Mothers Day is the perfect excuse to create personalized jewelry with sterling silver word charms for the wonderful women in our lives. My mom is one of the most important people in my life. She has always been there to protect, nurture, guide and love me. Personalized jewelry is a unique way to remind your mom just how special she is to you. Having a customized trinket to wear will remind her of how loved she is every time she sees it, and as an added bonus, all the wonderful compliments she receives on something you made for her, will make her the proudest Momma of them all!
We have a huge assortment of word charms, stamping blanks, themed charms, and finished chains to fashion your personal creation. We even have a speed shopping form for word charms to save you time and hassle. So look around, choose a few things your mom loves or things you love about your mom and highlight those themes in a wearable symbol of your love and admiration.
Here are some more links to get you started: Quote Charms, Flower Charms, Heart Charms, Stamping Charms, and Love Letters.
Silver Word Charms
Welcome to our 125 new fans! We're sending Seacology $125. Thank you!
Part of the money from every silver charm we sell goes towards philanthropy here at Nina Designs. As many of you know, we pledged to give Seacology $1 for each new person who “likes” Nina Designs by Earth Day. Welcome to all the newcomers and thank you for helping us give to Seacology. They are a wonderful group of caring people working hard all over the world to protect and preserve island eco-systems and communities. While our campaign was not as successful as I hoped it would be, I am still proud to say we’re sending Seacology a check for $125.
While I have this opportunity, I wanted to let you know about Jewelers for Japan. They are a non-profit organization, established in March 2011, to aid the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Together with Red Cross & Rio Grande, they have come up with a simple way we can all help. Gather all your precious metal scraps, and donate them to the victims of disaster. With silver & gold at all time highs, we can all give generously by just donating our scraps!
Last Sunday a small crew from Nina Designs signed up to help clean an East Bay Park near the Berkeley Marina. I’ll be the first to admit that I have never done anything like this before. I’ve always wanted to, always meant to, but never got around to doing it. I was happy when Anna, head of our new Fun Committee here at Nina Designs, decided to plan this event for Earth Day. Thanks Anna!
Having never done this before, I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of what kind of trash we’d find out their on the bayshore. What I imagined (lots of soda cans, plastic bottles, larger chunks of trash) is not what we found. When we arrived to the shore, we were told to focus primarily on plastic, since it never goes away, but only turns into smaller and smaller pieces that get into the food chain. And, focus we did. We picked up three garbage bags full of tiny pieces of plastic in just a 20 ft. area. Much of the plastic was broken, unidentifiable pieces of this and that. Lots of styrofoam and plastic baggies. But we picked up so many plastic straws and plastic soda pop lids that I have taken a personal pledge to never, ever use plastic straws or drink soda again.
Wish me luck as I know my resolve will dwindle as the year marches on. But now that I’ve done an Earth Day clean up once, I plan to do it every year. An annual reminder of just how much plastic I don’t need in my life sounds good to me. Happy Earth Day to our beautiful planet. I pledge to do as much as I can to keep it that way.
Happy Earth Day to our Beautiful Planet!
Bags of Trash!
Want to play a game and win some lovely prizes, including silver charm necklaces and silver charm earrings? To celebrate Easter and have a little fun, we’re hosting a virtual Easter Egg Hunt. Basically, I will ask you 5 questions that you can find the answer to somewhere on the Nina Designs website. The person who fills their basket with the most right answers will win (remember to turn in your answers in the comments section to this blog post). If many of you turn in all the right answers, then I will select one winner out of that pool at random. The winner will receive all the jewelry shown below valued at $150.00 wholesale (and with silver rising as fast as it is in the market, it could be worth twice that next week)! Good luck.
Here are your questions:
1 – How many THEMED COLLECTIONS do we carry?
2 – What is your favorite of all our FASHION FRIDAY blog posts?
3 – What is our current INTERNET SPECIAL?
4 – How many BUNNY RABBIT charms do we carry?
5 – How many LIBRARY articles has Nina written about Bali?
Please turn in your answers by Mon., April 25th, 2011.
Ready? Set? Go!!!
Meadow Necklace
Willow Brook
Lucky in Love
I recently re-discovered the allure of stretch bracelets in jewelry design. I haven’t made one in years and forgot how fun and easy they are to make. Stretch bracelets are not just for kids and teens anymore! They can be quite sophisticated. I saw some in In Style magazine made of wood beads and diamond spacers that were so beautiful.
Stretch Bracelet with Rose Gold
But I admit there are other reasons I love these fun accessories. First and most important, I have tiny child-like wrists that make finding bracelets that fit comfortably very difficult, if not impossible. This is so frustrating because I love bracelets. Nothing beats being able to look down and see your favorite beads right there on your wrists. And stretch bracelets help make that happen! Second, stretch bracelets also solve the universal problem of how to put on a bracelet without the assistance of a friend. They are so easy to take on and off!
Last weekend, I bought a spool of Gossamer Floss to make stretch bracelets with a friend, and I haven’t stopped! Gossamer floss is a step up from regular elastic cord, because it is softer and is composed of many tiny elastic filaments. This means even if one of the filaments break, your bracelet will not snap. I wanted to make a statement bracelet by mixing in edgy jewelry links and fun silver charms! Try using our Bali spacer beads in between gemstone beads and jewelry links, and add your favorite charm or two (or three or four). To add a link to a stretch bracelet you loop the gossamer floss around the link, tie a square knot, add a dab of glue, and hide the knot under a bead!
