Posts Tagged ‘justatish’

Top jewelry components of ‘09!

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

Happy New Year!  It’s Wednesday afternoon, and I’m adding your votes, live-blogging style! (My vote is “wood chain“.  My R&T coworkers vote for “picture frame pendants“, “chain on spools“, “resin“…)

I bet this’ll turn out to be a nice shopping list for anyone who wants to make great jewelry.  (Or to buy that person a birthday gift…) :)

  • 1st vote:  Peace sign charms  (@SatinDollCo)Top_10_49-942-08-ap
  • 2nd vote: PEWTER FLEUR-DE-LIS CHARMS (@rhapsodiejandg)Top_10_49-947-19-as
  • 3rd vote: Gunmetal chain . . . but perhaps that’s wishful thinking on my part. I love it! (@CrazyCraftChick)Top_10_40-099-36-9
  • 4th vote:  Filigrees (Andrea Twombly) (in her comment below)Top_10_charms_filigree_goldplate
  • 5th vote: I vote for Swarovski Crystals… ALWAYS!  (@AlsoMrsB)Top_10_45-400-01
  • 6th vote: Gunmetal Oval Chain – like you expected me to say something else? – Suzann@Beadphoria.com (Suzann Sladcik Wilson) (via Facebook — we’re getting responses all over!)Top_10_40-099-33-9
  • 7th vote: Headpins with interesting finials! (Diana B) (in a comment below)Top_10_fancy_head_pins
  • 8th vote: My vote – gemstone faceted rondelles – like this lapis, YUM!!!! http://tinyurl.com/ybl49ee (JustATish)Top_10_21-908-020

Tweet or FB your vote to me and I’ll add them in real time ☺ Dave

Thank-you Friday

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

Thanks to a number of kind people who talked about Rings & Things in the last week…

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Bead Origami has already made some splendid beaded beads she shows in her blog, that use amethyst just bought at our trunk show.

In other tour-related blogging, KJ at the Silver Parrot tantalized us with a promise to show off her discoveries at our latest bead showAJ at Erthefae managed a mini-vacation to our BeadTour show and to the Bead Museum in Arizona…lucky!  SoftFlex Girl Sara also managed to visit us at the Phoenix show, and blogged about it.

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Heather at Humblebeads paired some Rings & Things brown lava beads with some cool, lustrous-toned beads and a striking handmade wing pendant in her Earth Angel necklace.

Heather also posted a nice-looking “Luna Flor” (Moon Flower) bracelet design at the Art Bead Scene blog.  Dawno at Dawno’s Beaded Badge Lanyards devoted one day’s post to interviewing me.  I’m humbled…  She also wrote up an informative review of Rings & Things’ black rattail cord!

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Tish over at JustATish wrote up a nice project using some of our hammered-oval gunmetal chain for a necklace and matching earrings!

Margot Potter put up a fun design of her own, the Peekaboo mixed-media necklace, at her Impatient Crafter blog.

A discussion over at Etsy about “what free gift do you include in your sent-out orders?” mentioned our candy in a positive light.  The conversation generated a huge amount of response, by the way, and is really worth reading to get your marketing gears turning.

Thanks so much to everyone who found us worth talking about this week!

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!

More uses for choker forms

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009

In the spirit of multipurposing that our “grow your business” project often mentions, we’d like to report on some great uses people have recently invented for Rings & Things’ chokers.

We’ve been seeing some brilliant applications of wire-wrapping to our choker forms.  A number of ideas involve wrapping part or all of the form itself.  This turquoisey design is from Tish:

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Another take by Tish on the wrapped-choker idea:

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Dawno combined an inspiration from abstract artist Piet Mondrian with choker wrapping:

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Melanie at Earthenwood Studios found our choker blank provided a good structure to express her ongoing steampunk inspiration:

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At her “A Bead A Day” blog, Lisa wrapped the entire choker form and added a pendant and coordinating bead accents:

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In a similar vein, Tish went for a softer feel, designing a loosely ribbon-wrapped choker:

justatish_img_8742 (Tish provides a full, excellent tutorial on making this one!)

How about wrapping wire on some other element of your design?  Dawno beaded the choker form itself, but wrapped the great dangles in this design:

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And Lisa made a stunning wire-wrapped focal piece in this choker design:

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Another wire-wrapping idea for a focal is this stunning bit of sculpture by Dawno:

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Somewhat more minimal wire work is involved in the hammered tendrils dangling from this “Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright” choker by Margot Potter, a.k.a. The Impatient Crafter:

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What’s your inpiration for using choker forms?  Share a comment–or even a picture!

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!