We recently completed work on several new silver charms that celebrate the crafty side of life. A ball of yarn, a pair of scissors and a spool of thread join our collection of lifestyle charms. These charms have complete detail on both the front and back and are so cute in person! We imagined a necklace that combines the ball of yarn with our happy cat charm – how darling. We should have these charms in stock by mid-August. Click here if you’d like to watch a slide show illustrating the many steps involved in casting these charms.
Sing it loud and clear: I'm a crafty lady!
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?
We have been having lots of fun with our new silver stamping blank pendants. In fact, we’re so crazy for stamping that we’re adding more pendants in additional shapes and sizes! Coming soon is a larger size round disk, a teardrop shape framed in your choice of silver or gold plate, and my favorite, a blank stamping pendant topped with an elegant Gothic arch. These new shapes will be available in mid-July.
Clara recently used the elegant Gothic arch pendant to stamp a wonderful Rumi poem: “In your light I learn how to love.” Stamping is not difficult: all that is needed are a few simple tools and a little practice. Once you start, the options are almost limitless! What is your favorite quote to stamp on a pendant?
P.S. By telling us your favorite quote for stamping, you could win the Boulder Beauty necklace I made as one of our many FREE Design Ideas. One comment will be randomly selected as the winner next Wednesday, June 16th, 2010. Check back to see if you won!
What would you stamp on this beautiful Gothic Arch?
Prize: Boulder Beauty Necklace
OK, I know I wrote about our new large hole pearls last week, but I’m obsessed so I’m writing about them again! Based on this week’s orders, you like them too! Not surprisingly, the large hole white pearls are selling twice as fast as the gray peacock pearls – and who can argue with white pearls? However, I’d like to sing the praises of the gray peacock pearls. They are subtle and deep. Every pearl is unique – some with hints of cranberry, others with a bronzy shimmer – and every one is a treasure. I made the bracelet below by stringing 20 large holed peacock pearls onto chocolate deer hide lace, and then wrapped the lace around my wrist and tied a square knot.
Luscious large hole peacock pearls look urban and edgy strung on deer hide leather.
This bracelet gets it pop from unexpected contrasts: between “sweet” pearls and tough leather; the glistening luster of the pearls against the absorbing deep chocolate brown; and the smooth surface of the pearls with the supple, rugged texture of the leather. How do you incorporate contrasting elements into your jewelry designs?
The arrival of our new large hole pearls last week marked an exciting day at Nina Designs. These pearls are gorgeous: nice and chunky at between 9-10 mm, with a beautiful luster and organic potato shape. Best of all are their extra large holes! At 2.5 mm, these holes can accommodate our silk cord, our deer hide lace, and our thin chain by the foot.
We couldn’t wait to start playing: below is a bracelet made with knotted pink silk cord, white large hole pearls, and our new silver hammer finish button. We also strung the pearls on the deer hide lace for a fantastic contrast between tough leather and refined pearls – simply wrap around the wrist and tie for a very cool look. One large holed peacock pearl sliding on a delicate gold plated chain at the base of the neck is stunning. Can you tell how excited we are? What are some other ways large hole pearls might be used?
First a silver button is added to silk cord, then the silk cord is doubled. A piece of wire becomes a needle and the large hole pearls are threaded onto the silk and knotted.
Large hole pearls knotted onto a double strand of silk cord. Our new silver hammer finish button makes a great clasp!
The deer hide lace we introduced in the Fall has been a great success! Everyone seems to love it, probably because it’s one of the softest, most supple leathers available. We’re going to add several new colors – let your opinion be heard and vote for your favorite new colors! From top left to bottom right, the colors are:
Vote for your favorite new color!
pearl
kiwi
wine
cobalt
sienna
hot pink
mahogany
Add a comment and let us know which colors are your favorites!
This February at our biggest tradeshow in Tucson, we received customer requests for a variety of jewelry charms: a cheer leading megaphone, a howling wolf, baby shoes and a baby carriage, a water polo ball and a soccer ball, and a head of garlic, just to name a few. One of the most often requested items were more stamping blanks in different shapes. Stamping, where small steel letters are used to create an impression in metal, is a huge trend right now. It allows for customization and a way to tell a personal story. Many mothers wear pendants stamped with their children’s initials; an anniversary date can be stamped onto a heart; or a short uplifting poem can be stamped onto a jewelry charm and worn on a bracelet as motivation to “begin again” or “enjoy the journey”.
In response to the numerous requests we received, we have designed a line of stamping blanks that provide an elegant palette for expressing personal sentiments. They are 19 gauge thick – nice and substantial for receiving stamped letters. Two of the charms feature 24k gold plate accents. For instructions on stamping, visit our classroom. Click here to see these stamping blanks.
Great new stamping blank silver jewelry charms!
Upcoming dog bone charms in the making.
Every great office needs a great mascot decked out in silk bows and sterling silver charms! And we found ours in a lovable, absolutely adorable poodle/dachshund puppy named Dolce. As her name suggests, she is as soft and sweet as spun sugar, and a delight to have in the office. She follows Nina around everywhere, but we all take turns rubbing her pink belly and taking her for walks in the neighborhood.
Celebrate all the furry friends in your lives that provide unconditional love and endless enjoyment with our pet themed charms. Our collection is ever popular and just keeps growing. We started with our silver word charms: I love cats, I love dogs,, and wild thing. Before long we designed a series of whimsical paw print charms and a round charm featuring a cat silhouette. Be on the look out for our next cat charm, a textured version of a kitty sitting pretty, and a little dog bone charm that offers a small surface for stamping Fido’s name. And, for all you horse lovers out there, we are coming out with a series of horse charms and pendants soon!
Meet Dolce
Upcoming dog bone charms in the making
We recently re-designed our very useful tulip crimp ends to have more compact hooks and cleaner lines, and now they’re also available in sterling vermeil! The new sterling vermeil crimp ends have the same rich 24K satin finish as the rest of our gold plate items. This is exciting news because now it’s just as easy to create jewelry combining silk cords and deer hide lace with gold plate as it is with silver. Simply crimp the gold plated tulip crimp ends onto the silk or leather, just as it’s done with the silver versions. Voila – an easy, elegant way to finish a necklace with a gold plate pendant strung on a vibrant silk cord!
Tip: after the end knot is inserted into the tulip cup, pinch two petals together a little bit, then the other two, then back to the first two, etc. until you’ve closed the tulip as tight as possible. If the first two petals are closed completely in the first pinch, there is no space left for the other two petals to neatly fit into the tulip when they’re pinched closed.
New gold plate tulip end caps neatly finish deerhide leather cord.
This gold plate tulip end crimp has a hook and eye built in - so easy to complete a necklace!
We are all so excited about the new silver pinch bails that arrived in our office last week! Pinch bails have been on our to-do design list for years. With so many sizes and shapes of pendants that require pinch bails, we were overwhelmed with the wide variety of possible shapes and sizes and so pinch bails we continuously pushed to the back burner. However, after what seemed like the hundredth request, we acknowledged that it was time to get to work!
Our new pinch bails address one of the main issues we found in existing pinch bails: after the bail was on the pendant, the pendant hole was still visible which created a messy, incomplete look. Our pinch bails are designed so that the decorative pattern hides the hole on the pendant. The finished piece looks clean, complete and professional.
Please see our classroom instructions on how to pinch the bails so that the inside prongs are as flush as possible, ensuring a tight fit on the pendant. The correct plier position for best results is a little counter-intuitive.
Testing new pinch bails on a variety of pendants.
Pinch bail on a carved Lilly Pilly pendant