These “crimps with rings” accommodate beading chain or cord up to 2.2mm.

Crimp (flatten) only the center section of the tubes, leaving the ends intact.

Choose 0.8mm or 1.5mm inner ring diameter.  Size and shape will vary slightly.

Coming soon: new center-crimp tubes with hook, and new center-crimp tubes with loop!

It’s giant!

1 gross of engrossing pages

Someone pointed out that R&T’s new Super Supplement has a gross of pages (144 of them).

And the reports coming in say it’s engrossing reading.  Coincidence?

See and buy for yourself.  Thousands of beads, findings and more added since Rings & Things‘ main catalog came out last year!

Get your Super Supplement today!

It’s free with your order, hint hint

...or $75, or $50...

…with Rings & Things gift certificates.

The holidays are coming.

Drop hints to your loved ones now

We had a whole crew putting this new product through ITS paces…

Busily trying all kinds of ideas

Everyone had lots of inspirations they wanted to try out…

So many images to transfer, so much jewelry to make!

In the spirit of yesterday’s belt-buckle blog post, here’s another approach…

Impressionist belt buckles, anyone?

You can do so many things with Image Transfer Solution…

Amazing images

It was neat to see how a transferred image works when it’s overlaid on another design…

Try layering contrasting images

While we were at it, we tried out some new products we’re introducing…

Game spinners & sprocket gears (available soon!)

We learned tons from doing this workshop!  Soon you’ll see an ITS technique sheet on our website.  We’ve been adding more ITS-related items to our store, too, to enhance your experience.  Check out new Wetordry™ polishing paper for truly delicate hand-sanded results.  And Renaissance® micro-crystalline wax polish is a fantastic way to protect your transferred images!

Have you tried Image Transfer Solution yet?  It’s a marvelous way to create custom pendants, beads, and more…we’d love to hear of your experiences with it in a comment below!

Memories...

Image Transfer Solution (ITS) is a fluid that allows you to transfer images from laser/toner printers (but not ink jet) onto non-porous surfaces like metal, beach glass, wood, and unglazed tile. Using it is simple: it takes only heat-setting (in an oven or with a heat gun) and washing off the paper. ITS may also be mixed with pigments and used as paint on metal.

Photos or other images can be sealed between the tiny double panes of clear glass in new frame-charm findings to make custom keepsake jewelry. The bails of these frames measure 7mm (over 1/4 inch) inner diameter, large enough to fit most any cord. Platings currently on offer include ‘white’ metal and stylish copper plate. Three shapes enliven the charm of these handmade pendants, with rectangles, pentagons and squares available to set off the individuality of any cropped image. An assortment of these hinged picture-frame charms can make a treasured wearable photo album out of customers’ favorite snapshots, or even a gallery of art or choice found images.

Crafters shouldn’t forget to try out new shadow-box pendants as well. Also known as ‘dream boxes’, these findings have a single pane of glass in an antiqued-copper plated box that fits images about 1½ inch on a side. Display-box pendants like these can also be used to show off tiny prized treasures, from an antique coin or bead to a mini art assemblage.

Jewelry crafters may recall that resin-casting jewelry has made quite a sensation, and numerous bezel findings add even more possibilities for memory jewelry. All it takes is cutting an image to the appropriate size, gluing it into a setting like Rings & Things’ new sterling-silver bezel cups, and pouring in a small amount of epoxy resin such as EasyCast. The results are lasting memories in the form of pendants, earrings and other jewelry.

Suggest more memory-jewelry ideas in a comment!

If you do metalwork, making a smooth finished product is a major goal.  Dapping punches with their ball-shaped ends are a huge help.  They’re used to “dome” metal.  (So some call them “doming punches”.)  Think of adding depth to pendants…or making each half of your own unique bead!

“Dappling” punches (as we’ve also seen them called) are usually used in an affordable set with another dapping tool…

Dapping blocks are a block of wood or steel with domes (half-spheres) of various sizes indented into the sides.

You just place the metal, or metal clay, against one of the dimples in the dapping block.  Then you work it smooth, rounding it by “dapping” at it with the punch.

Dapping blocks are also wonderful for forming a domed filigree, as Mara Marlow did in her “Eglantyne” necklace for the Rings & Things Your Designs Rock design contest:

Domed filigrees made with a dapping block

Share dapping ideas — leave a comment!

We’ve added a whole passel of clip charms that are just too cute to skip blogging about.*  The wonderful thing about these little items is that they come with a little lobster clasp already attached.  So they’re incredibly easy & fast to attach & remove.  And you can keep a stock of them on hand to sell your customers some add-ons!

