Archive for November, 2008

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Customers, meet our costumers!

Friday, November 21st, 2008

Before it’s too late and the Thanksgiving/Christmas seasons totally swamp us, we wanted to share some pictures from Rings & Things’ Halloween costume contest.  We think you’ll agree, our coworkers are not only talented jewelry makers (and sellers), but pretty great costume designers too!

Let’s start with the top vote-getters.  Here’s the first prize winner and Elf Warrior Princess:

Second place was this marketing-department “Product Pimp”–you’ll have to squint through the glitter:

Third prize was the revenge of “Mr.” Poindexter (with some help from Daisy Mae):

And if you can spare another moment, here are a couple more popular costumes.  We liked this little girl from the “Village of the Damned”, although she kind of scared us…

In case the horror got out of hand, we had a knight in shining armor:

We’re still taking bets on who would win a matchup between this he-man and Princess Adora’s alter ego (you know, the Princess of Power?).  She was present but not pictured here…


The moral of this story is, you can’t run a business with customers only…you need costumers too!

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Riddle: How can jewelry keep your fingers warm?!

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

How can jewelry keep your fingers warm?  Here’s a hint: we’re not talking about rings or bracelets.

As the cold weather weather comes back, one way to warm up those digits is to keep on crafting.  Another way is to create something that people can use with mittens on.  The best of both worlds is yours with zipper pulls!

You see this kind of jewelry “outer wear” less often than necklaces and other next-to-the-skin baubles.  So you may be wondering, “What’s a zipper pull?”  Just as the name implies, this is a decorative accent that you clip onto your coat zipper, or zippers.  The attachment is via a simple swivel clip or lobster clasp, decorated with any kind of charms and beads that strike your fancy.  (Also, one of our employees swears by our changeable-bead pendant as a zipper pull, even without adornments.)

These pulls add just enough of a handle for gloved or mittened hands to grab onto a zipper.  This lets you snug up without freezing your fingers!

Rings & Things offers several fun free designs to get you zipping along.  The one above is our “Spritely Seeker” zipper pull idea.  Below, check out our “Skeletor” zipper pull design:

Another design that you may find “fasten-ating” (sorry!) is our “Crock” zipper pull.  It’s seen here from a distance to give you an idea how zipper accessories can really blend in with clothing:

Keep in mind that these and all zipper pulls also double very nicely as trendy keychain charms, so you’ve got a couple of angles for marketing your productions throughout the seasons.

These and many more great design ideas are always available for your free use in our Design Gallery.  Zip on over and get those ideas, and fingers, in motion!

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New hematite connectors: solid link!

Friday, November 14th, 2008

Need to iron out some wrinkles in your jewelry making?  Missing a link that would perfectly evolve your designs?  Hook up with four new connector findings in an unusual material, hematite!  We think you’ll find they bring in a rock solid look.  Here’s the lowdown:

We’ve added two of these connectors in a button style (having two holes).  These are both contoured ovals. The smaller connector is 18x13mm, which is about 3/4″ x 1/2″.  The larger connector is 28x22mm, or about 1 1/8″ x 7/8″.  The holes are large enough for a pretty substantial cord, being 4-4.5mm wide in the smaller style, and 5-5.5mm in the larger.  Both connectors are fairly thick too, at 4mm and 6mm respectively.

The other two hematite connectors just added are in a “square donut” style.  As you can see, the first one is actually a rectangular donut!  It’s 30x22mm (about 1 1/4″ x 7/8″).  The other is a 30x30mm square donut (so 1 1/4″ on a side).  These are a little less thick than the button styles, at 4mm and 3.5mm respectively.

As with all of our hematite products, Rings & Things likes to point out that this is a manmade material.  The real thing is nearly impossible to get these days at a reasonable price.  (For more information on this gemstone, read in our popular Gemstone Beads Index.)  The artificial version is nearly indistinguishable from natural hematite, and has the advantages of better price and of being available in many more interesting shapes–like the ones above.

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R&T goes to Great Lengths to bring you cool designs

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

The December 2008 issue of Simply Beads magazine has hit the news stands, and Rings & Things’s designs are featured in it!  Check out our latest inspirations for neckwear in a two-page R&T-sponsored design spread called “Great Lengths“.  The four featured designs in the article are these:

  • “The Asphalt Jungle” (yes, you’ve seen that before–it’s also been in our Fall 2008 supplement)

Our Great Lengths web page, and the individual Designer Tip Sheets for these projects, all link directly to the products in our online store that each uses.  So it just takes a click to go from admiring to ordering…and on to creating!

Aside from the Great Lengths article, Rings & Things is credited as the source of parts in another 4 projects in the same issue:

To see Rings & Things featured in other issues, you can visit our site’s Simply Beads page.

Even more media sightings of R&T can be found in our “Saw us in a Publication?” page.  It’s a great way to track down exactly which Rings & Things stock those published designers are using, so you can re-create that look!

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