Jewelry Designer Blog

January 11, 2012

Shop for silver charms on your NEW iPad2 or Kindle Fire!

Filed under: Giveaways — Tags: , , , @ 5:32 pm

Like Nina Designs on Facebook for a chance to win: an iPad2 (Grand Prize), a Kindle Fire (2nd Prize), and a $100 Shopping Spree at Nina Designs (3rd Prize).

An iPad2 16MB & WiFi is a wonderful tool for jewelry designers to sketch jewelry designs, organize jewelry photos, and shop for silver charms and jewelry findings at Nina Designs. And, with both the iPad and the Kindle Fire you can watch movies, read books & mags, download fun apps, play games, and upload/share photos and videos. After all, even jewelry designers have to rest sometime, and have fun! Tell your friends and family so they can join in the fun.

December 15, 2011

Winner of $150 Shopping Spree for Jewelry Supplies

Filed under: Giveaways — Tags: , @ 3:24 pm

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!

December 2, 2011

Win $150 Shopping Spree & Buy All the Silver Charms on your Wish List

Filed under: Giveaways — Tags: , @ 10:18 am

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

November 30, 2011

Give to Heifer International with every Jewelry Finding you Review at Nina Designs

Filed under: Giveaways — Tags: , , @ 2:34 pm

To celebrate this season of giving, for every Nina Design jewelry finding you review in December we will give Heifer International $2.00. Every product you review will help children and families around the world receive training and animal gifts that help them become self-reliant. Just a little of your time can make a big impact. To give an extra $1.00 to Heifer, share your review on Facebook!

You can find this window in the description of every product

To review a product, go to www.ninadesigns.com:
1) Find the product you want to review. Use the “add a comment” link.
2) Rate the product using the star system.
3) Write what you like or dislike about the product.
4) Share your review on Facebook.

Review our Products to give a gift of hope to families in need

November 29, 2011

Winners of Bronze Claw Pendants

Filed under: Giveaways — Tags: , , @ 3:59 pm

Everyone loves Bronze Claw Pendants – especially when you win them in a blog giveaway! Last week we asked our readers: what are the ruling forces that govern your jewelry design? All comments we entered into a drawing to win this fierce bronze claw pendant, but I decided to go ahead and send one to each of the four readers who answered. After all, it is the season of giving! Plus, there is something to learn from each of the answers. They were thoughtful and well written. Thanks to Annette, Jean, Gaye, and Suzelle!

See the original post and be sure to read the comments for interesting design tidbits.

Bronze Claw Pendant

November 15, 2011

The Challenge of Asymmetrical Design Using Silver and Bronze Jewelry Findings

Creating an asymmetrical design using silver and bronze jewelry findings is a huge challenge for me. Most days making jewelry is fun, easy and effortless. It’s almost like the pieces come together by themselves and I just follow their lead by constructing the piece. As a Libra, I instinctively design with symmetry and balance. It takes a lot of thought and will power for me to break out of this mode of designing. Most of the time I go back and forth and then end up taking apart the elements that make it asymmetrical. As frustrating as it can be, I still find it to be a fun challenge because my mind has to work around my normal design instincts and it feels like putting together a puzzle.

This necklace went through many different looks before I got it here. It’s hard to pin point all the elements that make asymmetry work for me, but the most important one is balance. Although each side is different, they reflect each other. The bronze claw pendant is a strong center piece and each side cascades upwards from it. The curve of the bronze claw pendant makes a nice space for the abstract link to nest. The gold chain pulls it together and helps balance the mixed metal components. I am satisfied with this as one of my few successful asymmetrical designs.

What are the ruling forces that govern your jewelry design?
Leave your answer as a comment to win one of the bronze claw pendants shown in this design
. One entry per person. Deadline: Next Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011.

Win the center Bronze Claw Pendant by answering the blog question.

September 6, 2011

Winner of Jewelry Photography Giveaway

Filed under: Giveaways — Tags: , , @ 12:46 pm

The randomly selected winner of the $40 Nina Designs jewelry photography giveaway is Lisa Michele, comment #3. Congrats and thanks to everyone who offered jewelry photography tips. Jewelry photography has become a necessary skill for all jewelry designers who sell online. And while it is challenging at first, once you get started you will pick up the skill and have fun. I believe if you can make jewelry, then you can take gorgeous photos of it too.

Start with these simple tips I compiled from the original post on Jewelry Photography. Many helpful tips were offered, so be sure to read the comments. What I summarize below are the recurring tips many readers offered:

1) Use diffused lighting. Most readers recommend taking your photos in natural, indirect light. Remember jewelry has a lot of reflective shiny surfaces that bounces light everywhere. That is why you want to use diffused lighting, which you can also achieve using a light box.

2) Use the macro setting on your camera so you can shoot photos really close to the object.

3) Use basic backgrounds. You don’t want to detract from your jewelry. Some readers did recommend using minimal props.

4) Shoot your jewelry from interesting angles.

Those are the basics and all you need to do to get started. Here are some photos of few of our readers offered as excellent jewelry photography that works. Thanks everyone!

Lisa Michele

Peace of Mind

Carol Lipworth

September 2, 2011

Win $100 for Reviewing our Products

Filed under: Giveaways — Tags: , @ 11:32 am

Reviewing jewelry supplies is rewarding! For every Nina Designs product you review throughout September, we’ll enter you into a drawing to win $100 to spend at Nina Designs. The more products you review, the greater your chance of winning. Share your review on Facebook for extra entries!

To review a product:
1) Find the product you want to review. Use the “add a review” link.
2) Rate the product using our star system.
3) Write what you like or dislike about the product.
4) Share your review on Facebook.

You can find this window in the description of every product

August 30, 2011

Blog Giveaway: Tips for Jewelry Photography

Filed under: Giveaways,Learn Something New @ 3:24 pm

Win $40 to spend at Nina Designs by offering a jewelry photography tip.

Jewelry Photography can be challenging. There are many things to consider so much so that when I began photographing my jewelry I felt overwhelmed. To gain some control over my runaway emotions, I narrowed my focus to the basics: buy a digital camera with a good macro- setting to get amazing close up shots, shoot in natural light, and use consistent backgrounds to lend my shop a cohesive look.

As Emily points out in Jewelry Display Tips beginning with a clear vision of your customers helps you develop the look of your shop – everything from packaging, display, and photography. My customer appreciates vintage finds, so I chose to use an old metal table in front of a window with great natural light as my background.

In the beginning, my photos were BORING! They were a snooze. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I did the only thing I could. I kept trying. By the time I shot hundreds of photos, I began to tweak my approach to jewelry photography in a way that made all the difference. This sounds counter-intuitive, but the more I thought of my jewelry as sculpture and not as jewelry at all, the more interesting my photos became. Once I freed my mind of the constraints of what jewelry should look like, I was able to position my jewelry into unique perspectives, and format my photos in eye-catching and unusual ways.

Win $40 to spend at Nina Designs! What tips have you learned that you can pass along? Offer your tip for a chance to win $40 to spend on jewelry findings. Earn an extra entry by sending a photo to go along with your tip. Leave your tip here as a blog comment and send photos to juanita(at)ninadesigns.com. My goal is to write a follow-up blog with everyone’s contributions. This way we can have a convenient and useful reference when we need it.

Earrings or Sculpture?

July 26, 2011

Jewelry Making Tips Contest Winner

Filed under: Giveaways — Tags: , , @ 10:40 am

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!

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