitch? Or the bead society meeting where everyone does a beaded-bookmark challenge? Actually, it’s something way better. Something that can help you grow your business!

Social bookmarking is a version of the Bookmarks or Favorites function you’re probably already using on the Internet. You’ve probably got a lot of places ‘Favorited’ in your computer already. But what if you’re traveling without your computer?

  • You might need to place an emergency order for jump rings from, oh, who was that supplier?
  • And who was that cool artisan on Etsy who you wanted to refer your sister to?
  • How about showing a craft-show customer something in your online store, via someone’s wi-fi?

Human memory sometimes helps out… But if you install a social bookmarking button in your browser’s tool bar, every Favorite will be stored online. That means you can go back to that social-bookmark site wherever you are in the world, from any computer, and use your bookmarks. Never miss an opportunity to support handmade businesses again!

And when you bookmark a favorite site online, you can add some descriptive tags to it. So other people can then find recommendations by searching for tags that match their interests. (That’s the “social” part of it.) For example, if you bookmarked Rings & Things and tagged us as ‘bead supplier’, ‘beads’, and ‘findings’, searchers with similar interests could find this site too.

I should explain that what you’re really bookmarking is web pages, not whole sites. This means you can save as big a list as you want of various neat things that you found on any given site. An example from Rings & Things again might be bookmarks of our lead information page, our inches to millimeters conversion page, our blog’s main page, and The Tank bracelet (it’s awesome) in our Design Gallery.

There are dozens of social bookmarking sites. Check out a few major ones:

  • del.icio.us (great website address, huh?)
  • Digg (this is more about sharing recommendations of good information, like a neat blog post, cool tutorial, a news article, etc.)
  • Technorati
  • Bloglines (if you read a lot of blogs, this is a good tool for managing the bookmarks on one page)

Did you know, you’ll be helping out the sites that you bookmark? The search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN all pay attention to social bookmarks. Every bookmark you make is a recommendation to the search engines that “this is an interesting site.” As a result, that site tends to show up a bit higher on the screen when people go searching.

Have other favorite bookmarking sites? Use them for other reasons? Share your thoughts by leaving a Reply!

Exciting news: every month, we’re going to hold a lottery right here on the Rings & Things blog. Here’s how it will work:
*At the beginning of each month, I’ll announce a new lottery.
*You enter by leaving Replies, also known as blog comments. Comment on any post(s) this month.
*At the end of the month, I’ll randomly draw 2 names to receive surprise goodie packs!

New beads: brown lava stone

February 5, 2009

Lava rock beads have caught on in recent times. Their pockmarked surfaces have a really interesting feel. Because they’re basically pieces of pumice, these beads are also surprisingly light–with tiny holes all through them, they’re full of air!

Most of these beads so far have been glossy and black, from the treatments applied to their surfaces. Rings & Things has just added another great color, brown lava stone beads. They’re an earthy matte hue, and we have them in a lot of shapes and sizes! Look how nice this stone looks in corner-drilled and regular cube shapes:

Does that make anyone else think of brown sugar cubes?

There are also plenty of brown lava beads with curves that contrast wonderfully with their naturally uneven surface texture. Have a look at some rondelles and rounds to see this effect:

You can see how impressive this stone looks in all kinds of beads. Do you think it might set off metal beads nicely, the way the black lava stone does? Will it pair with wood? Hmmm, azurite makes a nice planet-Earth bead… How about brown lava stone beads of various sizes to represent a few of our rougher neighbors in a solar-system necklace or bracelet? (Mercury, the Moon, Mars?)

Exciting news: every month, we’re going to hold a lottery right here on the Rings & Things blog. Here’s how it will work:
*At the beginning of each month, I’ll announce a new lottery.
*You enter by leaving Replies, also known as blog comments. Comment on any post(s) this month.
*At the end of the month, I’ll randomly draw 2 names to receive surprise goodie packs!

Design idea: book thongs

February 4, 2009

The word “thong” has a funny recent history. When I was a kid in the ’70s, we wore thongs on our feet. Times changed, thongs migrated upwards a bit, and now we wear flip-flops. Or “foot thongs”.

