Hello, we may have discussed jewelry findings on the phone or sorted through silver charms at a tradeshow together, but this is our first meeting via the Nina Designs blog. As a new addition to the Nina Designs team and as a jewelry making novice, it’s been an exciting few months. From the basics of beading to the the history of the Bali bead, I’ve learned much from both my coworkers and our wonderful customers.
I’ve recently developed a greater appreciation for our Arang wood pendants. While I love the pretty Thai charms and the
delicate Javanese filigree, the depth and detail of these hand carved pieces really appeal to me. I’m especially fond of our new bear claw pendant. With such a strong, elemental centerpiece I can look as ready for an adventure as I feel!
Marisa in Japan
Some of my fondest memories from when I was a kid involve wandering busy street fairs, maybe with some garlic fries or a lemonade slushee in hand, and looking at all the jewelry stalls. I liked to see how the theme and style would change from table to table, from artisan to artisan. I got a thrill from seeing the old hippie craftsman with his pewter and glass dragons. Or the sharply dressed mom with her silver and gemstones. Even the young metal smith with wild hair and steel and leather work. It was the most eclectic band of personalities and backgrounds united by one commonality – the desire to make beautiful things.
Now, working at Nina Designs, I love the idea that I am part of the background workings for that community. Allowing others to express themselves in beautiful and creative ways always leaves me with a good feeling.
Sterling Silver Pendants are the focus of our design session this week. Leah and I are in Bali working hard with breaks to walk in the rice fields. There is a gaggle of ducks just off our porch that quack just like Donald Duck and sound like they are laughing at our efforts, but they are super cute and funny, so we laugh too.
Bali is a very inspiring place to work. Everywhere we go, from the garden to the temples, there are shapes and textures that spark new ideas. Ancient stone walls are covered in frothy green moss, orange lichen and tiny orchids. Vines that look like braids climb rock enclosures. Paths are paved in small black and white stones, arranged in patterns of flowers, fish, and soaring birds. Even the enormous spiders have orange and yellow mandalas on their backs!
We are creating new filigree, mother of pearl and hammer finish pendants. Any suggestions?
Greening our Business: At Nina Designs we care about the environment. That’s why we became a certified Bay Area Green Business. The work we did to get certified taught us there are many little things we can do to make a big difference, like switching to non-toxic cleaners, choosing recycled office products, and closely monitoring our energy use.
Give Back Campaign Join us in celebrating our commitment to reduce our carbon footprint by helping to restore the Gulf Coast. For every new Facebook Fan, Nina Designs pledges to make a $1 donation to the Environmental Defense Fund to help clean up the oil from the Gulf Coast, up to $1000. Our campaign runs from July 1st – July 14th, 2010. Become a fan by going to our Facebook page and liking us.
If you’re already a Fan, please suggest us to your friends. With everyone’s help we can give as much as we can to help restore the Gulf to its former glory.
Entry is now closed.
Jump start your June with a chance to win this wonderful collection of silver charms, jewelry links and stamping blanks with a retail value of $97.50!! Simply vote for your favorite necklace design by leaving a comment! We’ll select a comment at random as our Prize Winner.
Win this bag of Silver Charms, Links, and Stamping Blanks!
The ladies of Nina Designs were each given the eight jewelry components you see above and given a week to create a necklace using at least six of the parts: a heart charm, a mandala pendant, a round stamping blank, a rectangle stamping blank, a large hole slider bead, pack of marquis links, a pack of small oval links, and a round hammered link.
The challenge was harder than we thought it would be, pushing each and every one of us to design more creatively. It was really interesting to see all the different ways we each used the same parts and our necklaces turned out as unique as the eight of us. Click the “Read More” link to see all eight necklaces and read a sentence or two about our inspirations and challenges. And, don’t forget to vote! (more…)
Designing silver charms is one thing, making them easy to buy is another. We are constantly updating our website in search of the most user friendly experience possible. Some of the improvements are immediately obvious, as when we add videos or launch a blog, but many upgrades are made on the back end. For instance, this week we moved to a larger server, an enormous project that is invisible but will keep our site running smoothly with increasing content and visitors.
We listen closely to your comments and try to build solutions quickly. Recently, we have had requests for an Express Shopping template that would allow customers to quickly type in style numbers and quantities. We also heard that our silk cords and ribbons are tricky to order.
Snapshot of New Easy-to-Use Silk Order Form
We have already improved the silk ordering process by adding an easy to use template where you can order all your colors at once. The Express Shopping feature is almost complete.
Please let us know whenever you get frustrated or have a great idea. Our goal is to create a website that designers look forward to visiting! You can always reach us at nina@ninadesigns.com, or leave a comment on our Facebook page.
What is the most frustrating part of the Nina Designs website? What features would you like us to add?
Here at Nina Designs we offer literally thousands of styles of silver and gold vermeil clasps, beads, charms, pendants, earring parts, chains, and more. And, every month we roll out new styles to keep our selection fresh and innovative. Consequently, all the ladies here in the office are always oo-ing and aah-ing over their new favorite, or going on & on about why this or that finding will always be their favorite. So we thought we’d broadcast the fun in a monthly Staff Pick Blog. Enjoy!
