Archive for March, 2009

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5 things you didn’t know about our bead shows

Friday, March 13th, 2009

In honor of our “on the road” season, starting today in Houston and going till some time in November…

russ_troll_masthead

Russ the Bead, perched high atop the Rings & Things bead truck

5 things you didn’t know about Rings & Things’ BeadTour:

  • “Our trunk shows grew out of doing a hotel room show nearby a trade show. In that case it was an order-only glass or ceramic craft show. We couldn’t sell any stock and had lots of one of a kind strands that sold best at delivery shows. We had a booth at the show and invited our customers to walk a block to the hotel and see our delivery goods there. It worked. [General manager] Kim said “Ah HAH!” and the R&T trunk shows were born.” — our owner Russ
  • Our crew packed up one show & immediately left town to avoid AM rush hour next day in another city. But busy small-town streets ate up their head start… Then, at our hotel, no one could find any of the boxes of stock that we’d had shipped to us. We spent an hour and a half tracking the shipment, watching video surveillance tapes and finally, finding them in the restaurant storage. One box (of 16 boxes) was marked “Plated Chain” so the hotel had put it all with Plates and China in the kitchen!! Our general manager Kim was disappointed that our crew’s lunch was not served on “plated chain.”
    (We maintain a whole web page of more funny things that’ve happened at our shows!)
  • We’ve done about 600 shows in dozens of cities in 36 states, selling [secret number deleted :) ] tons of beads every year.
  • Our bead shows are a great way to personally meet a bunch of the Rings & Things people you deal with by phone, email, and Internet.  So you can come say hi and pick our brains about nearly any subject!
  • If you really really look, you might see Russ the Bead (above) at our shows!

Have a favorite “R&T” bead show story?  Any questions about our shows?  Comment below…and be automatically entered in our drawing!

March news: New monthly drawing, right here on the Rings & Things blog.  Here’s how it works:
* You enter by leaving comments. Comment on any March post(s).
* At the end of March, I’ll randomly draw 2 winners of surprise goodie packs! …So read the blog regularly to see if you won!

Tags: ,
Posted in Events | 2 Comments »

Argentium™ is excellentium!

Thursday, March 12th, 2009
argentium_beadbugle

Argentium™ sterling silver makes great, tarnish-resistant jewelry components!

Rings & Things was one of the first places to have findings made in Argentium™.  We have a good selection and a lot of information about this product.  (Thank you to those who’ve complimented us for this!)  Here’s a bit about why Argentium is so great for your jewelry:

What is it? Argentium is sterling silver with a small amount of germanium used in the alloy.  This unprecedented, patented material is redefining the jewelry industry. Argentium sterling silver has dramatically better tarnish resistance than standard sterling silver and is much more durable. While it still contains the 92.5% fine silver legally required for sterling, Argentium replaces about 1% of the normal copper content in sterling with germanium, significantly altering the alloy’s properties.

Why is it so great? Argentium is:

  • Tarnish resistant: A light dusting or occasional wipe with a soft cloth is all you need to keep its shine. The resistance actually increases over time (the germanium atoms migrate to the surface, which allows the protective germanium oxide layer to regenerate).
  • Resistant to dents, scratches and abrasion.
  • Better for the environment because it doesn’t develop firescale (a reddish patina) when heated, which eliminates processes that use hazardous materials needed to strip firescale from standard sterling materials.
  • Laser weldable, opening new design possibilities.
  • Can be hardened (through thermal conditioning) to be almost twice as tough as standard sterling.

Also, both sterling silver and Argentium sterling silver should be equally unlikely to bother the ears of most people.

What Argentium findings can you get? Rings & Things makes many Argentium findings:

We also carry Argentium wire.

Check out our great selection of jewelry parts in this neat new alloy.  We think you’ll love it!  Enjoy browsing our free Design Gallery for all kinds of jewelry designs using Argentium, like this “Pearls of Wisdom” necklace:

argentium_pearl_necklace0

Do you have a favorite Argentium component?  Looking for more?  Drop a note below!

