Archive for the ‘Rings & Things products’ Category
Friday, March 5th, 2010
With “that” movie coming out today, we’ve seen quite a lot of craft activity on an Alice in Wonderland theme. Here’s a visual suggestion…
We put together a quick list of R&T items that fit an Alice in Wonderland theme. Pictured above:
And that’s just for starters. Search in our online store for “rabbit”, “watch”, “teapot”, “key”, “playing card” and more, for endless design inspirations! (Extra bonus — the cup & saucer charm might help you sell to the tea-party folks.)
What’s your Alice jewelry inspiration? Let us know in a comment below!
Tags: alice in wonderland, alice in wonderland beads, alice in wonderland charms, alice in wonderland jewelry, beads, caterpillar bead, charms, cup & saucer charm, cupcake bead, key charm, mushroom bead, mushroom charm, playing card bead, playing card charm, pocket watch charm, rabbit charm, rose charm, teapot bead, teapot clasp
Posted in Rings & Things products, Trendspotting | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Here’s a great little tip on tracking down large-holed beads…
On page 491 of R&T’s Super Supplement 2010, we share a cool search feature for finding large-hole ‘beadable’ beads on our online store.
When only a large-hole bead will do
Just enter “BFMB” in the search box; this will currently bring up 325 items, from crow beads to ring beads to genuine coins, that have been identified as fitting* on our line of beadable products.
(Beadables include pens, cheese knives, bookmarks and more — all of them customizable with your choice of beads.)
In case you are wondering, BFMB stands for “Beadable Finding Mandrel Beads”.
*Some beads, particularly the large-hole gemstone beads, may still require a bit of reaming.
Tags: beadable findings, beads, bfmb, how to find large-hole beads, large hole beads, large holed beads, super supplement
Posted in Catalogs & supplements, Rings & Things products | No Comments »
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
The following is loosely based on an actual press release.
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 
Tags: 2010 super supplement, bead catalog, beads, catalog supplement, findings, r&t catalog, rings & things, rings & things catalog, super supplement
Posted in About Rings & Things, New products, Rings & Things products | 2 Comments »
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
BIG L, little l, what begins with L?
you may be pounding metal — but you don’t have to shout…
lower case, italics even
case-insensitivity was never so beautiful
- in other words, these new ‘little-letter’ metal stamps are a trend you can capitalize on.
typewriters are gone, but metal letters live on
the fine print is all good news: our price is really competitive (and you won’t find these with many suppliers). the stamps come in rather attractive wood boxes. made in the u.s.a. = quality tempered steel.
what other metal-stamping trends have you spotted? leave a comment (no caps please)
Tags: jewelry making tools, lower case metal stamps, metal stamping, metal stamping supplies, metal stamps, small letters metal stamps, steampunk, tool, type charms, typewriter key charms
Posted in Rings & Things products, Tools | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
There’s quite a community of jewelry designers showing off Rings & Things beads and components. Here’s the latest 3 sightings, in Stringing magazine’s Winter 2009 issue:
Stringing magazine
Michelle Mach’s “Jazz Baby” necklace appears on page 64, riffing on the gunmetal theme with eye pins, jump rings, lobster clasp, and figaro and ’round/oval’ ring chains. Accenting these are size 6 seed beads and lampwork rondelle beads… ▼
"Jazz Baby"
"Time's Toolbox"
▲ …Melanie Brooks’ “Time’s Toolbox” necklace, also based on gunmetal, is on page 66 of the same issue. A ceramic focal from her Earthenwood Studio really clicks with the accompanying hammered oval chain and mesh-style links. Jump rings, both brass and an extra-heavy 13mm style, compliment a clasp in antiqued brass. (An added design suggestion: R&T’s sterling silver puzzle clasp would build on this design’s mixed-metals theme very nicely.)
With her “Amusing Grace” necklace on page 69, Melanie follows her productive steampunk muse farther. A gear link and keyhole focal, also from Earthenwood Studio, make this winning design tick. (Possible substitutes would be metal keyhole pendants, ceramic gear beads and eyepins. Throw in skeleton-key charms and some added value in the form of a vintage center-holed coin!) There’s also jump rings (extra-heavy gunmetal ones in 13mm, and brass ones); bead caps; rollo chain (3.9mm, in brass), lobster clasps, eye pins and head pins (all in brass, the latter in 2-inch 21-gauge), and colored craft wire (in 20-gauge). ▼
"Amusing Grace"
Tags: amusing grace, As seen in, bead caps, center holed coins, ceramic beads, clasps, earthenwood studio, eye pins, eyepins, gear beads, gunmetal findings, hammered oval chain, head pins, headpins, jazz baby, jump rings, keyhole pendants, lampwork beads, lobster clasps, melanie brooks, mesh style links, michelle mach, mixed metals, puzzle clasps, ring chain, rollo chain, rondelle beads, seed bead, size 6 seed beads, skeleton key charms, steampunk, stringing magazine, time's toolbox
Posted in As seen in, Findings, Rings & Things products, beads | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
Rings & Things got a friendly challenge from the nice people at Soft Flex®. (Hi Sara!) Could we come up with designs based on their new beading-wire Trios?
You be the judge!
