Jewelry Designer Blog

December 31, 2010

New Years Silver Charms and Prize Drawing!

Filed under: Contests, Giveaways — Tags: , , — Anna @ 8:00 am

Guess who's who for a chance to win!

New Years always makes me thinks of new beginnings, a fresh start, and new life. Here at Nina Designs we offer an array of sterling silver charms to celebrate the newly arrived little ones in all our lives.

Honor the special moments of growing up with customizable stamping blanks such as our baby block or baby foot charms. Celebrate baby’s first birthday with their name custom stamped on our new hand print stamping charm. Combined with a petite gold wish bone, the sweet little necklace will bring you and your bundle of joy lots of luck in the years to come.

Feeling nostalgic? Encapsulate the joys of childhood in a menagerie of whimsical charms – like our Sweet Dreams Necklace. A charming little silver rocking horse mingles with a wishing star and dreamy colored tourmalines.

Feeling nostalgic ourselves, we’ve created a menagerie of our own childhood moments. Can you guess who’s who? Compare our childhood photos to our grown up photos on our About Us page. Leave a comment with your best guess and be entered in a drawing to win your own “little Ella Necklace” (left blank for your own customizing)! You will have until January 6th to leave your comments. The winner will be announced on our blog on January 7th.

Good Luck and Happy New Year!

December 22, 2010

Time to give away some jewelry findings

Filed under: Giveaways — Tags: , , — juanita @ 11:04 am

Hello Everyone! Today I’m excited to announce the winner of our latest GIVEAWAY of jewelry findings. Shannon Schoon . . . congratulations, you won $100 in jewelry findings! Please contact juanita@ninadesigns.com to claim your prize.

A big thanks to everyone who took a little time from their busy schedules to provide feedback on our jewelry findings.

Reading and writing Product Reviews is a powerful consumer tool we are happy to introduce to Nina Designs. You can find product reviews in the description of every jewelry finding we sell. The next time a little white box from Nina Designs arrives on your doorstep and you tear into it to find something magical inside that makes your heart sing, please don’t hesitate to share the love. It takes just a second to write a review . . . and I’m sure the next jewelry designer will appreciate your time very much. And, even if something was not quite what you expected and you find yourself a bit disappointed, please take a little time to share this feedback with others too.

Do you like to read product reviews when shopping on the Internet?

Shannon Schoon you won $100 in jewelry findings!

December 20, 2010

Did your Secret Santa bring you any jewelry findings?

Filed under: Behind the Scenes — Tags: — juanita @ 11:26 am

We take the designing and marketing of silver jewelry findings pretty seriously here at Nina Designs, but we’re also very serious about having fun. This year for our Secret Santa Day we decided to wear funky holiday sweaters. You know . . . the ones your mother-in-law, aunt, or sister gives you every year without fail. Those of us not so blessed to own a funky holiday sweater already had to make the trek to our local drugstore to find one. After scouring the entire East Bay selection of convenience and drug stores with no luck, we discovered that ugly holiday sweater parties are hugely popular this season! All the clerks said they’ve been wiped out. So funny. Who knew? Carly had to make due with crazy holiday toe socks!

The rest of us just dug out any old ugly sweaters we had and continued the party. With buttery croissants, cinnamon morning buns, and hot beverages in hand, we were ready to enjoy the art of gift giving. Many of the gifts were artfully wrapped and presented. Beautiful gifts handmade by Nina Designs ladies included: a leather-bound journal, ceramic mugs, and a lovely felted flower brooch. One lucky lady received a Nina Designs Gift Certificate to purchase all the jewelry findings she has on her Wish List!

Happy Holidays! How do you celebrate the holiday season in your office?

Happy Holidays from the Ladies of Nina Designs!

December 17, 2010

Fashion Friday: Mixed Media Jewelry Findings

Filed under: Fashion Friday — Tags: , , — Anna @ 10:41 am

MIXED MEDIA Necklace

While we specialize in sterling silver jewelry findings, we also offer a variety of different mediums for jewelry design – like our line of satin finish gold vermeil, colorful silk cords and ribbons, and buttery soft leather cords in 17 fantastic colors.

Mixing metals and mediums has quickly become a popular and expressive new trend in the jewelry and fashion worlds. Popular materials include an array of feathers, chains, leather, felt, and much more. This playfulness in textures and mediums allows for new and unexpected creations. A fresh take on the ordinary!