I love the synergy of soft and hard elements in my bracelet, and with the addition of our new rose gold jewelry components, mixing metals just became even easier! How will you incorporate edgier pieces in with the softness of a stretchy bracelet?
Here in Berkeley, CA, spring is in the air and in our collection of silver charms too! Spring arrived incredibly early this year. I realize that the rest of the country has been socked in by a long hard winter . . . so I apologize in advance for boasting about our beautiful California weather. Perhaps you can read along and transplant yourself to a place that’s a little bit warmer.
During my lunch breaks, I stroll along the streets of Berkeley and breathe in the intoxicating smells of sweet cherry blossoms and blooming daffodils. Talk about a heart-warming experience. Love is in the air. And, just in time, because we have a new collection of cherry blossom charms and jewelry findings that are very precious. Paired with a few multi-colored tourmaline gemstones, cherry blossoms instantly becomes the perfect addition to your spring designs.
Now, I can’t wait for summer to be in full motion. This pre-mature taste we’ve been getting around here is enough to make me crave it more! I’ll just have to funnel my warm weather craving into my jewelry designs!
Spring is in the air
Find all these jewelry parts at Nina Designs!
Now silver charms and jewelry can not only make us look good but they can do good. Aside from our international charitable donations we are also striving to make local changes and do good right here in the Northern California. We recently became green certified which means we make even more Earth friendly decisions in how we run Nina Designs, like using only 100% recycled paper, never using toxic cleaning products, and about half of the Nina Designs staff bikes to work daily.
Recently Nina Designs donated a beautiful silver bracelet to a wonderful local organization: Breathe California! Breathe California’s mission is to fight lung disease in all its forms and works within communities to promote lung health. Breathe California is hosting its 21st annual Clean Air Awards on Friday, April 15, 2011, in the Julia Morgan Ballroom at the Merchants Exchange in San Francisco. It will focus on positive initiatives that are being taken to reduce global warming and air pollution, with a focus on California. You may purchase tickets, or contribute to this cause here. Don’t miss your chance to bid on this beautiful Nina Designs bracelet and contribute to a great cause that effects us all.
In what small way do you practice being “green”?
Bid on this bracelet at the Clean Air Awards
Rose Gold Charms are popping up everywhere on jewelry blogs and fashion magazines these days, and for good reason. The copper-gold mix of rose gold gives off a lovely blush hue that appeals to today’s woman who embraces color and ultra-feminine fashions. Some jewelry blogs have even dubbed rose gold “the most feminine gold,” and the “new must have!”
This trend seems to just be revving up, so now is a good time to incorporate rose gold into your jewelry line. Indeed, according to the LA Times, part of the appeal of rose gold is due to its exclusivity. Right now you just don’t see too much of it out there; it’s a bit harder to find, perhaps because there’s simply less of it being made. And, as we all know, the fashion world loves exclusivity, making rose gold super desirable.
For all these reasons, Nina Designs couldn’t be more thrilled to introduce our line of rose gold charms and jewelry findings. We’re starting with the basics and our most popular styles. After we see how this new line is received, we’ll build up our collection. What Nina Design style would you like to see in rose gold? We’re keeping a list of customer requests.
What I personally find very exciting is the look of mixed metals. I’ve always been a big fan of oxidized black silver with 24K gold vermeil, but now just the thought of incorporating rose gold into the mix sends me to the moon!
Silver, Gold Vermeil, Oxidized Silver and Rose Gold!
Rose Gold and 24K Gold Vermeil
Our Earth Day Eco-Pledge: Nina Designs will donate $1 to Seacology for every new person who likes us on Facebook by Earth Day, April 22nd. If you’re already a Nina Designs fan, share our Facebook Eco-Pledge with friends and family, then go to our wall and let us know you shared, and we’ll give $1 to Seacology for that effort too! Help spread the word so we can donate as much as possible.
A little bit about Seacology: They are a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the world’s islands and their cultures. Their efforts include 215 conservation projects on 116 islands in 45 countries around the world, protecting over 1.8 million acres of coral reef, rainforest, and other fragile island ecosystems, along with the wildlife they harbor. This includes 50 projects in Indonesia, protecting both marine and terrestrial habitat.
They do great things like building schools and health clinics in exchange for marine reserves, and setting up fresh water systems to villages that need it!
Rising Silver Prices
As many of you are aware, the cost of silver in the market has continued to soar. It is currently 35% higher than it was when we last increased our prices in January. We have postponed our price increase in the hope that the market would calm but at this point we have to accept the new, higher prices. Our new prices will go into effect on Thursday, April 7th at 5pm. There is no flat across the board percent increase for this price adjustment. In anticipation of our new catalog, which will ship in a few weeks, we evaluated each style one by one to determine the lowest possible price we could set and still remain viable.
All orders placed before April 7th will be processed at the lower prices. However, effective immediately, all backorders and special orders will be at the new prices. Existing backorders will remain at lower prices.
Please note that orders will be processed and pulled as we normally do: orders with expedited shipping (UPS Overnight, 2-Day, and 3-Day) are pulled before UPS Ground and Priority Mail orders. UPS Ground and Priority Mail orders are processed in the order received. This is important to keep in mind because we may run out of stock on some items and backorders will be at the higher price.
We know what a toll these constant price increases are having on everyone’s ability to market affordable jewelry. I think we need to focus on marketing silver as a precious metal that is still much less expensive than gold. It will take the public time to adjust to this new positioning. In the meantime, we are developing bronze versions of our designs that will be priced significantly below silver. We expect to begin offering bronze styles by July.
Thank you for your patience and understanding. We appreciate your business!
