Name: Anna
Web Site: http://www.ninadesigns.com/staff/03Anna.html
Bio: I graduated from UCSC in 2006 where I majored in fine art. Despite my passion for drawing and the lure of paint, I have returned to my first love: the art of craft. I currently live in Oakland with my boyfriend and co-conspirator Joe Enos along with our adorable beagle/pitbull mix Sterling Stubs Rufus MacEnos.
Posts by Anna:
Spooky Jewelry Charms Celebrate Halloween Spirit
October 11th, 2011We are all big fans of Halloween at Nina Designs and our spooky jewelry charms will have everyone spellbound! Discover spirited silver charms in the Happy Halloween Collection. We have otherworldly owls, beguiling bats, scowling skulls, and sparkling stars. Find yourself spirited away to a world of nostalgia with these fun and frightening silver charms. Here they have all congregated against the full moon to strike fright and fancy into our hearts. Use them alone or combined to captivate viewers and customers alike. Get spirited this season and experiment with fun themed collections! Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween!
Summer fun with free flowing silver hoop earrings
September 21st, 2011
Hoop da Loop Earrings
Sterling silver hoop earrings lend the perfect flirty vibe to any summer outfit or activity. I love wearing large hoops with bright colored gemstones and silver charms. A wonderful activity to pair with these vibrant earrings is Hoop Yoga. This Summer I’ve been including more and more yoga into my daily routine. I recently stumbled upon a great article in Yoga Journal about hoop yoga: a mix of dance, hula hooping, and yoga. The practice is fun, creative, and requires tons of balance! This is the perfect summer fun activity for a lazy day at the park. Grab a hoop, or make your own, and get creative with your practice. Start by moving your hips, flowing into a groove and then move into triangle pose, with the hoop spinning around your outstretched arm. Have fun, be creative, and don’t be afraid to laugh!
Sterling Silver Yoga Charms Inspires My Practice
June 28th, 2011Our unique sterling silver Yoga charms always leave me feeling inspired to be more compassionate and patient with myself and others, and to make time for my yoga practice. Today I started my day earlier than normal to join DeAnna at Flying Yoga for an early morning session. We both have worked with Sara Getz and wanted to continue our practice with her. Even though I was reluctant, once I was there and on my mat, I was extremely thankful for the opportunity to continue my yoga practice.
What my body and mind allows for each practice is different. Sometimes I’m able to flow right into the poses, other times I find myself resisting each movement; clenching my jaw with frustration. Today there was a mix of both. Often in Yoga classes, we will set an intention for the practice and the day. When my frustration boils to the surface I take a moment to breathe and repeat my intention.
Yoga, for a lot of people is calming and relaxing. For me it is a often a struggle and a practice in acceptance. Acceptance of where I am, where my body is, of just that moment. In this practice of moving, breathing and focus, occasionally there will be a moment of calm, of just being there. That one moment is worth the struggle every time. Today amidst the newness of the studio and the foreign faces surrounding me I was able to find more than a few of those moments. I’m looking forward to the next session and trying to remain open to whatever it may bring.
Word charms help set your intention at the start of your next Yoga class
Yoga Practice Inspired by Silver Charms
May 21st, 2011Here at Nina Designs we are all big fans of silver charms and yoga. We all enjoy practicing yoga at our own pace and contributing to the yoga culture with our beautiful yoga spirit silver charms. I love wearing our beautiful gold vermeil namaste word charm coupled with a blue topaz nugget and the blooming gold vermeil jasmine charm. The namaste charm helps keep in my mind empathy and patience towards others. The blue topaz helps release blockages between the heart and throat chakras, allowing for increased compassion and harmony in relationships. This little charm cluster works for me as a talisman to focus my thoughts whenever I wear it.