Leave a comment telling us what your current Nina Designs favorite is for a chance to win a fabulous pair of earrings. See below for details.
Clara's Pick: S1265
Clara: I have always loved these little love knots. They look great hung on an earring wire as a simple earring, and add just the right amount of texture to necklaces and bracelets.
Anna's Pick: A816
Anna: My pick for June is this vintage key plate charm. I love the distressed finish and storybook allure. I feel as if I could peer in the mini keyhole and see a whole secret little world.
(more…)
Our hand-dyed silk cords and ribbons are so much fun to work with, but ordering them through our website could be time consuming. Well, not anymore! We’re excited to introduce a new interface for ordering multiple colors of silk cord. Now it’s easy to select all color options on one screen. No longer is it necessary to go back and forth between the cart and the silk as each individual color is selected (and with 46 colors, this required a time commitment). This new interface will make ordering silk cords and ribbons a breeze.
Nina and Leah luxuriate in a rainbow of silk cords.
And coming soon: an express shopping option for our customers that know what they want and are prepared to order by style number! We’ve heard your feedback and are working hard to upgrade our website and make shopping at Nina Designs easier and more enjoyable. Also in the works: a revision of the “recommended products” feature on the shopping cart. Your opinion matters to us. Is there something about our website that drives you crazy? What would you change if you could?
As Nina mentioned in one of her earlier blog posts, I was lucky enough to visit our production facility in Bali in March to see just how our sterling silver beads and findings are made. We started in the office where the orders are received and jobs are assigned to the silversmiths, where I finally got to put some faces to the names I see on e-mails and orders in our office.
Next I was taken out to the workshop where I got to see the silversmiths hammering, soldering, and carefully forming each link, charm and earring finding by hand. Once the silversmiths are finished, the pieces have to be polished and oxidized before being perfectly matched and packaged.
When I was done at the silver factory I was taken to a nearby village where our newest wood and mother of pearl pendants are carefully carved by hand. In the hands of a skilled carver, a raw piece of recycled arang wood or mother of pearl is carved into a detailed pendant in a few hours. It amazes me that the carvers can look at a dull flat piece of material and then completely transform it, creating sophisticated and enticing centerpieces for a necklace.
Watching the steps involved in making even the simplest looking earring hook gave me a new appreciation for all of the detailed work that it takes to make each silver jewelry part. It was so wonderful to finally meet some of the people who make the beautiful jewelry parts that have been such a large part of my life over the last 8 years.
Polishing Hook Earring Parts
Hand Carving Wood Pendants
Matching Hook Earring Parts
Silver Charms never seem to go out of style. Perhaps that is why this category has expanded to dominate our product line.They are fun, collectible and timeless. By now, most of our clients know how our Bali products are made by hand by extremely skilled silversmiths schooled in an ancient tradition of metal work. Some of you might not realize that our Thai Silver Charms, though cast instead of hand fabricated, are also very labor intensive and require both technical and artistic skill to execute effectively.
The lost wax casting process begins with a hand drawn sketch, usually made by Leah in our office. The sketch is emailed to Bangkok where a wax master model is hand carved using the drawing as a guide. A rubber mold is made from the model, then filled with wax repeatedly to create “Patterns”. The wax patterns are attached to a wax base to form a “Tree” with dozens of patterns on it. This tree is placed in a flask and covered with a plaster-like material called investment. Next,the flask is baked in an oven and the wax melts away, leaving an exact impression of the tree. Molten silver is then poured into the mold and allowed to cool. After the investment is washed away with water, individual charms are clipped from the silver tree. They are trimmed, filed and polished by hand.
See a beautiful Slideshow of the entire silver casting process!
Wax Trees
Clipping Cast Silver Charms
At Nina Designs, I feel fortunate to work in the business of silver jewelry findings with so many other talented women in a creative environment. My obsession with jewelry findings is fulfilled and I am also inspired to continue with my own creative outlets. At the same time, as the inventory manager I can easily get stuck in front of the computer in my office with spreadsheets and bills and numbers of all sorts. In order to clear my mind for a fresh perspective and a change in visual stimulation I often get outside for short walks. On my morning breaks I like to go for a nice walk in the crisp morning air, during the afternoon I may take another walk to look at the flowers, get a warm drink, or stop off at the market for lunch. I see dogs from the local animal shelter being walked by wonderful volunteers, flowers in bloom or trees in transition from their stark branches to the new buds offered for the blooming sweetness ahead. Today on my walk, I stopped at a bush that was full of honey bees working away at the blue blossoms with collections of pollen on their legs. Spring is here but I also found time to enjoy the winter sun and will look forward to the heat of the summer ahead! Moving the legs, stretching, getting some air, watching the bees and smelling flowers. These are important remedies during a day at the computer.
Daily scenes from my morning walks
I saw a gold vermeil honey bee collecting pollen!