To match or not to match?

January 26, 2009

One blog that I’ve enjoyed reading is written by Lynn Davis, a.k.a. LLYYNN.
(I’ve posted comments there a couple of times.) In one of her recent posts about making her splendid
Earth and Fire heart pendants, she muses,

“I made pairs, so they could be used together as earrings. It’s tricky, to make them match. Even though they’re unique, because they’re hand colored.”

This reminded me of some sensible advice from Kate Drew-Wilkinson. It’s from a little bit older book (I don’t have the exact date). But her point is always a good one:

“The natural differences between…beads make it impossible to get a perfect pair, but they harmonize well…the design device to overcome this is to accept the differences and allow the beads to speak for themselves. Their slightly different voices need not be discordant together, but achieve a pleasing and natural harmony in design.”
(Kate Drew-Wilkinson, “How to Be Successful in the Bead Jewelry Business”, pages 56-57.)

When you’re making or buying unique beads, keep in mind that “close enough” is often better than identical! Check out LLYYNN’s blog post for a wonderful example of this. Another illustration that came to my mind is the Deep Blue SEE / As Young As You Feel bracelet in our own
Design Gallery:

Not enough stuff lying around your workspace yet? Get a random mix of beads to kick things off at a great price with a bag o’ beads from Rings & Things.

Have your own examples of near-matches that work great? Leave a Reply!??

"Creative earning" indeed

January 26, 2009

We thought the title of a blog post by Akaiya was perfect. She called entering jewelry / design contests
Creative Earning.
That really conveys the benefits you can get out of Rings & Things’ ”
Your Designs Rock!” contest (entries accepted Feb. 1-28)…

The obvious payoff is that you win prizes that are worth money. The least you could win in our design contest is $75 of Rings & Things credits, and you could win as much as $750 of credits!

But don’t forget, you’ll also get lots of publicity. Like Lynn Kvigne, who created the
Owl’s Eyes bracelet, you could find your
design
featured in Rings & Things’ catalog. Along with your name. ?? That means exposure to literally millions of eyeballs. You can figure out how valuable that is!

And as we like to say, you can turn right around and use that publicity in your own marketing. Zoya Gutina recently did this when she created a
wonderful slideshow
about how she created the
Mermaid’s Garden necklace.

This was her first-prize winning seed bead design in our 2008 contest. Now Zoya is building on the interest in her necklace by turning it into a tutorial on her blog.
The possibilities go on from there…how about touting your accomplishments in your own advertising? “As seen in Rings & Things’ catalog” might make a powerful tagline.

So pick out your best design, take a good photo of it and enter Your Designs Rock! 2009. We’re looking forward to a great crop of creations this year!

February birthstone: Amethyst. Or Amy-thyst. Or…

January 23, 2009

Have you planned ahead to make February birthstone jewelry? Next month is almost upon us! But if you have a rush job, consider this:

Rings & Things can supply your need for the February birthstone,
amethyst.

We have the real McCoy in a variety of grades (qualities), plus
lavender amethyst
and exquisite lab-grown amethyst.
But your options expand when you think about amethyst equivalents:
Have you looked at that color of Swarovski® crystal lately?


There are endless ways to play with amethyst hues in our line of glass beads, too. A popular new item is our
Calypso Beads™ (European-style silver-lined lampwork charms):

There are hundreds of other amethyst glass beads in our online store, ready for your browsing. How to use them? Have a peek at Rings & Things’ Design Gallery for great project ideas like the appropriately-named
Amy-thyst earrings and
bracelet.

So don’t wait till you’re old to start designing with purple!??

We've still got it (a charms catalog, that is)!

January 23, 2009

If you’ve just received our nice new catalog, you may have looked in it for charms. There are some in there, but for “hard copy” types, the real gold mine is our separate, free Charms Catalog:

09-10_catalog

Get a copy free with your order from Rings & Things, or buy one separately for $2.
You can always view the Charms Catalog for free on our site!

And of course, our thousands of
charms are in our online store, with life-size
photos, 24 hours a day.

Our first blog contest! "My favorite crafting space"

January 20, 2009

amym_studio_21

Show. Tell. Vote. Win Rings & Things stuff.

It’s our very first blog contest! And entering is this easy:

  • Leave a comment to this post.
    In it, link to a photo of your crafting space. Entertain us with a verbal description of it.
    (No photo? Just tell us about “your space”.)
  • (In a blog post of Thursday Jan. 29th) view other commenters’ entries and VOTE for your favorite.

There will be two winners: The top vote-getter and a randomly-picked entrant will both receive Rings & Things
crafts organizer products!

Now let’s see where you work!

*PS: Can’t get enough crafting-space ideas?
Cloth Paper Scissors magazine sometimes puts out special issues titled Studios, full of great photos and ideas!

Kill 'em dead, copper!

January 19, 2009

(I was thinking of 1930s gangsters when I wrote this.) 🙂

So it’s official: copper kills germs. Some folks have been touting the health benefits of copper for years. It’s a folk remedy for arthritis, among other things.
(Ever notice those Arnold Palmer ads?)