Always on the go, thongs have also moved along to the world of bookmarks. Beautiful book thongs have been a trend lately, but you may have seen something like them before. Think of those fancy ribbons built into old, important books to help readers keep their place.

bookthong_heavymetal

This trend has a couple of nice side effects:

  • Expanding your product line of beaded bookmarks beyond metallic findings.
  • Multi-purposing (re-branding) a piece of jewelry that could also function as wrist wear.

The basic component is a length of cording, for example the flat suede lace that Liz at The Crimson Moon uses. Other approaches to book-thong cording include beading (necklace-style) on Beadalon or other stringing material. Finish the suede cord with a leather crimp end; other stringing materials can be finished effectively like a necklace but leaving off the clasp. The important thing is to have loops at the ends, because…

Your creativity really comes out in decorating the ends, attaching a dangle to each. This can be a focal piece like a lampwork art bead, a seed-bead creation, a pendant, a crystal, some charms… It’s a good idea to make the weight on the two ends pretty equal, so the thong doesn’t fly out of the book like Wile E. Coyote on a pulley.

bookthong_calypso2

Why not display your book thongs for sale “in action” in an artful stack of books? Or, because the thongs are long, wrap them around a paper card with your business information on it. If you make handcrafted paper products like diaries, or know someone who does, you could offer a package deal with a bookthong.

Have more book thong or bookmark ideas? Share them by leaving a Reply! ☻☺

Exciting news: every month, we’re going to hold a lottery right here on the Rings & Things blog. Here’s how it will work:
*At the beginning of each month, I’ll announce a new lottery.
*You enter by leaving Replies, also known as blog comments. Comment on any post(s) this month.
*At the end of the month, I’ll randomly draw 2 names to receive surprise goodie packs!

New chokers

January 30, 2009

Chokers are among the most popular jewelry components and styles. Rings & Things introduces two new styles!

We’ve just received metal-mesh chokers in silver plate, gold plate, copper plate and versatile gunmetal. These are 3mm diameter, tubular mesh, 16 to 18 inches in length:

Woven-cloth chokers make their debut also. These are sturdy nylon-wrapped cotton, with several strands woven together for a lightweight, hollow necklace 7mm thick. This style of choker also comes in a 16- to 18-inch length, in the following color combinations: black with silver plate, silver with silver plate, or antiqued-copper with gold plate.

More information is coming soon, but you can buy these great new choker components right now in our secure online store!

"My favorite crafting space" contest: vote here

January 29, 2009

Okay, we have 10 entries in our first blog contest. I’ve put them all below, edited for, you know, space.☻☺*

Look through them and vote for “My favorite crafting space” by Leaving a Reply comment. You’ll help one of these lucky contestants towards one prize, and you will be entered into a random drawing for another prize. (The prizes are crafts organizing tools from Rings & Things!) Both winners will be announced in this blog on Friday, February 6th.

A) Tamdoll:

“… I have a whole room to myself for my crafting space. The only problem is, it’s a disaster. This is a picture, on my blog, from !2007! The colors of fabric and yarn may change from year to year … but it’s still a mess! Once a month I’ll clean it all up, but then it just reverts again.”

B) Eugena:

“This is my treasure, and I feel like a magpie in her nest! No, seriously, this is the surface of my desk right now. Recently, I started using watch parts in my polymer clay and resin jewelry, and I am very excited both about the process of taking apart old watches and the results I am getting with these parts. Right now I am working on a few new pendants in Steampunk style, a tutorial for them, and a new video.”

C) WillowWalker:

“I share a large studio space with my dad. This is where I do all the glass work! Yes we are messy. I take after my dad. I’d rather be doing than cleaning any day! Believe it or not we do clean up rather well! I do wire wrapping where ever I may be. My favorite spot is in the recliner watching T.V. I do it while I’m at craft shows, in the car etc;! My work space”

D) DelpfineWelch:

“I have a workshop where I do the lapidary and metalsmithing. If I’m doing any kind of wire weaving, I usually do it in front of the tv. My husband watches the movie and I watch some and listen more!”

