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What to do?

Summer is here and it is time to get out a few funky charms and make some funky light earrings - I think these are simply too cute - and many of these charms are on sale right now in our shop - make an easy pair of earrings!

Beads

Beads are Back at Winter Rose on Etsy and we will be adding new Czech Glass Cut beads and even gemstones. We have the flower beads and teardrops up now. These are the perfect compliment to our brass pieces in your jewelry designs. Enjoy.

Welcome Back

We are opening the shop again after more than 4 months off - it is slow going getting all the listings dusted off and put back on the shelf, but I'm hoping to finish it off over the weekend. So check in often and let us help you make your holiday sales go off the charts this year!

Also in your current issue of Bead Unique Magazine you will find one of our pieces - a Steampunk necklace called Amelia - it was the first place winner in their contest. Many of the brass pieces used to create this one of a kind necklace can be found in our shop.

Alice for a Grown Up's Fancy

So the current craze is for Alice themed jewelry - you have probably already discovered this. And for those of us grown ups who secretly can't wait for the premier of the new movie, jewelry is a good fix. But not all of us want the fluffy pink Alice and white rabbit jewelry - so here are a few designs adapted for adults - all of these charms and filigrees are available in our shop.

The White Queen
Elegant and vintage looking with a side strand of pearls and a few brass bits.

The Queen of Hearts
A side strand of opulent rondells and deep garnet ovals is offset by a nice chunky chain and delicate morning glory heart. The dangle is done with a lighter chain and brass ox charms themed to her royal court.

Alice
The basics are all here but not in a flashy way - a tiered tea set with clock and initial are glitzed up with a few faceted chunky teardrop crystals with a brown overglaze. Just clip them into a chunky chain and you are good to go - this one also makes a great bracelet or broach fob.

Pendant Formations

Pendants make a great starting place for more detailed designs, but they can also be quickly assembled and used on their own. These 3 examples are all used as easy pendants on bails to be threaded on premade chains - but could just as easily be connected into a beaded rope chain for a more OOAK look.

To find the brass pieces used in these necklaces, visit our etsy site and search by number or convo us and we will set up a special listing for you if you need larger amounts. These items are available in both antique brass ox finish and our antique silver plated finish.
I Have A Secret
This uses a # 220 filigree with a small handmade photo charm

Mr Darcy
This uses a # 192 with a small handmade photo charm

Banker's Hours
This uses a bar filigree # 193 and two additional charms the butterfly # 250 and the clock # 151

Holiday Flowers

This is a super easy, but oh so elegant necklace that you can put together in a snap! You can get all the pieces for this necklace in our shop - if they are not currently listed - someone else got there first, but just send me a convo and I will set up a custom listing for you!

Use 3 two inch head pins with small crystals or pearls threaded on the bottoms - gravity will hold them in place. Stagger them and then clip the tops even with wire cutters and make loops on the end. Take the eye pin and open the eye a bit, slide on the head pins and slip this into the flower bead - add the bead cap and another bead then create a look at the top for your chain.

So many variations for this piece - use for earrings or simplify for a more casual necklace....have fun with it.

NEW Items and Selling Tip

We have posted several new items today and thought you might like a preview of a few fabulous new pieces. These focals are great for quick necklaces that really show well at holiday fairs. Just add a partially beaded chain, a drop dangle or use as a simple pendant - these stampings shine all on their own!


We are using many of these pieces in our own jewelry for this fall's big fair - I like to have a good line of reasonably priced show stopping pieces between $28 and $38 mark. These pieces really draw the eye of the woman that is working and needs to spruce up an old outfit. In fact we use this as a big selling point we say something like:

"With money being so tight for all of us, instead of a new outfit that could be nearly $200, we take an old outfit and update it with a fabulous piece of new jewelry that draws attention for a fraction of the cost. It's quite a steal."

Brass Noir

It is here finally - after 6 months on the planning board and searching out the one plater in the US that could create this incredible finish we are introducing our exclusive Brass Noir.