Since I’ve started working at Nina Designs I’ve been slowly (sometimes very slowly) cultivating my yoga practice. I love going to local yoga studios, but sometimes I just want to stay home and practice alone. When this mood strikes me I usually turn to you tube. Usually these yoga videos are unreliable and can be over the top, or can be too focused on “toning” or “losing weight”. I have recently found a site that offers free online videos for yoga practices as well as meditations and even pranyama breathing called Yoga Yak! It has been a great tool for me to explore my own practice, whatever that may be. Try it for yourselves. I think you will like it and be able to deepen and expand your practice in your own way.
Do you wear yoga jewelry that inspires you to practice?
Sterling Silver Buttons are Perfect for Wrap Bracelets
May 19th, 2011Sterling silver buttons are perfect for finishing wrap bracelets. Occasionally the Nina Designs group will gather after work for an creative beading session. Usually we all just do our own thing, but this time we decided to learn something new as a group. This way we enhance our jewelry making knowledge, work as a team, and see how our imaginations come up with different designs using the same technique.
This bead night we are focusing on the very fashionable wrap bracelets inspired by Chan Luu. There are some great tutorials on you tube. These bracelets are so versatile, easy to wear and perfect for summer. I love that they are feminine and earthy; you could easily wear them with jeans and a t-shirt or a flirty sun dress. It was really fun to see all the different versions we came up with. Using different color leather cords and thread with a variety of beads you can come up with so many unique wrap bracelets! Marcy even made one with our large hole silver beads and large hole pearls.
What jewelry fashions inspire your creations?
Wrap Bracelets
Bead Night May 2011
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with Yummy Food and Pretty Silver Charms
May 5th, 2011I consider myself lucky to work with a creative bunch of ladies who design and market silver charms and findings. We love what we do and we love any excuse to celebrate life.
Today is Cinco De Mayo and we’re celebrating with an office potluck on our lunch hour. Everyone brings in their favorite festive Mexican-inspired dish for all to share. We have so many talented cooks in our midst everything is sure to be delicious. The best part about these office potlucks, besides spending time with each other, are the yummy left-overs available in the office fridge for all to share throughout the week. Yum!
I’m making a dish from one of my favorite local chefs, Heidi Swanson. Her blog 101 Cookbooks is great resource for healthy and tasty foods. I’m not a vegetarian but her food is so yummy I never miss the meat. Here’s the recipe for Mushroom Tacos:
Serves 4
From Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1/2 white onion, diced
* 1 small serrano chile, minced
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* fine sea salt
* 12 ounces wild mushrooms or chanterelles, sliced
* 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, preferably Mexican oregano
* 8 corn tortillas
* 1/2 cup authentic Cotija cheese
Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once heated, add the onion, chile, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt. Saute until the onions are translucent, a few minutes. Increase the heat to high, stir in the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms and deeply caramelized, stirring only once or twice.
Remove the pan from heat and add oregano and more salt if needed. Spoon mushroom mixture over warmed tortillas and sprinkle with cheese and oregano.
So simple, so yummy, not to mention full of vitamins and minerals!
Say Happy Mother’s Day with Silver Word Charms
April 28th, 2011Mothers 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
Silver Charms Give Back at Nina Designs
April 11th, 2011Now 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
The Power of Lucky Silver Charms
March 14th, 2011
Lucky Silver Charm Necklace
Lots of us out there love to wear our favorite silver charm bracelet or necklace to important occasions, but now there is scientific proof that these keepsakes can actually change our luck! According to a study conducted by the University of Cologne in Germany, there truly is power in positive thinking.
The study found that positive superstitions, such as belief in lucky charms or personal talismans, can boost confidence in ourselves and our abilities, resulting in improved performance overall. This means your favorite silver charm bracelet that makes you smile when you see it or your personal mantra really will help you through a tough week, or give you that needed boost for a stressful event. Some of my favorite lucky charms are our gold vermeil wishbone charms paired with our inspirational quote silver charms.
What are some of your favorite lucky charms? How have they helped you?
New Years Silver Charms and Prize Drawing!
December 31st, 2010
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!