E) spiritnsoul:

“I love seeing where others work !! You can see some of my space at http://www.darisjudd.blogspot.com”

F) Teal Cuttlefish:

“We live in a very small house. I store my yarn and beads in several places, and have a bookcase full of craft supplies. Since I’m disabled and do most of my work in bed, I have a small set of shelves by the bed, as well as my computer. When I’m working on a craft, I sit on my king-sized bed and use the rest of the bed for workspace. It isn’t ideal, but it gives me a chance to be creative. Sometimes the critters want to help — especially Karma, the 5 month old kitten, when I’m working with yarn. Other times one of the Basset Hounds wants to snuffle my beads. They have very large noses, especially when they want to snuffle!”

G) LaraJordanJewelry:

“This is my past metal work/ beading space. It was limited, but functional. Keeping it clean was the difficult part. When I start creating I focus on the design, creative process and the completion of a project. Watching sketches of my design become reality is an amazing thing. The true reality is~ I make a huge mess during this process.”

H) glasstastic:

“Hi, what a fun contest. Here are some before and after pics It was a storage disaster. But I cleaned it up, loaded the closet with the storage. Rearranged the wall-o-shelves, and added some organization to my workstation. To the right of my workstation is my computer. I take photos of my items using lighting in between the two storage towers. And I just turn in my chair to the computer and download everything. In front of the wall-o-shelves, which is to the left of my workstation, is another table for working. I have the whole 10×11 foot room to myself. There’s really no room for anyone else! lol My philosophy is…you can NEVER have too much storage!!”

I) earthenwood:

“I did a few posts to show my studio last year. It is constantly changing, though, to adapt to my needs as a full time bead artist. Here is my studio tour series. Thanks for this great contest! Good luck all! It has been great to see and hear about your spaces!”

J) kattalyne:

“My craft space is where ever there is a flat surface in my house. It could be the dining table or the coffee table or the tv tray on my lap. I make do where ever I can. So the world is my craft space.”

*You can read each contestant’s full description at the original post.

Wednesday, Jan. 28: CPSIA blog-in

January 28, 2009

Thanks to chichiboulie over at Etsy.com for mentioning this:

Today is a “blog-in” by people concerned about the upcoming CPSIA law. That’s a law which looks to strongly affect the use and sale of countless items that kids might come in contact with, by ordering expensive testing for lead content. It takes effect on February 10th. (At this writing Rings & Things has an informative link up on its home page.) Over 300 bloggers have joined in; will you?

Here’s some information from chichiboulie:

“As parents and concerned citizens I’m sure most of us at one time or another have been confronted with the question of lead poisoning. But have you asked yourself what your government is doing to protect your children from lead contained in toys? The answer? They’re banning toys, taking books from schools and libraries, hurting low income families, killing entrepreneurial spirit and risking putting the economy in an even greater depression than we’ve seen in decades. I’d like to introduce you to their solution: the CPSIA.

“Do you know about the CPSIA? No? Then I ask you to take a few minutes to find out about it.

“The CPSIA stands for Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a new set of laws that will come into effect on 10 February, 2009 and will impact many, many people in a negative way. Make no mistake, this is very real. View it for yourself. If Forbes, the American Library Association and numerous other media are paying attention, perhaps you should too.

“How will these new laws affect you? Well, here are a few examples…” [read more]

Smithsonian catalog or your store?

January 27, 2009

Who needs the sales more?

You often see mail-order catalogs that include jewelry. And you know the prices they charge. Sometimes one of us is lucky enough to land a commission supplying that jewelry for a catalog.
But most of the time, most of us need to see some sales now, in our stores.

Why not create and sell the handmade equivalent of the catalog item? You’ll be able to offer it for a much lower price, and still make a nice profit.

I have an example in mind, because I’m looking at a recent Smithsonian gift catalog. They’re selling a hand-knotted (no-clasp) necklace of round lapis beads set off with 6 gold spiral beads, for $350.
A rough estimate from Rings & Things’ online store suggests it would cost you about $24 to make a copy.

(About $18 for lapis beads,

$6 for gold-filled beads,

and a few cents for silk cord.)

That’s less than $20 a necklace if you buy at our quantity price breaks.

You figure out what you’ll sell it for. How will you promote it? “Compare at $350 in Smithsonian gift catalog”? I’m sure you can think of 10 more examples like this.

There’s room here to compete, and profit, and prosper. ?? Grow your business!