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!
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
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
My job here at Nina Designs has lots of perks, but sharing a love of jewelry and jewelry design with those around me is definitely what I appreciate most. That’s why I got a tingle up my spine when Lorelei of Lorelei Eurto Jewelry, one of our blog partners, emailed to say her post featuring our bronze jewelry charms was published. I couldn’t wait to see. But, I purposely saved it as my treat for finishing my to-do list.
And, it was worth the wait! Lorelei’s Blog is as delightful as her handmade jewelry designs. It is filled with beautiful photos, fun bead swaps, and informative interviews with other creatives. From the very first post you get a sense that Lorelei is obsessed with crafting jewelry & collecting beads. (It’s good to know we are not alone). And, her love shines through her jewelry. Every piece has a loving intention – every color choice, every found object, every art bead was selected with great care.
And, the necklace she made with bronze bird charms and leaf charms is a celebration of color and shapes. While the pattern of beads is random you get a sense that each one has purpose – and, seriously – what bead doesn’t want to be on display? She also designed a gorgeous leather necklace and a pair of earrings that are simply – to die for!
Lorelei's Sweet Necklace
Lorelei Eurto Jewelry
Nina Designs New Bronze Earring Hooks
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
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
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
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.
Queen Bee Necklace
Bronze jewelry charms fit right into Alison Kelley’s jewelry aesthetic. Her designs are modern with a bit of whimsy, and complimented with a soothing color palette. We are thrilled to have her as a blog partner. We sent her a goodie bag filled with bronze charms and pendants and she really knocked it out of the park!
Be sure to go to Alison’s blog to see all her creations. The gemstone combo she paired with the bronze peacock feather is just lovely; and the gold filled chain is a perfect match! Her whimsical combination of tiny bronze charms with hand-stamped messages are super sweet too. I personally feel that all moms everywhere should be rewarded with one of Alison’s Queen Bee necklaces!
Follow Alison’s blog for a chance to win her fabulous Tree of Life necklace. Shop Alison’s jewelry on her Etsy shop.
Tesori Trovati Jewelry
Tesori Trovati is one of our latest blog partners and a wonderful jewelry designer who created a stunning necklace with our new bronze feather pendant. She very expertly combined art beads with pearls, silk ribbons and bronze pendants resulting in an opulent necklace with a warm berry palette. Her use of color is masterful. Get a closer look on her Treasures Found blog, and pick up her creations in her Etsy shop, Tesori Trovati Jewelry. Make sure to check out her “simple truths” charms. They’re adorable handmade charms with simple affirmations and a paired image on the other side.
If you make jewelry and blog about it, then consider joining in the fun. To become a blog partner, email juanita(at)ninadesigns(dot)com.
