Silver Pendants support jewelry designers all over the world. As designers we share similar joys and challenges. Carmen Rosa Gamio Alvarez is a jeweler in Peru who recently received a microloan from Nina Designs. Reading her bio, I was struck by how much all of us have in common as jewelry designers, business women and moms.
Alvarez discovered her love of art early. “When I was a little girl, I liked to draw, and today I have a lot of fun designing and creating jewelry. I think it awoke the latent child artist in me.”
She adores her job. “The silversmith’s art runs through my veins and I love it…For me, my art is a fusion of fantasy and reality.”
She struggles with the high price of silver. “The rising price of silver is seriously affecting my work.”
And she relishes being a Mom. “Motherhood is greatest challenge in life and my greatest satisfaction.”
Sound familiar anyone?
Sterling silver snowflake charms celebrate the most wonderful time of of year. Growing up in the Bay Area, I’ve always wanted to wake up, look out my window, and see a winter wonderland. I’d crawl out of bed, bundle up, and get into a frosty snowball fight with friends. Then after my troops win, I’d build a snowman, or ice skate on a frozen lake. I’ve never done any of these things in my whole life. I’ve never even seen snow. The most beautiful snowflake I have ever seen are the silver snowflake charms here at Nina Designs!
While I won’t be celebrating a white Christmas this year, one holiday to-do I am crossing off my bucket list is cooking The Beloved Holiday Dinner for my family. My late grandmother made so many memorable meals, but since her passing this honor has been passed to various older couples in my family. This year my cousin and I are excited to refresh the menu and share our twist on the traditional Christmas feast. We hope to make it a night to remember.
We’ll start by sprucing up mashed potatoes with our favorite ingredient – truffle butter. Oui! Oui! We’re also replacing plain old baked yams with crispy sweet potatoes fries tossed with whole roasted cloves of garlic that melt in your mouth. We’re most excited about losing the traditional roasted turkey for a tasty moist chicken instead. Whew, we’ve got some work to do! Although my family is very supportive, we’re starting to feel the pressure. We want this holiday dinner to be perfect with a renewed and delicious menu. Keep your fingers crossed. I’ll let you know how it goes in the New Year.
The entire staff of Nina Designs wish you and your loved ones the happiest of holidays. May you all enjoy a memorable feast with friends and family!
Winter Wonderland of sterling silver charms!
Sending our Bronze Jewelry Charms out into the world to become family keepsakes is Nina Designs’ dream come true! When we’re pulling orders we often wonder what’s to become of the jewelry charms we’re sending out. And, I remember more than once wishing out loud that this or that jewelry charm would be passed down from mother to daughter as a remembrance of love and friendship. That’s why Erin Prais-Hintz of Treasures Found Blog blew my mind with her latest post.
It’s all about her Nana commissoning Erin to make charm necklaces out of her coveted charm bracelet that chronicled her life’s adventures from Mexico to Germany. Erin made one necklace of each of Nana’s girls using one of Nana’s charms and filling in with Nina Designs bronze jewelry charms. I won’t give anymore away. You really must read it for yourself. Learning about each woman, and how Nana and Erin lovingly tells the story of each through jewelry is so, so special.
Here are some of the sweet charm necklaces. To see more go to Treasures Found. To start telling your story through jewelry, shop Nina Designs.
A charming gift!
For one of Nana's girls
Our blog partnership is really heating up with exciting jewelry designs. In this latest bunch we sent the same bronze jewelry charms, earring findings, and leather cord to each blog partner and the resulting jewelry designs are diverse, fun, and unique. It’s wonderful to see all the different ways jewelry designers can showcase the same jewelry parts.
Jean Yates, from Snap Out of It, Jean! There’s Beading to be Done, discovered what fun braiding soft, supple leather cord can be, and how beautiful the result.
Carmi Cimicata, of Resin Crafts and Carmi’s Art Life World, used the bronze butterfly wing pendant as a frame for her resin craft. I love the look, and am so tempted to try this for myself!
And, Gaye Fields, of Gaye Fields Jewelry, paired the same butterfly wing and the same leather cord with handmade ceramic and glass beads with stunning effects, and an entirely different look.
Discover the possibilities of bronze jewelry!
Jean Yates
Gaye Fields
Carmi Cimicata
Congratulations to Tracy Statler. You are the randomly selected winner of our $150 Shopping Spree. Contact juanita@ninadesigns.com to claim your prize. Liking Nina Designs on Facebook has many rewards – like hearing of new styles first, learning innovative jewelry techniques, and winning fun prizes!
We have new design challenges and exciting contests planned for Facebook this upcoming year. We will be giving away many valuable prizes, so stay tuned!
My job here at Nina Designs has lots of perks, but sharing a love of jewelry and jewelry design with those around me is definitely what I appreciate most. That’s why I got a tingle up my spine when Lorelei of Lorelei Eurto Jewelry, one of our blog partners, emailed to say her post featuring our bronze jewelry charms was published. I couldn’t wait to see. But, I purposely saved it as my treat for finishing my to-do list.
And, it was worth the wait! Lorelei’s Blog is as delightful as her handmade jewelry designs. It is filled with beautiful photos, fun bead swaps, and informative interviews with other creatives. From the very first post you get a sense that Lorelei is obsessed with crafting jewelry & collecting beads. (It’s good to know we are not alone). And, her love shines through her jewelry. Every piece has a loving intention – every color choice, every found object, every art bead was selected with great care.
And, the necklace she made with bronze bird charms and leaf charms is a celebration of color and shapes. While the pattern of beads is random you get a sense that each one has purpose – and, seriously – what bead doesn’t want to be on display? She also designed a gorgeous leather necklace and a pair of earrings that are simply – to die for!
Lorelei's Sweet Necklace
Lorelei Eurto Jewelry
Nina Designs New Bronze Earring Hooks
Learn easy techniques for finishing wide leather cords with silver clasps in our FREE classroom and jewelry how-to’s. Making leather jewelry has never been easier with step-by-step instructions and photos by Marcy Kentz. Marcy works here at Nina Designs as a customer service rep you have most likely talked to on the phone. What you may not know about her is that she makes extraordinary leather jewelry. As you can imagine, we were thrilled when she offered to share her inventive techniques in our FREE online classroom.
Currently she is rolling out a lesson a week for finishing wide leather cord. You’d be surprised how easy they are, and you might kick yourself for not thinking of them yourself. I did. And, you don’t need to buy specialized tools for working with leather. As you’ll see, besides the jewelry supplies, in many of the techniques Marcy just uses a hammer, thumbtacks, scissors and glue! The lessons on finishing leather cords will start out easy and become more sophisticated as we go. After offering all the ways she can think of for finishing wide leather cord, Marcy plans to offer new design ideas for the front of wide leather necklaces and bracelets, so stay tuned.
Currently in our classroom, find lessons for finishing leather cords with a toggle bar, an S-clasp, and a silver box clasp. You can also find a three strand pearl and leather necklace and an imaginative steampunk leather bracelet. Enjoy!
Beautiful Leather Cord Necklace by Marcy
Finishing Leather Cord with Box Clasps
Finishing Leather Cord with Toggle Bars
On December 15th, Nina Designs will randomly select one person who likes us on Facebook to win $150 gift certificate. With $150 you could try most of the silver charms, earring findings, and silver beads on your wish list. The drawing will be held on December 15, 2011. We will announce the winner that day right here on our blog. Good luck to you all and thank you so much for your support and your business. We hope you have the best holiday season ever!
Do you like us on Facebook? Then you could win $150 Gift Certificate
