Jewelry Designer Blog » Inspiration

Send your Next Love Letter in a Sterling Silver Envelope Locket!

juanita — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:12:11 +0000

Romance is in the air with the arrival of our NEW sterling silver envelope locket. This is a charming design perfect for Valentine’s Gifts from sweethearts. What’s even better is that the envelope actually opens along a hinge and securely closes with a neat button latch. The tiny dot detailing is the icing on the cake.

Be sure to pick up the matching silver tablet so you can stamp personalized messages, little sweet nothings, or words to uplift, like “courage” and “strength.” This silver tablet fits perfectly inside the envelope! As an alternative, you can also hand write a note on paper, and slip into the envelope.

Wear your envelope on a charm bracelet, on a beaded necklace, or simply thread it onto a romantic silk ribbon!

Say it in silver!

Let it snow with sterling silver snowflake charms!

Tiffany — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 22:57:58 +0000

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!

Bronze Jewelry Charms Become Family Keepsakes

juanita — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:20:22 +0000

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

Blog Partners Roundup of Bronze Jewelry Designs

juanita — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 17:00:10 +0000

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

Easy Techniques for Finishing Wide Leather Cords with Silver Clasps

juanita — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:35:48 +0000

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

Celebrate Thanksgiving in Style with Festive Silver Charms

Tiffany — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 18:57:48 +0000

Celebrate Thanksgiving adorned in a leather cord necklace complimented by our large hole pearls and a cluster of festive silver charms swaying happily on our Family charm holder. Enjoy this special time of gratitude and appreciation with significant individuals through fellowship, cooking, and devouring a delicious meal.

I personally love this time of year and can always find a chuckle in the challenge of cooking a delicious turkey and seeing how many creative ways my family can transform it after the holiday has passed. Sure, there are turkey sandwiches, soups, and salads, but we like to challenge ourselves by thinking of bazaar turkey recipes. Like turkey birthday cake, its a spoof on your traditional pot pie. I’ll spare your stomach the details! But if you have any bizarre recipes to share, please do!

Ok, but really . . . when the laughter starts to settle, the bellies are full and coffee is being poured, I hope you soak in this precious time with family and friends to really build a memory on what it’s all about – real genuine, face to face, relationship building with people who give your life meaning. Once the holiday passes, it’s easy to turn the electronics back on that consume our lives, but I challenge you to continue this practice of mindfulness throughout the year.

Have a warm and tasty Thanksgiving!

Sketching New Silver Pendants – The Seafan Collection

leah — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:57:29 +0000

One of the most enjoyable parts of my job at Nina Designs is sketching and designing many of the Silver Pendants and Charms we carry. The ideas for new styles originate from a variety of places: a mod 1960s style chandelier, a beautiful sprig of wildflowers appreciated during an evening walk, holiday themes like Day of the Dead, or inspiring photos from National Geographic. Both Nina and I have always admired ocean sea fans. They are delicate and lacy, yet sturdy enough to withstand strong sea tides.

Below are my sketches from our design process. We wanted the sea fan pendants to look both flowing and organic (not always easy in hard sterling silver). After completing the final sketch, I sent the specifications to Thailand, where talented silversmiths made a master model. Often, samples require several revisions before we’re satisfied with the final result. In this example, the sea fans needed just one round of modifications to reach perfection!

What inspires your creations?

Sea Fan: from sketches to final product

The Challenge of Asymmetrical Design Using Silver and Bronze Jewelry Findings

Marcy — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:17:30 +0000

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.

Silver Pendants Deliver Inspiration

nina — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:39:49 +0000

Silver Pendants and shoes are not so different. They are both coveted by women and highly addictive. That is why we chose Delivering Happiness by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh to be the first book we read in our Nina Designs business book club. Most of the staff read the book and then went out to lunch to discuss our thoughts and how we could use Zappos ideas to improve Nina Designs. We were very impressed with their commitment to WOW customers with their service and the idea that every phone call is an opportunity to bond with customers. The concept that “your culture is your brand” also resonated and we liked their communication strategy, “Be real and use your best judgement”. We decided to formalize our Core Values so everyone could use them to guide decision making and evaluate performance.

Despite the similarities, the element of design is a key difference between our company and theirs. Zappos sells the same shoes everyone else sells while Nina Designs creates new designs that are unique to our company. Our silver pendants and jewelry parts also become part of larger creations, facilitating our customer’s own creative vision. That lead us to a key insight. While the goal at Zappos is to Deliver Happiness, at Nina Designs we strive to Deliver Inspiration.

What do you deliver?

Peep toes from Zappos

Peep toes from Nina Designs

Fashion Friday: Beaded Beauties

juanita — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 20:53:10 +0000

Lately, my eye has been drawn to colorful beaded jewelry that evokes Native American themes and patterns. I find the geometry in the patterns and the spirituality it represents very provocative. My inspiration boards and favorites on Etsy have been filling up quickly with beaded beauties. That’s why when Leah designed the chubby infinity jewelry link I couldn’t wait to try insetting it with colorful gemstone beads. I’ve been wire wrapping stones along the outside edge of circle links, but this was my first time wrapping to the inside. My beaded pendant is not exactly the way I envisioned it. I will definitely practice my technique to get this perfected. But, for my first time, I’m pleased with the result.

Though really . . . I’m not quite sure if it’s finished. What do you think? Would you add a ruffle of beads along the lower bottom edge? If so, what color?