Click on any picture here to see a full-size version in our Design Gallery, complete with a parts list and instructions…
Our Polly went “West of Java” for the source of this tactile delight, a turquoise-and-lava set of earrings and necklace. If life gives you Mt. Krakatoa, make lava beads ▼
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↑ R&T’s Cindy makes you a star with her “Tiffany” bracelet, while our Valorie spruces you up with her “Renewal” earrings ↓
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Obviously inspired by the Trios theme, Cindy created a group of additional designs: ▲ the “Serene” bracelet and the “Panthera” necklace ▼
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Her design meditations on the Trios also resulted in these “Om” & “Ocean Twist” necklaces ↑ and this sign of a fair and verdant Spring, the “Drops of April” bracelet ↓
Tags: design gallery, drops of april bracelet, ocean twist necklace, om necklace, panthera necklace, renewal earrings, serene bracelet, soft flex, soft flex girl, soft flex trios, tiffany bracelet, west of java earrings, west of java necklace, wire trios
Posted in About Rings & Things, Rings & Things products, designing | 1 Comment »
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
We thought it’d be fun to share paparazzi photos of Rings & Things beads on stars.
Then we thought, why not feature some Bead Stars?!
Good Advice
Erin Prais-Hintz won second place in Bead Star’s “heart designs” division. Her whimsical “Good Advice” on pages 26 and 71 to 72 cleverly deploys quite a mix of Rings & Things items…
Beads:
Findings:
Wire:
Erin is a Rings & Things blog partner, by the way!
Falling Leaves
In the “pearls” division, second-place winner Susan White’s “Falling Leaves” (pages 38 and 77-78) mines a vein of copper tones…
Fragile Love
Another R&T blog partner, Heather Powers, won third place in the “gemstones” division with her Fragile Love (pages 57 and 86), backed up by these Rings & Things items:
Beads and such:
Findings and stringing materials:
Carnelian Garland
Finally, Mary Harding McCallion scored an honorable mention in the “stones” division with her Carnelian Garland (pages 58 and 86 to 87). Mary shows that you want trusty findings to back up your fine focal pieces…
For gemstone bead combinations like the ones in Mary’s garland, check out Rings & Things’ selection of:
(PS, see the magazine for the wonderful finished projects!)
Tags: amazonite beads, bead star, bead star magazine, beading wire, beads, bicone beads, botswana agate beads, carnelian beads, carnelian garland, clasps, cone ends, copper beads, copper wire, coral beads, coral branch charms, coral charms, craft wire, crimp tubes, crimping tubes, crimps, dagger beads, daisy spacers, double-link chain, end pieces, erin prais-hintz, eye pins, eyepins, falling leaves, findings, fragile love, freshwater pearls, gemstone beads, glass beads, good advice, gunmetal chain, head pins, headpins, heart clasps, heart pendants, heather powers, jump rings, jumprings, leaf pendants, link findings, mary harding, mesh tubing, oval chain, pearls, post beads, pyrite beads, rondelle beads, russian amazonite beads, seed beads, seedbeads, silver beads, silver wire, spacer beads, spacers, sun charms, sun pendants, susan white, teardrop beads, toggle clasps, toggle type clasps, toggles, tube beads, word beads
Posted in As seen in, Community, Rings & Things products, beads | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
Anne, who you may have talked with when you phone Rings & Things, had an inspired idea that I want to share.
Anne was asked by a customer: “I love bracelet blanks, but can I get some that are even bigger?” Her response was, “I think I can custom-make some!”
Bolo slides make bigger, custom bracelet blanks
Bolo slides are the ticket. Here’s a great way to multi-purpose this otherwise kind of obscure finding! Just add basemetal link findings, which we sell by the hundreds. Finish the bracelet easily with a fold-over clasp.
Anne used a very cute link with heart pattern in the right-hand bracelet here. In the left one are plain links in antique pewter, for an even more versatile base for your glass or ceramic focal pieces. Another good-looking possibility is to use rope-pattern links (shown above, but here’s a closeup):
Rope-pattern link
Hats off to Anne for her ingenuity, and for sharing this neat jewelry crafts tip with all of us!
Tags: anne, bolo findings, bolo slides, bracelet blanks, clasp findings, craft tips, disk and loop bracelets, fold over clasps, heart pattern links, link findings, plain links, rope pattern links
Posted in About Rings & Things, Rings & Things products, multipurposing | 4 Comments »
Monday, December 28th, 2009
Glitter spoiler — don your sunglasses before you scroll down!
Santa lampwork + pearl
Do you ever phone Rings & Things? If not yet, you should, to enjoy some truly kind customer service. If you have, you know we have a mighty creative bunch working here.
Today they had a Sales department holiday party. Their tiny, tinsely Xmas tree was adorned with handmade ornaments.
Above: Lampwork Santa, freshwater pearl, copper wire wrapping, and leather cord. Below: Chain, wire, crystal bicone beads, brass star charm, and mother of pearl rectangle ring bead.
Star charm + mother of pearl link
Below: Copper wire, lampwork snowman and gunmetal link, filigree, chain and filigree bead.
Lampwork snowman
Share your holiday ornament ideas below!
Tags: christmas beads, copper wire, crafts wire, crystal beads, crystal bicones, filigree beads, filigree findings, freshwater pearls, gunmetal findings, holiday ornaments, jewelry chain, lampwork santa, lampwork snowman, leather cord, mother of pearl beads, ornament designs, ornament ideas, pearls, star charms
Posted in About Rings & Things, Rings & Things products, Seasons greetings | 2 Comments »
