Bronze Pendants and jewelry charms are here at last! We have been working hard on this new, affordable line for many months and we are so excited that it has finally started to arrive. We currently have in stock our natural bronze, in a beautiful warm finish that is slightly deeper in color than brass, as well as silver plated bronze. In a few weeks, we will also have gold plated bronze in stock. We are using the same reliable 40 micro-inches of plating over the bronze that we currently use on our vermeil style gold plate over sterling silver.
Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin whose discovery heralded a new era in material culture, hence the “Bronze Age”. Bronze is significantly harder than copper which made it particularly well suited to weapons production but it was also used extensively to make jewelry. Dates for the Bronze Age varied by region. It had always been assumed that the Bronze Age began in Greece, Egypt and China, but recent controversial discoveries have placed bronze production in Thailand as early as 4,500BCE, over 1,000 years earlier than other regions! That places our Thai bronze pendants in a long tradition of bronze casting.
Indonesia also has an ancient tradition of bronze casting. In addition to jewelry and artifacts, bronze drums were produced throughout Southeast Asia around 300BCE. The largest known drum, The Moon of Pejeng, still sits in a village temple in Bali. I had a chance to see it about 20 years ago. It is a beautiful specimen of ancient metallurgy. As they do with almost everything, the Balinese have several entertaining myths about this drum. This one is my favorite:
“There were once thirteen and not twelve moons in the sky. One day, one of them fell to earth and got caught in the branches of a tree. Its light was so bright that thieves were forced to stop their nocturnal work and had to discuss how to extinguish the disturbing light. The most unscrupulous of them finally climbed up the tree and urinated on the moon until it burst and fell to the ground in the shape of gong.” (From The Art And Culture of Bali by Urs Ramseyer)
Moon of Pejeng
Bronze Pendants
Silver plated charms
Kimberly, these are yours!
Kimberly, Comment #9, you won the jewelry making tips contest. Thanks for sharing your awesome tip for jewelry making moms on the go. Jewelry designers are always looking for ways to make traveling with all our jewelry supplies possible. Please contact us soon at juanita(at)ninadesigns(dot)com, and we’ll send out your beautiful fashion earrings when we get your address. They were made by hand by one of the ladies here at Nina Designs. And, a big thank you to all those who shared their jewelry making tips throughout the week. Keep making irresistible jewelry!
Learning how to make jewelry with leather cord, silver findings, and pearls is a lot easier than you think. I began making leather jewelry many years ago when a generous leather hand bag designer offered me his leather scraps. Because I had a fairly unlimited supply I felt free to experiment, to hit bumps in the road, and to keep trying. Through years of trial and error I have come up with some unique leather jewelry techniques that I can’t wait to share with you.
You may not know it but here at Nina Designs we offer FREE jewelry design ideas and FREE how-to lessons. This is where I will be sharing my leather jewelry how to’s. The first lesson is available now and teaches you how to punch, cut, and glue leather, as well as how to seamlessly attach 3 strands of pearls to wide leather cord. By the end of the lesson you will have created a beautiful three strand leather necklace with pearls. I hope my classroom lessons will inspire you and open new doors in the world of jewelry making.
Leather jewelry is a hot trend right now and it’s a lot of fun to make. The look of leather jewelry is at once feminine and edgy, and appeals to a wide audience. Stop by Nina Designs where you’ll find new wide leather cord that is a dream to work with. Have you been working with leather cords in your jewelry? Do you have any questions I can address in upcoming leather jewelry how-to’s?
Leather Necklace How To #1, by Marcy Kentz
Find Jewelry How To's at Nina Designs
Prize Earrings
Making jewelry is a wonderful practice that fulfills our need to create and to surround ourselves with beautiful things. There’s nothing quite like that spark of energy we feel when we’re in our zone and the ideas start flowing. No matter when you started making jewelry, no doubt you became better with time and picked up many tips and tricks along the way. Some tricks save us time. Some ease stress on our hands. And others improve our technique.
Imagine if we all share just one tip how much we could all learn and help each other along. Surely there will be something new for everyone. Share your favorite jewelry making tips and tricks for a chance to win these beautiful handmade earrings, featured in Stringing, Summer 2011, and with a retail value of $150.00.
You have until Monday, July 25th to share tips and tricks. Leave your tips in the comment section. One random comment/tip will be drawn and announced as the winner the next morning. While employees of Nina Designs are eager to share our beading tips, rest assured we will be excluded from the drawing.
Sterling silver buttons are good for more than just closures on wrap bracelets. They also make versatile jewelry links and wonderful focal points in necklaces and earrings. With a little practice wire wrapping them together is a breeze and creates a wonderful pattern that reminds me of daisy chain necklaces. Actually, the entire design is reminiscent of childhood days playing outside and of rainy days spent inside raiding grandma’s button collection. While there is definitely something sweet about buttons, when you mix them with “grown up” pearls and gemstones they become quite elegant and appealing. Start playing dress up today!
Seven buttons all in a row!
Buttons as Links!
