We can all expect to see small increases in the price of CRYSTALLIZED™ – Swarovski Elements over the next few months.

Still pennies per crystal bead!

Why?

• The value of the Dollar against the Euro continues to worsen.
• Materials costs continue to rise.
• For nearly a year, Swarovski held the currency surcharge at the same level, despite the fall of the Dollar.  But in late October Swarovski announced they are increasing the surcharge, thus making Crystallized Elements by Swarovski cost more for all US distributors and retailers.

The effects of the surcharge increase, plus an expected across-the-board price increase from Swarovski in early 2010, will ripple through the jewelry and bead markets as new goods arrive or as vendors implement across-the-board price changes.

Rest assured, Rings & Things plans to keep bringing you genuine Swarovski crystals at the best prices possible!

Welcome Wendy Gibson, “guest” blog partner!

Another place you'll find our busy new blog partner

Wendy put her name in at our Blog Partners page, to be in our quarterly drawing.  She’s now our second (ever) winner in that ongoing contest!

5 things you didn’t know about Wendy, and why she’s going to rock your world for the next 3 months:

1. She’s the great mind behind the Peterborough Fairy Door Project!
2. Wendy’s our first Canadian blog partner…so she’s already celebrated Thanksgiving.
3. She’s not only a gifted blogger & indie entrepreneur, she’s also a popular girl on Twitter & Facebook.
4. The paper cutout version of Wendy has been spotted traveling with the ceramic Russ Troll bead
5. Wendy is an early adopter of the great new Twitter lists feature!

Enjoy reading Wendy’s Craft Dinner blog, and say hi to her at her other links above!

Bright stuff coming down!

These crystal pendants are the classic Swarovski #6704 style, perennially popular for the way they gently glisten.

Make your list now, and check it twice!  You have enough time to stock up some great styles for Christmas and Hanukkah shoppers.

Like real snowflakes, these come in many forms.  Sizes are 20mm, 25mm, 30mm and 35mm — in other words, from nearly an inch to an inch-and-a-half.  Choose from “pure” crystal, crystal AB (aurora borealis coating), and crystal/moonlight (also coated).

Crystal snowflakes fit for a princess

PS: You can also get new snowflake beads in raku, as well as other styles.  Merry browsing!

Invest selflessly

The Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) specializes in helping those less fortunate–artists, specifically.  When a studio burns down or a hurricane sweeps away someone’s livelihood, CERF steps in to help rebuild.  CERF also educates artists in emergency preparedness.

Despite the economic ups & downs we’ve witnessed this year, some of us have come through all right — and as the holidays approach, we can consider donating to CERF.  Through December, join “A Season for CERF” to give a portion of your proceeds to this good cause.

Whether it’s a percentage of profits or a one-time donation, our donations add up, like beads strung onto a thread, to make a valuable contribution to our artisan community.

Can’t donate?  Please mention this article on Twitter or Facebook!

Subscribe to the “feed” from the Design Gallery.  You’ll have 10 new design ideas at a time delivered to your desktop.

How?  Click the orange RSS link, the iGoogle link, or the MyYahoo! link.  You’ll get a constantly updated list of our 10 latest jewelry projects.

Just like that!  We’ve had plenty of people say that they turn to us first when they have a new project idea.  Let us return the favor with some jewelry inspirations.

Enjoy!

How burly is your Beadalon?

This is a nice testament to the durability of the stringing materials you can buy here.   Thanks to Rita who works here, for pointing out that you can learn from broken jewelry too!

FYI, the big cool bead is #28-900-01-01 (George O’Grady borosilicate glass).  It’s been restrung on #40-099-28-3 beading chain, finished off with a #41-151-99-20-3 crimp tube at one end and #41-256-02-3 crimps at the other end.  The crimp at the end of the tassel is covered with a crimp cover from the #48-289-00-3 set.  The clip itself isn’t ours, but is similar to our new #30-610-01-1 teardrop clip.

Dare to share — have a jewelry failure that we can learn from?  Spill it in a comment here!

For jolly happy souls!

Add goofy grins to the festivities with the snowman-head beads above — or with the fun snowmen, Xmas trees and Santa beads below!

Making spirits bright...and helping mittened fingers zip jackets!

