Rings & Things - New additions and significant changes

Wholesale Jewelry-Making Supplies for Professional Craftspeople
1 (800) 366-2156

New Additions and Significant Changes

August 2005 - The 2005 Summer Supplement is brimming with extraordinary and popularly requested items! Inside you'll find Argentium® wire, a revolutionary sterling silver that resists dents and tarnish. Also debuting are ear threads with a U shape to hold them in place, plus new 14kt gold ear threads. Start a cover-up with new wire guardians and crimp covers, or show off with sterling puzzle clasps. And don't miss new glass lampwork and foil-lined beads, large-hole gemstones, an easy ear-wire tool and a new line of pouches: flocked, organza and satin! The supplement is hitting mailboxes throughout the U.S.A. and Canada in mid-August through early September. You can also view pdfs of the pages online.
May 2005 - Our 2005 Spring Supplement is budding with colorful new items fit for the season. Its 30 pages include hot findings like cause-ribbon charms, bead cap critters, pendant findings and ear cuffs. You'll also find new seed beads, sterling SmartBeads, cosmojet Swarovski crystal and 13 pages of gemstone beads. This booklet is being delivered throughout the U.S.A. and Canada in mid-May through early June. You can also view pdfs of the pages online.
May 16, 2005 - We've successfully moved and we're back in full swing! Our mailing address and phone numbers remain the same. Our new shipping and showroom address is 304 E 2nd, Spokane, WA, 99202. Visit News & Articles for updates on our great new space.
Spring 2005 - R&T is moving! We'll be closed May 11-15, 2005, to move into a new warehouse. Our online store will stay open, but orders placed after Tuesday, May 10, won't be shipped until the week of May 16.
Febuary 18, 2005 - Of special interest to Pacific Northwest customers: Linda McCarthy's directory Washington State Fairs and Festivals 2005 is now for sale! Let this handy, chronologically organized guide to Washington State fairs, festivals, shows, bazaars, markets and other events help you plan your year of showing and selling!
January 24, 2005 - The 2005-06 Wholesale Catalog is here! Our catalog is now bigger and better than ever. If you still have our old black-and-white book, you can chuck it (into a recycling bin!). At 316 pages, this catalog boasts:
- Full color - every single page of it!
- New pictures for 95% of our stock items.
- Hundreds of new items.
- Information boxes on almost every page, sharing tips, hints and instructions.
- An expanded stringing and finishing methods section, now with diagrams and color pictures.
- As always, honest information about content and durability with each listing.
- More-detailed measurements than ever.
- Three times more example jewelry, all with full parts lists.
October 2004 - Come leaf through our October newsletter. We're excited to share with you pictures and a timeline of our new warehouse (we'll be moving early in 2005), plus details about what's in it for you! Also in this newsletter, you'll get first dibs at our big moving sale, now kicking off!
July 2004 - Our July e-newsletter was just sent out, and this one's a true must-read! In it, you'll learn about our expanded bead show schedule and our new line of red hat-theme charms. You'll also find artist profiles of sculptor/jewelry-makers Kurt Madison and Margot Casstevens, with a full article, pictures and images of their creations. And don't miss the fall fashion color guide, story on metal-mine cleanup efforts in the Northwest, and more!
April 29, 2004 — Our enthusiasm for gemstones has reached a new height! We are excited to announce the addition of an extensive Gemstone Beads Index to our Web site. With 170+ listings, it promises to be one of the most comprehensive gemstone resources on the Internet. We have tailored our index toward craftspeople and kept the information specific to beads, unlike mineral Web sites. Direct links to our online store from each entry make shopping simple and fun, encouraging artists to mix some new stones in with their familiar favorites. Gemstone descriptions include:
- Stone history
- Honest details about enhancements/synthetics
- "Also known as" names
- Trivia
- Care recommendations
- Origin of the stone's name
- Metaphysical properties
- Industry practices
- Chemical composition
- Countries where the stone is found
April 26, 2004 — Finally, an updated guilds list! We now have the most current and comprehensive list of bead societies, polymer clay guilds and art guilds on the Web! After many months of research, phone calls, e-mails and postcards, we've made it easier than ever to find the societies or guilds in your area.
6/27/03 — Four-year employee David Robertson is leaving his copywriting/PR job at Rings & Things. Next week he heads out to begin a linguistics fellowship in Victoria, BC. Dave's layout skills and fun descriptions really brought the catalog to life, and he has been an invaluable bridge between our company and customers. His friends and co-workers here wish him the best of luck and will remember him as "a real character."
6/2/03 — On Thursday, May 29th, during a routine upgrade, our server crashed hard. Our Web hosting company was able to bring it back up Thursday evening, but it still had a lot of quirks throughout most of Friday. (At random, some links and images weren't working.) It then crashed again late Friday before the issue was finally resolved late Saturday/early Sunday. We believe that all the problems are now fixed!
4/28/03 — A few new close-out and bargain beads...
April 2003 — A number of Rings & Things employees have recently taken seminars on using the new Art Clay™ Silver. Now with hands-on knowledge, we'll be able to give you quicker (and better) answers to questions about this exciting new product!
4/18/03 — We added the "Close-Outs!" button back into the navigation bar, and updated some of the close-out items. We hope to list some more close-out beads soon!
4/18/03 — Come visit our wholesale showroom! We now have a map on-line, with easy directions from I-90 or Hwy-2. In the last year, we've rearranged the showroom to better fit our ever-growing selection of gemstone bead strands. We're running out of room up here on the 9th floor though.... We plan on moving to a new location in about 2.5 years. We don't know exactly where it will be, but it will still be someplace in Spokane, WA!
4/17/03 — We e-mailed our April 2003 newsletter today.
3/27/03 — New color pictures of all sizes and styles of Chinese Glass Beads are now in our shopping cart.
3/25/03 — Longtime employee Dori Turner will be leaving us soon. If you live in the vicinity of one our trunk shows, you've probably talked to her on the phone. We will miss her, but wish her well in her new job with the Sunnyside School District. Dori says she will miss talking with you about beads and what you're making, but is looking forward to using her degree in Applied Psychology!
3/19/03 — Longtime employee Karen Semerad, head of our Accounting Department, retired this month. Always ahead of the crowd, Karen was the first one in to the warehouse every morning, and now she's our first retiree. We wish her much happiness, and regard her new freedom with some envy! Now if you run into any credit problems you'll have to sweet-talk Ken Bain, the new head of our Accounting Department.
2/26/03 — We have five new free jewelry projects online, and more on the way! Visit our main Projects page for how-to instructions on lacy seed bead chokers, easy crystal mobiles, wine glass stem wraps, and more!