Silver Charms are often worn for luck. In this case, sales of Nina Designs silver charms brought luck to a talented silversmith in the Andes who received funding in 2010 through our microfinance program. Giuliana Valz-Gen creates jewelry designs that deal with the richness of nature. ” My motivation comes from a desire to complement female beauty with my designs, which are infused with Peruvian artistry. What really counts is innovation. My designs speak of tradition yet they are modern and feature the harmony between metal, pearls and gemstones.”
Giuliana faces challenges many of us find familiar. “I am barely managing to cover my costs because these days the price of silver and gold seems to be going up uncontrollably. I set the price for a piece but by the time I’ve finished it, it turns out that initial price doesn’t cover my costs. It also means that the money I counted on to buy more silver and gold is not enough anymore. The loan would help me secure a good stock of silver and gold so I could carry on working calmly, without fearing a sudden change in the price of silver and gold, and be able to increase my production. It would also mean I would have the freedom to develop new designs, maintain the quality of my work, and still be able to cover my costs.”
Giuliana's Ring
Silver charms and findings always find purpose. Although the world seems to be in a constant state of change, jewelry historically has found a place in the hearts of men and women alike. No matter the state of the economy, the desire for jewelry never ceases to exist. The beautiful ornamental jewelry that hang around our necks and dangle from our ears exist as a reminder of hope. Even when the world looks gray, it is most important to continue to focus on what is beautiful and what makes us happy.
For us involved in the silver industry, it may seem like we’ve been handed a double-edged sword in the past few months. Not only are we trying to climb out of economic depression, but the price of silver has been all over the place. What a combo! Staying optimistic about the fate of our businesses tends to be a challenge. I urge you to remind yourself that jewelry is a stronghold. Women will always want jewelry. Even if we have to budget, jewelry is important to us. Happy little silver charms and shimmering gems have an incredible ability to lift our spirits. Keep making jewelry and keep lifting those spirits!
Remember, we just decreased our prices on all sterling silver and gold vermeil jewelry findings by 9%. Shop our new styles today.
American women in uniform, 1942
Miriam Haskell, renowned jewelry designer and friends with Coco Chanel, opened her first boutique in 1926 and made her mark during the height of the Depression!
Silver Pendants inspired by wildflowers is a theme that emerged during my recent design retreat with Leah. As the result of late snow, dozens of different wildflowers that usually bloom at different times were all out at once. During walks through the mountain forest, we picked some of our favorite blossoms to bring home, study and sketch. Once we started thinking about flowers, we looked through our favorite antique jewelry books for additional inspiration. By the end of the week we were dreaming about flower pendants and Leah’s hand was sore from sketching all day. In the end, we came away with a bouquet of 70 new designs we will be rolling out over the next six months. What is your inspiration this summer?
Silver Pendant Sales at Nina Designs help support artisans worldwide. We believe that there is a special circle threading its way around the world from the sketches drawn in our office by women, to the women involved in crafting our products in Asia and back through the women jewelry designers who use our silver charms and silver pendants. In honor of this circle, we have established a microloan fund to help women artisans in developing countries foster and grow their businesses.
Cristin Carolin creates beautiful robes from handwoven ikat fabric in Bali. This special fabric gets its distinctive patterns through a process similar to tie-dye wherein the thread is wrapped in bundles, knotted and resist dyed before weaving. The knots must be placed with precision and the loom threaded just right for the correct pattern to emerge.
“I was born in Bali in 1973. What I do now is closely related to my experiences as a teenager. A family near my house made homespun clothes, and I was very impressed by the way they would spin cotton using traditional techniques. I used to sit there for hours just to watch how they worked. I was told that a garment company was a good place to start and I could work and learn how to weave and make dresses. So I went to the place and worked there for almost two years. I learned enough to make me feel confident about starting on my own. I set up a workshop and now, several years later, there are four other people working with me. My main product line features hand-woven ikat clothes. I plan to invest the loan money in materials so I can also develop new designs.”
Ikat Robe
During a recent bead night here at Nina Designs I made a Chan Luu style wrap bracelet with large hole pearls, sterling silver buttons, and deer hide leather. I love the blues and greys in the large hole pearls and thought the cobalt blue deer hide lace would bring out those undertones. I wrapped the leather around itself to create a substantial loop for the sterling silver button. I chose the 2 mm gray deer hide lace because it goes through the pearls twice. It helps to punch a hole at the tip of the leather and put a small piece of wire through the hole. Then bend the wire in half use it like a needle. This technique will especially help pull the leather through the pearl the second time. I put a few of our large hole Bali beads in the middle of the bracelet because I love the detailing on them.
Large hole pearls are so versatile and a great catalyst for making unique jewelry. You can thread them onto sterling silver chain, silk ribbons and cords, and onto both sizes of deer hide lace (3mm and 2mm). Now I’m thinking what other materials would look good as a wrap bracelet, how else can I modify this design and most importantly which Nina Designs findings would work? There are so many different combinations that would look good using this technique that I can’t wait to make more.
