Jewelry Designer Blog

February 28, 2011

Winner of Jewelry Design Studio Contest #2

Filed under: Contests, Giveaways — Tags: , — juanita @ 10:46 am

It was really exciting to witness how passionate voters were about their favorite jewelry design studio. The three front runners were Molly, Amy and Brandy. It was a really close race, but after all was said and done, Molly took the win by 1 vote. Congratulations Molly! You are the winner of $100 SHOPPING SPREE at Nina Designs. Everyone loved the light, the lovely view, and the cozy kitty in your studio. It just looks so comfy and cozy. A perfect spot to create.

Voter #14, Diane Hill, and Voter #87, Michelle Perry, are also winners. Please contact me at juanita@ninadesigns.com to claim your prize from our jewelry stash. And a big thanks to all the voters for taking the time to vote.

Congrats Molly! You're the WINNER!


Snow Berry, voter prize


She's Sew Crafty, voter prize

February 25, 2011

Make your silver charms and pendants really count

Filed under: Great Deals!, Jewelry Design Ideas — Tags: , , , — Elspeth @ 11:08 am

Combine silver charms with unexpected elements to make jewelry that is unique AND cost-efficient! It is more than possible to showcase your favorite silver charms and pendants but keep costs low by diversifying your designs. A silk ribbon or a length of leather cord are both great elements to spruce up your designs without breaking the bank.

Dark Angel Necklace

We have a great selection of silk ribbons, leather cord, gemstone beads and pearls to choose from. With the price of silver on the rise, it is sometimes difficult to create designs entirely in silver that are affordable. Don’t be discouraged! Consider it a challenge to create jewelry that is affordable yet every bit as beautiful.

I have been trying to tackle this challenge in my own jewelry designs. In my most recent design I used our black hand-dyed silk, a pair of diametrically opposed angel wing pendants, and one silver cross pendant. I didn’t use much silver in this necklace and as a result the silver cross is a very special, much appreciated part of the piece.

I scattered large hole pearls throughout to add a bit of color and interest. I also utilized a few pearls as slider beads to finish the necklace and make it adjustable! My Dark Angel Necklace was a success in creating beautiful jewelry on a budget.

February 23, 2011

Use Paypal for your Silver Charms and Jewelry Findings Purchases!

Filed under: Business, Website Shopping Features — Tags: , — Emily @ 4:08 pm

Nina Designs is happy accept Paypal as a payment option for your silver charms and jewelry findings purchases! This is a feature many customers have been requesting and for good reason. Here are a few of the great features of using Paypal:

1. Paypal is a trusted and secure way to pay online because it keeps your information private.
2. It’s easy to link your Paypal account directly to your bank account.
3. You can also link your Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express card to your account.

Another benefit to using Paypal for your Nina Designs purchases is that if you’re already selling your jewelry online and accepting payments through Paypal, you can turn right around and purchase your jewelry supplies with the same account! This makes your record keeping a bit neater. We hope having this option for shopping with us will make life a little easier. Tell us what you think!


Additional Options

February 21, 2011

Studio Contest – Vote for your favorite jewelry design studio

Filed under: Contests, Giveaways — Tags: , , — juanita @ 4:51 pm

Once you catch the jewelry design bug, your life is never quite the same. Your brain is constantly designing, your hands constantly wire wrapping, and what little extra space you have is overrun with beads, jewelry supplies, and tools. Becoming a jewelry designer is a fabulous transformation that I welcomed into my life with open arms. And, from the looks of our 15 photo entries, you have too!

And, boy, do some of our entries got it bad. One creates in her favorite recliner, another out of a duffle bag on the go, a third at her dining room table (taking her meals elsewhere), and another alongside her bunny named Bean. I love it! Thanks so much to all the jewelry designers who shared your spaces. I really enjoyed getting a peek into your very diverse designing lives.