Now,
scientists are reporting that copper actually kills germs and they’re even bringing it
into hospitals to fight against patient infections.


I love our solid-copper components even more now!
They’re beautiful and stylish, and now they look like some of the healthiest jewelry parts around. Craft soapmakers, this is a natural idea for a package deal to sell to your customers!


♥ lampwork charms

January 16, 2009

A sweet new bead just arrived at Rings & Things. It’s just in time for
Valentine’s Day:

This heartthrob of a bead
is the newest in our line of
Calypso Beads.
(Metal-core lampwork charms.) Popularized by Troll, Pandora, and other European-style charm beads, this kind of bead looks amazing on
bangles, bracelets,
chokers and more.
Check out this “Sym-posie-um” set from our Design Gallery:

And since these are large-hole beads, they fit nicely on another recently popular finding, the
beadable pen.
This “Sweet Penmanship” pen from our Design Gallery is an example that you could use for writing love letters:

Get Calypso Beads at great prices from Rings & Things, and use your creativity! What else will you make with these?

Rings & Things' new catalog brings exciting changes

January 15, 2009

The 2009-2010 Rings & Things catalog, improved by feedback from…you!

Rings & Things introduces exciting changes with our newest two-year catalog, hitting mailboxes as we speak. This 2009-2010 edition features numerous improvements. These were based on feedback from countless loyal customers (hi there!):

  • It weighs 29% less than the previous edition, saving not only postage but fuel consumption for transport.
  • It’s half as thick as the previous one, allowing the use of less packaging for shipment.
  • The catalog content has actually increased, from 377 to 400 pages. Free jewelry designs have more than tripled, and there are now 10% more products.
  • Colored tabs mark each section of the catalog (for example Gemstones; Swarovski® Crystal; etc.) for quick access. Each section also has an informative cover page.

As always, our catalog is available for $5 (US), or for free with your order. (More info on ordering our catalogs.)

Thanks for helping make this our best catalog yet! When you receive yours, log in below and tell us what you think.

Update: We’re hearing nice things on Twitter about the new catalog. Thanks @fabfibers @jlyarnworks!
(Follow us on Twitter, we’re called @rings_things.)

Timeless gunmetal

January 14, 2009

There aren’t many jewelry findings that are available in basic black. And that’s probably a good thing.
But in the craft jewelry world, we have our own timelessly classy color: gunmetal.

Thanks to a post over at Dawno’s blog,
we can see why this dark, glossy metal plating is such a perennial bestseller. Take a peek at the elegant
necklace
she created along with grey freshwater pearls and mother of pearl, to go with her suits at business presentations:

dawnos_gray_pearl_mop_gunmetal_necklace1

We think you’ll agree this is a versatile, even dignified, color.

Inspired? Browse all the gunmetal components you could hope to buy, in our online store!

*Necklace image used by permission of Dawno. Here’s her followup post about making the gunmetal necklace.

Growing your craft jewelry business (part 2): Newsletters

January 13, 2009

(Part 1: Books)

If you could have a mentor who would patiently guide your fledgling craft jewelry business, and not charge you a dime, wouldn’t you leap at the chance?

Well, there are experienced coaches out there who regularly give information away for free in their newsletters. All it takes is for you to click “Subscribe” at their websites,
and you’ll have email access to all kinds of insights for nurturing your little business.

One of these is Rena Klingenberg’s
Jewelry Business Success Newsletter.
A couple of times per month, Rena sends a potpourri of selected, focused tidbits. These include specific pointers on how to run your business, advice on how to remove stumbling blocks from your path,
and actual stories from jewelry makers about how they’ve grown their businesses. This newsletter is always worth reading.

A second great resource is the Jewelry Seller Newsletter
published by Dr. David Weiman. This is published weekly, and tends to feature one article that goes into quite a bit of depth on its topic. Other article links go to David’s website,
where he shares insights based on his unique combination of experience with jewelry and training as a psychologist. We never miss an issue!

For guidance that spans the basics of jewelry-making techniques and running a business, check out Christine Gieren’s
I’m Making Jewelry in My Jam Jams
newsletter for neat tips from this writer of the How to Make Jewelry Blog.

We’d also like to mention
IndieBizChicks.com, a newer circular with a focus
on “women who’d rather work for themselves, than work for the man.” It’s a very digestible weekly that zooms in on one topic per issue, so it won’t eat up your valuable time.
For even more information, also download and listen to their podcasts!

As always, Rings & Things produces an
email newsletter you can subscribe to, supplied to you without charge every month.
Get the latest tips, hot product information, free projects and more from a trusted source.
(You can also read back issues of our newsletter.)

If you’re a more advanced crafter, or would like to become one, check out the highly respected
Orchid forum,
available as an email digest (like a newsletter) from Ganoksin.

Share your tips: what’s your favorite newsletter for craft jewelers? Post your reply below! 🙂