For my mixed medium necklace, I incorporated a little of each of the different materials we offer, while keeping the look sophisticated and wearable. By maintaining a muted color palette of grays and greens, I was able to ensure the necklace wouldn’t overwhelm the eye. Braided gray leather with embedded gold circle links frames the necklace’s focal point of luscious labradorites and idocrase briolettes. The gold vermeil teardrop links mirror the briolettes’ form and offer a pleasant transition from the heavier elements to the lighter silk cording in back. Wear the necklace long over a cozy sweater, or short with a scoop neck top. It’s nice when the design is as verstile as the materials.

If you have yet to experiment with mixed mediums, grab some of your favorite items, and mix it up! Play around with size and texture. You’ll be excited and rejuvenated by the results! Do you have any unexpected materials or combinations you really like?

Mixed Medium


December 15, 2010

Review our Jewelry Findings Using a Five-Star System

Filed under: Contests — Tags: , — juanita @ 10:21 am

You could win $100 in jewelry findings!

Review our jewelry findings and you might WIN this PRIZE GIVEAWAY: a hand picked selection of our Best Sellers.

Trying to find the best jewelry findings for your designs can be difficult at times. You not only want to create stunning jewelry, you also want to use high quality pieces. This is why we created a new shopping feature: Product Reviews. With this tool Nina Designs shoppers, like you, can constructively critique our products by rating each item using a star system, writing reviews, and sharing via Facebook.

Reading product reviews is a powerful shopping tool. You can find out what jewelry findings are exciting other designers and learn why they like or dislike particular products before you buy them. We envision an honest dialogue providing constructive criticism helpful to fellow shoppers. For instance, when we introduced a slightly misunderstood earring finding using a tapered earwire, we received many comments regarding the thickness of the wire via email and phone calls. This is exactly the kind of information other shoppers would appreciate, but at the time there was no way to share this feedback with a larger audience. Now that customers can write product reviews, however, we have a forum to broadcast both positive and negative reviews.

This new feature has not seen a lot of action yet. To kick start its inauguration, we’d like to offer an enticing incentive. For each product you review, we will enter you into a PRIZE DRAWING for a chance to win a hand picked selection of our Best Sellers, worth $100 (Retail value). It’s easy, fast, and fun!

Deadline: Tuesday, December 21, 2010, midnight. Randomly selected winner will be announced Wednesday, December 22, 2010.

You can find this window in the description of every product at Nina designs

To write product reviews:
1) Log into your Nina Designs Account.
2) Find the product you want to review and click the “Be the first to add a review/comment” link.
3) Give the product a star rating on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the best).
4) Write a review about what you like or dislike about the product.

December 13, 2010

Silver Charms support BeadforLife

Filed under: philanthropy — Tags: — nina @ 8:00 am

It is our privilege at Nina Designs to create and sell silver charms and pendants.  During the holidays we try to pause and remember the less fortunate members of our global community who struggle to secure food and shelter. I am always excited when I learn about programs that harness the power of creativity to solve social problems and help women improve their economic prospects.

This holiday season you might find a small pack of handmade paper beads in your Nina Designs shipment. These beads are from a nonprofit organization called BeadforLife. This organization trains women in Uganda to  “.. make gorgeous handcrafted paper beads from recycled paper and turn them into necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.  Because the beaders use recycled, colorful paper, the beads help prevent environmental degradation.  What was trash becomes beauty, money, food, and hope”. Even better, their goal is to help these women become independent of BeadforLife within 18 months. To facilitate this transformation, they provide entrepeneurial training and assist women in launching their own small businesses. They also provide other social services, funded from the net profit of their bead sales.

Last month I was at an event where two friends showed up wearing BeadforLife bracelets. One woman bought hers at a Church bazaar, the other at her Synagogue.  Why not organize a BeadforLife sale in your community? Click here for more information.   

Click here to purchase loose beads or jewelry.

December 10, 2010

Designing Silver Pendants: The Plum Blossom Branch

Filed under: New Products — Tags: , , — leah @ 8:00 am

We just received samples of our new Silver Pendant Plum Blossom Branch collection and I am thrilled with it. We introduced a simple branch silver pendant last year, and ever since, I’ve been imagining it sprinkled with tiny plum blossoms.

Plum Blossom Branch Collection - stock available in early February

We use a lot of tracing paper when working on new designs for jewelry findings. It’s helpful to trace the parts of the sketch that work, and then add or change the drawing until the elements come together harmoniously. You can see the development below. On the far left is the first sketch. I then substituted leaves for flowers to see how it would look. We decided that flowers look better than both leaves and flowers. Next we played with the length: would it be more appealing if it were a little longer? No…stick with the original size.