(There’s also a really fun bubble wand in our Design Gallery, featuring these same three beads.)

Besides these designs, check out such festive baubles as lampwork Christmas stockings…

Stocking stuff!

…and many more!

Have holiday plans involing beads?  Share the inspiration here!

My other car is a *real* bike!

The League of American Bicyclists recently announced 45 new Bicycle-Friendly Business (BFB) award winners, including Rings & Things. This was the third time BFB winners have been announced since the program’s inception in 2008, when the League announced the first 13 designees; it puts us in the ranks of businesses like Rodale Publishing, REI stores, and the World Bank.

BFB businesses make bicycle-friendliness a core element in the workplace, and use innovative tools to promote bicycling as an easy and fun option for transportation and recreation.

The BFB program recognizes socially responsible businesses that promote healthy, happy, and green workplaces, and provides a road map to become even more bike-friendly in the years to come.

BFB winners provide amenities such as secure bike parking and shower facilities, and motivations such as incentives to commute by bike and bike to Work Week promotions. When bicycling is infused in a company’s culture, great things happen: reduced health care costs; more productive employees; improved worker and customer satisfaction; smaller carbon footprint; and increased corporate social responsibility. It’s also fun to bike

Applying as a BFB is easy and free. Applicants receive technical assistance from the League staff as well as tools to evaluate and assess their bicycle friendliness through the application process.  Rings & Things encourages other businesses to make a difference by supporting employee bicycling.

What would you trade to have these...?

But what are trade beads (or ‘tradebeads’)?  Rings & Things often gets asked this question.  I got our bead-loving founder, Russ Nobbs, to talk a little about this…

Q:  What are trade beads?

Russ:  Generally the term ‘trade bead’ refers to the kinds of beads collected and sold in Africa. In the public perception this includes

• European-made glass beads
• Indian-made carnelian and agate beads
• African-made stone, metal and powdered-glass beads
• and, more recently, contemporary glass beads from India and China.

So, it’s a catch-all name for what could be called “African beads just because they are found today in African sources.”

Q:  What do trade beads have to do with trading?

Russ:  When asked if trade beads were really traded, well-known bead researcher Jamey Allen said, “My definition merely says that ‘trade’ beads are ‘beads that were made for exchange purposes, not for use purposes.’  Not all old beads are ‘trade’ beads.”

Very few of the ‘trade beads’ on the market today are truly ‘trade’ beads, in that they were made to sell as commodities.  Beads made for the slave and gold trade are from an earlier era than most of what are called “trade beads” on sale today.

Q:  What are some major kinds of trade beads that people might enjoy checking out?

Russ:  At Rings & Things we tend to describe this category as “African and Trade Beads.” This includes Indian stone and European glass beads made in the 18th, 19th and early 20th century. It also includes the powder-glass beads made currently in Ghana and lost-wax cast metal beads from Ghana and Ivory Coast. These were made in the last century and production continues today.

Thanks to Russ for sharing some thoughts about this.  Have another question for our resident bead expert?    Ask here!

I have been reflecting on what wins an award in a contest. Is it the biggest / most elaborate entry? The one with the most obvious $$ spent?

What makes this a winning contest entry?

Lots of times, it does seem to look that way.  When you feel like it works that way, try looking at several years of winners for that contest.  There may be a unconscious bias working there somewhere.  I feel I have seen some cultural bias in international art exhibitions — this happens and you can’t really complain about it.  You can become aware of it and use it to your advantage, or at least know that it’s working against you.

So anyway….what makes a winner?  I think it’s always design. The work has to have good design.

How to get to good design?  Well, I guess my method is to collect ideas for a while, then I do small sketches (thumbnails) and play with my elements (beads/stones/etc.), until I start to get a real idea or concept in my mind’s eye.

Then I do some larger drawing.  I really like an expressive/abstract style of drawing — this gives me more ideas. After that:  I do a final design drawing to life-size, and really tight so I can cut metal to fit and all. Many times I get halfway through and the materials or visual ideas shift.  That may mean a new piece gets started, or that the current one gets benched for a while, or just improvements.

So in this description, how many pieces got designed?  Maybe 10 various directions — and from them, picking the best one and making builds for that GOOD DESIGN WINNER.