These are silver-plated dangle charms, averaging about an inch in size.  (In other words, they’re charms.) There are 20 of them at last count, and they’re all fun.  Let me throw some visuals at you…

Most of these clipon charms are decorated with colorful rhinestones, some with a choice of stone colors.  Try this heeled boot on for size:

Heeled boot clip-on charm

And for your summer beachcomber crowd, how about this flip-flop?

Flip-flop clip-on charm with jet rhinestones

We’ve also got rhinestoned peace signs, moons, hearts, stars, dragonflies, butterflies and this sweet little key:

Rhinestone key clip charm

Not all that glitters is rhinestones, though.  Some of these charms are enameled in detailed, glossy designs that will knock your customers’ socks off.  See if this ducky doesn’t float your boat:

Enameled ducky clip-on charm

Or go Tampa Bay with this buccaneer:

Enameled pirate skull clip charm

There are plenty more dangle designs to check out, so connect up with our full selection in the online store.  Remember, the code word is “stock number 44-810″.  (Or “d’nagly” if you work at Rings & Things.)

Have more ideas for using these clip-on dangle charms?  Share in a comment below!

Popular thing:  Findings that you can decorate by simply gluing on a focal piece.

Popular thing:  Rings (and things).

New, quality sterling adjustable ring findings

These have been hot items, and have generated lots of useful feedback from our customers.  You wanted these to be a little stronger, to withstand being adjusted from one ring size to another.  You also wanted nice silver rings.  We’ve acted on your requests!

Here’s our awesome new thing:  Improved-quality, glue-on adjustable ring findings in sterling silver.  We’ve added two styles: the ‘plain’ design shown above, and a snazzy ‘wavy’ design shown here:

'Wavy' adjustable ring findings from Rings & Things

Both of these rings can be easily adjusted to almost any finger size, large or small.  Their sleek minimalist designs are Rings & Things exclusives.

Add a nice bauble on the textured glue pad: how about fused or lampwork glass, or a flat-back gemstone?  For gluing, we recommend using a 2-part epoxy.  (E-6000 and Super New Glue also work great!)  These rings can also be soldered!

We’re always interested in what you think of our items.  (That’s why we’re running our Product Reviews contest through July–see below.)  You can leave a comment here to make more “wish” suggestions!

Cold connections are the secret to this "Unity bracelet"

I thought I’d start this with the stylish “Unity” bracelet we’ve just added to our Design Gallery.  Unity is all about joining together and making connections.  So let’s talk about a hot topic — metals in jewelry — in a cool way: cold connections.

Copper is still really popular in jewelry, and now the fun metal-stamping trend has fully taken shape too.  If you love the metals, but don’t want to go as far as (say) chainmaille, how do you integrate more delicate items with them?

Susan Lenart Kazmer's book "Making Connections"

A new book in our store brings some very exciting suggestions.  “Making Connections: A Handbook of Cold Joins for Jewellers and Mixed-Media Artists“, by Susan Lenart Kazmer, is full of inventive, attractive ways to unite fragile, even organic materials with metal in your jewelry designs.  The results are great to look at, fun to wear, and fascinating to the touch.

The author shows you quite a range of ways to put hand tools to use in altering “found” objects, wrapping, riveting, and much more.  This resource is really going to turn the crank (sorry) of the metal worker in you! You’ll also get to peruse the artist’s techniques, her sketches and projects she’s created using the ideas she teaches here.

This 143-page full-color hardback is coming to print in our Summer 2009 Supplement!

Do you have cold-connections tips of your own — or questions about this concept?  Leave a comment!

Here’s a fun glimpse of some kinds of stuff you can make with resin!  If any of the words below have a particular sparkle, they were borrowed from Sunny Barrington.  (I’m trying to get her to blog here!)

wee-little clothespins (in goo)

• Tiny powder blue and soft pink clothespins safely ensconced in a protective resin coating, nestled inside a mold for shape-a-tivity. These strange little creations may eventually be turned into something quite suitable for a mother-to-be with a fondness for bric-a-brac.

Monkeys, weeds, hardening goop...who could ask for more?

drink monkey & the living weeds

• A sprightly monkey takes the big drink and commits to a life inside a resin rectangle.  It’s doubtful whether this pending creation will contribute to the world of jewelry creations much beyond the eye candy level…
• Next to the monkey, you will find some weed blossoms that were submerged (while alive) into a receptive resin-y grave.  Not too sure how this will turn out, but determined that the posies were positioned to look best from the back… oops-a-daisy.

See more unbridled resinaceous inspirations in the Rings & Things resin photostream!

Have something you’d like to see dipped in this stuff?  Leave a comment to request an experiment…