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!
Congratulations! By reviewing silver charms and jewelry findings, you’ve given a sheep to a family in need. Every product you reviewed helped a family receive training and a sheep that will help them become self-reliant. All over the world, Heifer partners are raising sheep to advance the cause against hunger and poverty.
Thank you for your gift!
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!
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
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!
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.
We are all big fans of Halloween at Nina Designs and our spooky jewelry charms will have everyone spellbound! Discover spirited silver charms in the Happy Halloween Collection. We have otherworldly owls, beguiling bats, scowling skulls, and sparkling stars. Find yourself spirited away to a world of nostalgia with these fun and frightening silver charms. Here they have all congregated against the full moon to strike fright and fancy into our hearts. Use them alone or combined to captivate viewers and customers alike. Get spirited this season and experiment with fun themed collections! Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween!
Ursula Earrings
Summer in Berkeley, CA, has finally arrived, and our warm-weather sterling silver charms are flying off the shelves. I have been pulling orders filled with
ocean charms,
mermaid charms, and
flip-flop charms, and it has been making me itch for some summery jewelry of my own.
In anticipation of evening outdoor parties, I wanted to design fun, flirty earrings, but keep them edgy. I chose our gold vermeil starfish bead for the focal point, then picked a couple dainty pearls and paired them with our funky 3 circle link from our black silver collection. I love the contrasting elements in these earrings. They make me feel both girly and tough.
As a new jewelry designer, I am interested in how “seasoned” designers decide what direction to take a new jewelry line, and how far ahead the planning and purchasing happens. Do you plan an entire summer line while you’re shut in over the winter, or do you wait to see what styles are hot as spring trees begin to bud? What new pieces are you excited to use in your next collection?
The difference between the silver charms and jewelry findings we offer and those you find at the large one-stop online bead stores is that we design the vast majority of ours in house. This means we sketch jewelry findings into life. Based on our sketches, silversmiths make samples for our approval. The samples may or may not work, and most will go through several revisions. This entire process can take several months to complete, and means we offer you only our best.
Designing in-house also gives us the flexibility to continually improve our products based on your feedback. For example, the chubby teardrop links you see here have always been great sellers, which is why when we started hearing some criticisms we responded quickly. Several customers began requesting a little loop be added to the top so they stay in place. Others prefer the jewelry link without the loop, so now we offer both versions. Making these small tweaks is something we are happy to do for you, our valued customers. In fact, we love receiving this type of feedback because we strive to offer the best and to constantly improve our products.
Please feel free to leave requests for new jewelry findings and for modifications to existing designs in our Suggestion Box. You also have the power to review each and every product we offer online. Just find the item online and click the link under the text “In Your Own Words.”
Original on top, modified design based on customer feedback below
Here at Nina Designs, we keep a blog to keep you up-to-date on the latest news concerning our silver charms and findings. It’s a great way for us to network and interact with you, our valued customers. We love to stay in touch, let you know what’s going on in the office and provide inspiration. While many of you have probably talked to some or maybe all of us on the phone, our blog is another way to give you a glimpse into the women behind Nina Designs; who we are, what inspires us, and our own jewelry testimonials.
We encourage you to blog as well. Reach out to your customers. It’s a wonderful way to promote your designs and gain interest in your company. And, it’s free. I know that whenever I purchase jewelry made of wonderful silver charms and hand-crafted chain, I like to be informed about the story behind the piece. Who made it? What was the inspiration behind the design? What is the company’s business motto? What’s their take on the silver market? I like to know who and what I’m supporting. I like to know where my jewelry comes from.
A blog can be very personal, but it can also build stronger business relationships. Whatever your approach may be, a well-rounded and insightful blog is bound to make your designs that much more special.
Give a new perspective on your silver charms through blogging. We live in a digital world. Embrace it.