1/27/03 — Our new 2003 catalog is in the mail!
If you're in Ohio or Indiana, it should be in your mailbox this week. Then it will radiate outwards throughout the country. (Yes, we're still in Washington State, but we had the catalog printed in Ohio this time.) We love the crisp new print quality!!!
10/9/02 — Our Shopping Cart (Beta Test) is ready to use.
No more hassles with our clunky old order form! Just browse, point, and click to drop the full stock number and proper units of measure right into the cart. Adjust quantities as desired, and click Update to see a new subtotal. When you’re done, pick your favorite shipping method, or choose "Least Expensive Method" to have us choose the best-priced method for your shipping zone.
We have spent thousands of hours scanning stock, editing pictures, entering data, and perfecting categories to make things easy to find. Please check it out, and let us know what you think!

9/15/02 — Turquoise Beads continue to be hot. Check out our newest selection of Chinese turquoise beads and Mexican Turquoise nuggets! We can barely keep turquoise in stock, so check our Web site often, and call us at 1 (800) 366-2156 to ask about availability of specific items.
7/30/02 — So many shipping options!
Many companies offer just three options, but we've discovered that no matter which shipping company you choose, they don't actually go everywhere in the world that our customers need their goods shipped. So we offer the most popular shipping methods provided by UPS, FedEx and the US Postal Service.
When you place an order, our salespeople will be happy to help you choose the shipping option that best fits your time frame and budget. Or, you can check out the information we've compiled:
1. Signature requirements, definitions, and other info that you might want to know about the FedEx, UPS and the USPS services we offer in the USA.
2. Domestic shipping rates, plus insurance and other fee charts.
3. International shipping rates, plus other information.

7/10/02 — Track your order online from our UPS Order Tracking page.

01/15/01 — We redesigned the Trade Bead section for ease of use and quicker download times.

09/29/00 — Some of our online Close-Out findings are a bit strange, but may fit a special purpose, and save you an expensive special order. Most of the Close-Out beads and charms were culled because we had too much variety... we didn't need six sizes of peace signs any more, or 10 styles of Mother of Pearl fetish beads. Be sure to check back later, we should have more close-outs online in December.

May 1998 — Canadian? Thinking about purchasing supplies from the U.S.? Please see our information on "informal importation" from the U.S. into Canada.

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