March news: New monthly lottery, right here on the Rings & Things blog.  Here’s how it works:
* You enter by leaving comments. Comment on any March post(s).
* At the end of March, I’ll randomly draw 2 winners of surprise goodie packs! …So read the blog regularly to see if you won!

Posted in About Rings & Things | 5 Comments »

Pearls Before Swine

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

pearls_before_swine

Dave,

Of course I want to say “ham, bacon, sausage, ham hock….”  But, instead I used the following R&T’s parts for the “Pearls before Swine” Necklace (this is from memory since Val has the necklace):

Qty Stock Description
1          Found Item              Plastic pink pig (couple inches long?) (sub other plastic critters at will)
2         #44-150-7 Filigree, Harvest, AC
16″      #40-099-08-7 Chain, Ftage, Curb, 2.8mm, AC
9         #37-136-7 Jump Ring, Round, Medium, AC
1         #37-422-7 Head Pin, 2″, Standard, AC
3         #37-722-7 Eye Pin, 2″, Standard, AC
1         #39-343-7 Clasp, Lobster, 12mm, Brass, AC
4         #05-810-08-201 Crystal, Bead, Round, Pearl, LtCrmRose

Happy blogging!

Mollie

PS:  This is Sondra’s pig–I pignapped him for the necklace; just a little jewelry surprise for her–she has no idea he is even gone.

March news: New monthly lottery, right here on the Rings & Things blog.  Here’s how it works:
* You enter by leaving comments. Comment on any March post(s).
* At the end of March, I’ll randomly draw 2 winners of surprise goodie packs! …So read the blog regularly to see if you won!

Posted in designing | 2 Comments »

Looking ahead to April birthstones

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

Regular readers will know that I try to write about each upcoming month’s birthstones.  For April, it’s more of a challenge to match the birthstones with Rings & Things stock.  Which is great, because I love having gantlets thrown down in front of me.  :)

I want to dig right in with Diamond.  We don’t sell many diamonds here, if you mean that carbon-based life form that telepathically makes people act weird.  What we have (at the moment I’m writing) are “cash & carry” fancy strands of rough diamond beads, at our bead shows only.  (Which start this Friday, March 13th!)  Here’s a peek at them:

diamonds

But for a great diamond-y look, spend a moment checking out clear crystal beads!  05-301-07-01 They’re faceted, and they’re as brilliant as many gems are.  Clear rock crystal quartz beads rock_crystal_quartz_21-000-036-16 can be mighty nice-looking, too…And don’t forget the countless diamond-shaped gemstone beads you can find through our store’s “Search by Shape” feature!

Sapphire is another April birthstone.  It’s also a little “precious” for us, since we specialize in semiprecious gemstones.  But again, great color matches are on hand.  Try sapphire_teardrop_crystal_06-000-11-18sapphire crystals and  sapphire_e_bead_23-264-452 sapphire glass beads.

carnelian_faceted_rondelles_21-000-006-19

Carnelian is the third traditional birthstone of March.  Browse our selection to see all the great shapes of beads made of this stone in our store.  (Pictured above: 12mm faceted rondelles.)

banner_beadtour

To match any of these stones, you can always come to Rings & Things’ “BeadTour” shows near you!  The new season starts this Friday, March 13, with our Houston show…We specialize in great-priced gemstone beads at our road shows, so it should be well worth your while.

Have more birthstone substitutes to suggest?  Talk about them by leaving a comment!

March news: New monthly lottery, right here on the Rings & Things blog.  Here’s how it works:
* You enter by leaving comments. Comment on any March post(s).
* At the end of March, I’ll randomly draw 2 winners of surprise goodie packs! …So read the blog regularly to see if you won!

Tags:
Posted in birthstones | 4 Comments »

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