After looking through all the photos, vote on your favorite space by leaving a comment. When casting your vote remember to include the name of the person whose studio you like best. And, to thank you for your vote, we’re entering you into a GIVEAWAY. Two lucky voters will be randomly selected to win either the She’s Sew Crafty Necklace or the Snow Berry Earrings.

Voting ends on Sunday, Feb. 27th and all winners will be announced on Monday, Feb. 28th, 2011. Good luck everyone!

Snow Berry Earrings


She's Sew Crafty

(click on the link below to see studio photos)
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February 18, 2011

Inspiration = Creativity = Beautiful Silver Charm Designs!

Filed under: Inspiration, Jewelry Design Ideas — Tags: , , — Elspeth @ 11:21 am

A good playlist and a decent set of speakers are all I need to delve into the world of silver charms and beads. Structurally, music perplexes me. Emotionally, it opens my heart and allows me to feel things I didn’t even know I could feel. Creatively, it inspires me in a way nothing else can.

We’ve all had musical experiences. Imagine yourself driving on a long stretch of highway, listening to a song that just seems to fit. In that moment, everything is perfectly aligned. Your tires are on the road, your hands are on the wheel and music fills your thoughts. As if nothing else matters, it consumes your entire being.

Beautiful Charms, Music and HWY 101 = These Earrings


That same musical experience happens to me nearly every time I sit down to create a new jewelry design. I become one with a spool of silver wire and the music emanating out of the speakers. Music finds it’s way into my designs from the beginning stages of a design. Whether it be sketching or selecting the best silver charms and jewelry findings, I’m sure to be bopping along to my top inspirational tunes.

The notes take life in the evolution of my designs. Lost in a world of great music and beautiful silver components, I become inspired deep from within. It’s an indescribable feeling. And the results are incredible!

What inspires you to create?

February 16, 2011

Win $100 Shopping Spree for Jewelry Findings

Filed under: Contests, Giveaways — juanita @ 11:24 am

There’s still time for you to get your studio photos in for a chance to win $100 in jewelry findings. We extended the deadline for photos until this Sunday, Feb. 20.

I’d really like to encourage you to share your work space, no matter what state it’s in. Whether your desk is covered in mountainous piles of beads or neat little plastic boxes, doesn’t matter. In fact, I like messy! I’m the messiest maker ever. It’s the only way I can manage to find anything – right where I last left it.

Juanita's Bead Cave

Here’s a snapshot of what my work space looked like this morning. That circled area is the pile of Tucson beads I collected over the last couple of weeks. I will have to do a little organizing to get that integrated into my system. Yes . . . I do have a system. Turns out about every 3 months or so I have to organize my piles.

Contest Guidelines:
1 – Photos should be of your own creative work spaces.
2 – Send no more than 3 photos (JPEG format preferred) to juanita@ninadesigns.com
3 – Please write a short sentence or two about your space & why you love it so.
4 – Deadline to send your photos: Sun, Feb. 20, 2011.
5 – One entry per person for the studio contest.

Don’t be shy. Send your photos out today!

February 14, 2011

Silver Charms: You asked for them!

Filed under: New Products — Tags: — leah @ 1:40 pm

What do all of these silver charms have in common? They are all inspired by customer requests! Our first step when we sit down to work on new styles is to review customer suggestions. Based on the requested charms below, it appears our customers lead active lifestyles, full of softball, soccer and football (or perhaps these charms are meant to celebrate our children’s accomplishments!) Creativity seems to be in abundance: we have customers that knit and sew, and many that enjoy scrap booking.

Sporty Charm Requests

Crafty Charm Requests

Many of the requests we receive are for different sizes of existing styles: a larger lifelike skull, a smaller butterfly wing, a larger ohm symbol. We recently introduced a “micro charm” line after receiving numerous requests for small charms. And then of course, we receive requests for things like octopuses and bats. Our octopus charm has been a surprisingly strong seller, so it inspired us to fulfill the request we received for a bat!