As jewelry designers ourselves, we appreciate components that provide multiple design options. To this end, we adjusted the tip of the pendant so it has an opening. Now it’s possible to add a dangle to the end or hang the pendant horizontally. Finally, we designed a small cluster of flowers to match (deciding that five flowers was more appealing than three) and a sweet single blossom charm. Now we have three coordinating Plum Blossom Branch elements around which you can design a whole jewelry collection! These will be available in early February. Do you sketch jewelry designs before you make them? What is your design process like?

Sketches of the Evolution of the Plum Blossom Branch Pendant

December 8, 2010

Making My Christmas Gift with Gold Vermeil Beads, Rubies and Leather

Filed under: Jewelry Design Ideas — Tags: , , — Marcy @ 1:22 pm

Ruby & Gold Vermeil Cascade Necklace

I made this necklace with gold vermeil beads, rubies, and leather cord for my sister’s Christmas gift. One of the things I love about being a jewelry artist is making jewelry for all the special women in my life. A woman can never have enough jewelry so making a pair of earrings or a necklace can cover a lot of bases – Christmas, birthdays, even a simple thank you. For Christmas my family draws names out of a hat and we give gifts to that one person. My family is very crafty so we have a rule that we must make our gifts by hand or alter them in some sort of creative fashion.

Because they all love unique handmade jewelry, all the women in my family fight over who I get as my person. This year I picked my sister’s name out of the hat and decided to make her something very special. I wanted to make her an eye-catching necklace that’s a bit fancy so she can wear it to holiday parties. She has red hair so the rubies will look great on her. Plus rubies and our gold vermeil jewelry findings compliment each other so well. We recently got in the three tear drop jewelry links in gold vermeil and I love how versatile they are. They make great earrings by themselves, but I thought that they would look nice incorporated in a necklace, cascading from the collar bone. I wanted the rubies to mirror the tear drop jewelry links so I wire wrapped tiny faceted gold vermeil beads to frame and accent their shape.

I had a lot of fun making this necklace and it has given me an idea for some great earrings. Perhaps that will be her next gift. What kind of Christmas gifts are you making this year?

December 6, 2010

Silver Pendant Give Something Back!

Filed under: philanthropy — Tags: — nina @ 10:07 am

WAGES: A Better Living, A Better Life

Our Silver Pendants are fun and inspiring but did you know that your purchase helps  Give Back to the community? I recently attended a fund raising event for WAGES, a non-profit organization that trains Latina women to form collectives and clean houses with green cleaning products. A recent study showed that the household income for women in these collectives often increases by 80%! In addition, their health improves dramatically because they are no longer exposed to the toxic chemical cleaners they are forced to use in many traditional cleaning and janitorial jobs.

I was honored to contribute to WAGES. Even better, while I was at the event, I ran into Mike Hannigan, President of Give Something Back. His company donates 100% of the profits from their office supply business to worthy non-profits! We went online to compare prices and found Give Something Back extremely competitive. (We just ordered 100% recycled printing paper from them for a lower price than we were getting at Office Depot). Now, every time we purchase office supplies we have a chance to Give Back to our community. What an amazing idea!

This holiday season, consider purchasing your office supplies from Give Something Back!

December 3, 2010

Pandora™ Bead Style Celebration Bracelets

Filed under: Jewelry Design Ideas, New Products — Tags: — leah @ 9:52 am

With the holiday giving season upon us, it seems like everywhere I look, there are ads for Pandora™-style bead bracelets. Television commercials show an excited woman receiving a bead-laden bracelet from her sweetheart; in the US magazines, ads feature bracelets from Pandora™, Troll™ Chamilia™ and newcomer NovoTroll™. I hear from my traveling friends that the trend is VERY hot in Eurpore, especially among the younger hip crowd. Italian Vogue has ads from Tedora™, Piroppo™ and MaVi™ featuring “celebration” beads.

Mixing silver and gold creates a lush look on this Pandora™ Bead style bracelet.

Mixing silver and gold creates a lush look on this Pandora™ Bead style bracelet.

The abundance of “celebration” bead bracelets inspired me to design my own. We recently introduced a new thick leather bracelet with a twist-off end cap that can be stacked with large-hole beads. The leather bracelet is a bit younger and edgier than the chain bracelet. I stacked on my favorite large hole beads, adding silver and gold links between for additional movement and texture. Mixing silver and gold creates such a lush look. How have you embraced the “celebration” beads trend?

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