Posts Tagged ‘findings’

Bezel cups “runneth” over

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Bezel cups -- findings for resin jewelry making!

Bezel cups -- findings for resin jewelry making!

Rings & Things is introducing cool new bezel cups in its line of wholesale findings. You’ll have a lot of fun using these to make resin jewelry that expresses your creative personality!

They’re made of solid raw brass, and basically look like teeny tiny saucepans (1/8″ deep) — only they have a loop or two loops, instead of a handle. You just pour resin or epoxy right into them.

Turn one-loop bezel cups into nifty custom pendants; make the two-loopers into connectors. Both styles come in either round or oval shape, and either of two sizes.  (Broadly speaking, they’re in the neighborhood of an inch.)

Down in the lab, Rings & Things has discovered quite a few fun things that “resinate” nicely into EasyCast or other resin, in bezel cups. We’ve implanted tiny toys, glitter, candy sprinkles, and little cutouts from photos or other images. (For these, cut out right-sized images using our free template.)

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We’re bringing in a full range of great epoxy resin supplies, like Castin’Craft items, to go along with these bezel cups. You can rig out your resin workspace with molding equipment, a resin how-to book, pigments, mixing suppliesand more.

You can also capitalize on Rings & Things’ line of TierraCast® frame charms and square-cup rings to explore even more resin-casting possibilities. Additional resources include our free .PDF “Tips for Epoxy Resin” sheet and the growing roster of resin jewelry in the Design Gallery.

Have a great resin jewelry-making tip?  Share, share!  Leave a comment below…

DON’T MISS OUR June-July giveaway:
* in our online store, find a fave product & review it there, then…
* …leave a comment about it at the contest article in our blog
* On August 3, five winners will receive coveted Rings & Things gift certificates!
* Enter often & see if you win!

Exclusive new ring findings

Monday, June 29th, 2009

You asked, we listened:  Rings & Things adds a great new thing…

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

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

'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!

DON’T MISS OUR June-July giveaway:
* in our online store, find a fave product & review it there, then…
* …leave a comment about it at the contest article in our blog
* On August 3, five winners will receive coveted Rings & Things gift certificates!
* Enter often & see if you win!

Strand enhancers enhance your business

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

Looking at the new Wedding / Bridal / Prom section that we’re building in our Design Gallery, I learned a technique…

Strand enhancers can grow your business.  For a second, I thought this might mean “necklace extenders“, which are amazingly useful findings themselves.

But no, strand enhancers are yet a different way of offering extra value to your jewelry customers.  They instantly make any necklace into a “Y” necklace, as @wendytgibson put it on Twitter.  See one detache, and one in action, in this “Always a Bridesmaid” necklace design:

The "Always a Bridesmaid" design from Rings & Things

The "Always a Bridesmaid" design from Rings & Things

For this necklace, designer Cindy made the “pearl enhancer” with a #39-541-11 9×15mm oval no-trigger lobster clasp, in sterling silver.  Have a custom wedding order?  You can make clip-on strand enhancers with colors that match the bridesmaids’ dresses!

You can take this idea to craft fairs and jewelry shops too!  Offer necklace-buying customers a matching strand enhancer for a little sales bump.  They let the customer multi-purpose her necklace, choosing the style she wants.  And they’re easy to make — so you could even offer to “build to order”.  As @CreationsWHeart (also on Twitter) pointed out, “I can see how you could come up w/ a ton of designs whether it’s on a chain or beaded necklace! How fun!”

PS: A little extra design trick is to use seed beads in a pearl necklace like the one seen here.  They’re easy, affordable spacers and they take far less time than knotting the cord!

Want to suggest more necklace design tricks and tips?  Share them in a comment below.  You’ll be entered in our raffle!

May giveaway:
* You enter by leaving comments this month
* At the end of May, 2 winners will receive coveted Rings & Things goodie packs!
*
So read the blog regularly, to enter a lot & to see if you won!

Multi-purposing your art beads: Beadable pen findings (& more)

Friday, March 27th, 2009

Rings & Things has introduced a popular line of beadable-pen findings, perfect for displaying art beads!

These pens are the perfect partner for any bead artisan’s wares.  (Lampwork? Clay? The possibilities go on…)  They’re also a great way of showing customers that they can “multi-purpose” any beads they buy from you.

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Artists can set off the charms of their glass, ceramic, metal or other bead creations to maximum advantage by pairing them with a choice of pen colors.  A range of seven hues, from pearl white or matte silver to burgundy or copper, is on hand.

Made of genuine brass alloy, these blue-ink beadable ballpoints have an anodized finish. Each pen is 6″ long with a 2.5″ beadable section (adjustable by 0.125″).  The pen nib retracts with a twist.  The rod (mandrel) is 3/32″, perfect for showing off lampwork beads with 2.5mm holes or greater. The metal casing has good heft, unlike plastic varieties.  The shorter threads of the rod screw into the base of the pen.

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These pens become even more of a permanent treasure with the addition of optional ink refills.  Refills are offered separately in either black or blue ink.

We carry an ever-growing line of ‘beadable’ specialty findings, from magnifying glasses to lighter covers to bookmarks.  Keep an eye on our site for more new items that you can bead in various ways!

Have a favorite beadable finding?  Looking for one but haven’t found just the right thing yet?  Leave a comment below to talk about it!

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!