Your feedback is important to us! Please keep the requests coming – it is our pleasure to give you what you want. We recently added a new Suggestion feature to our website to make it even easier to leave feedback. Of course if it’s more convenient for you, feel free to call 1-800-336-6462 or email nina@ninadesigns.com. What would you like to see Nina Designs add to our collection?

Silver Charms that you asked for!

February 7, 2011

A Fresh New Take on Leather Cord

Filed under: Jewelry Design Ideas — Tags: , , , — Laura @ 8:30 am

The richness of gold vermeil with leather is an unbeatable combo

Have you been looking for a different method for using our new luscious leather cord? I was trying to find a way to hang silver dangles from the top of our Gold Vermeil Hammered Hoop Earrings without having to glue silver charms in place. After trying a few techniques I decided to tie a tight knot around the top of the hoop earring using the leather cord, and voila! It stayed put!

The fresh green kiwi color and the way the leather cord drapes looks just like a vine swaying from the arbor in my dream garden, so I poked small holes into the leather cord and suspended our cherry blossom silver charms as if they were growing there. I did apply a small amount of Ultimate glue inside the knot before pulling it taught, so I could clip the end of the leather flush to the knot.

I love the organic look of these earrings. In fact, I almost believe if I left them for a few weeks the vines would grow longer and wrap around my other jewelry, climbing upwards. The effect would be magical. I can see myself wearing them as I peruse a street fair in the spring, or to a summer barbecue.

What unusual ways have you incorporated leather cord into your jewelry?

February 4, 2011

Silver Charms and Angry Birds?

Filed under: Inspiration — nina @ 8:15 am

What do Angry Birds and Silver Charms have in common? Absolutely nothing, and that is the point. Sometimes it is important to forget about work and just goof off. Or at least that is what I tell myself when I can’t resist playing Angry Birds on my iphone. It all began about a month ago when I read about the game in the NY Times. The goal is to fling angry birds at various objects in such a way that they collapse and crush egg thieving pigs.  I mentioned the game to my husband who promptly downloaded it to his phone and played compulsively until he scored three stars on every installment of every level. Aside from an initial 2 hour binge on a long drive home from the mountains, I played the game only sporadically while waiting on line, or at the orthodontist office, or at the soccer field . . . you get the picture. Like a social drinker who thinks they are in control, I had know idea I was addicted to the game until the Gingerbread Incident revealed just how tight a grasp those birds had on my brain cells.

On Christmas day my extended family gathers to make gingerbread houses, except we like to exercise creative license and we always go off topic. This year the theme was a village and the creations included a city intersection, a bank, a bar and a casino. I sat down to help my nephew build a train (we had a kit). He lost interest fairly quickly but I kept at it. At some point I realized that my cookie creation had morphed into the exact episode of Angry Birds that I had been stuck on for days. I had a marzipan pig in a standoff against the train with a bird sculpted from gummies poised for flight in a candy cane sling shot. No one else got the joke but I am still giggling about it. And I think I should get extra credit for the cotton candy steam on the train!

Gingerbread Angry Birds

Help, I,m Stuck!

February 2, 2011

Think of your silver charms as family heirlooms

Filed under: Inspiration — Tags: , , — Elspeth @ 8:15 am

Family Heirloom: 1942 Graduation Ring


Jewelry made from silver charms, precious gems and hand-made silver chain is much more than an ornament that hangs delicately around the neck. Self-expression finds a voice through jewelry. Our necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets convey our individuality and often represent landmark events.

When I graduated from high school my grandmother gave me a beautiful tri-color gold ring. To my surprise and most beautiful of all was the fact that it was her own high school class ring from 1942! The ring is so much more than a band of gold around my finger. It bridges time between generations, is a family heirloom and will forever remind me of the special bond I have with my grandmother. The intricate art-deco design is also representative of the era.

I haven’t taken the ring off since she gave it to me 6 years ago. One day, I plan to gift it to my own granddaughter and continue the tradition.

What does your jewelry say about you? Will your designs be passed on as family heirloom pieces? What stories will they tell?

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