This near black brass offers you an entire new way to create Vintage Inspired and Gothic Victorian designs. These pieces look as if they were unearthed from a Victorian jewelry chest - I've never seen anything like this finish.
I will be listing it up for you all week.

We have all sorts of pieces from filigree to focals and findings - fabulous chains and matching earring hooks and jump rings. I will be listing all week. WARNING - we have a limited stock. We did a sample run to test this finish and have less than 24 of most designs so it will be a first come first get's the goods week. More will be coming but it will be a few weeks and fairs are coming up quickly.

The jewelry here is some we have started creating for our own fall shows - no one else is going to have this - We wanted it specifically for this years fairs to stand above all the other jewelry booths with something truly unique. Feel free to duplicate any design here - we love to be your inspiration.

Design Winners

Hello we are back, after computer glitches and headaches - we are finally back to announce the fabulous winners of our design contest. All the entries were wonderful but these 3 took the cake (or rather a nice selection of beads and brass)


First prize: Morning Glory Necklace
Designed by Crystal Carrillo at Fineartreflections
Isn't it amazing - delicate and so pretty - she highlighted
many of our Woodland Brass pieces!

Second Place: My Beloved
Designed by Blanche at ShaSha Jewelry

Third Place: The Key to My Heart
Designed by Danni at nelliD
her shop is here

other fabulous entrants:
laboiteamonstres
dspdavey

Stay tuned this week for a new line of brass - Brass Noir!

Trends for Jewelry

Tracking the newest trends are not easy - as a designer, you need a few weeks to bring in supplies, create your designs and get them ready to sell - the latest fad could be over by then. So how are small designers ever supposed to keep up?

A few simple suggestions - add a few fashion blogs to your bookmarks and check on them regularly to see the larger leanings of the industry (not necessarily this weeks hottest item). You will begin to see color, shape, size and materials that tend to stand out. Also take special note of what not so popular celebrity figures are wearing - like news anchors and indie singers - they tend to be more in line with what the average Jane is wanting to wear.

A couple of blogs I ran across for fashion:
Fashionizing
Jewelry Trends '09
Fashion Jewelry

Keep in mind that not every woman wants to be a fashion model - most of us working women want to create a look for ourselves that will last more than one season. What this means to designers: keep in mind that a large portion of your designs should be geared to the everyday woman - this is your largest customer base (say 65%).


So when you are thinking about this fall's fairs and online sales think about keeping a ration that will help you promote volume sales - 65% everyday jewelry - 25% fashion trend jewelry (as close to up to the minute as you can get) - 10% elegant jewelry (evening out). Whether you work predominately with gemstones, glass beads, brass or hemp twists - you can tailor this formula to meet your customers needs, offering a nice variety in designs.

Holiday Show

Very good news - we have a booth in the Denver Holiday Gift and Craft show! Yeah-hip-hip-hurray! We are very excited and have started the vast planning process for doing such a large show several states away. I intend to devote a few blogs to the process - it is going to be a grueling 4 months.

Tonight it is schedule time - from purchases to completion dates for each style of necklace and earrings. I just got in a bunch of Twilight themed items as the premier is the weekend after the show - I am also considering bringing in a men's line for the fellas.

So much fun - I just love seeing things set out for the fairs - all in neat little piles with their bright unbent tags....

Also, I wanted to thank everyone who has gotten in their entries to the design contest - some fabulous pieces!!!! You still have about 2 weeks so send in your ideas so keep them coming.

Can't go wrong with Silver

Thought I would share a super quick pair of earrings with everyone that really pops in the display cases. These are made with silver plated components - nickle free, antiqued and sealed for a lifetime of fabulous wear.

Personally I love these earrings because I can wear them with my more casual suits for when I teach classes or I can wear the with my strappy black evening gown - my choice for Christmas events. Anyway - they are supper easy to put together - just take a crystal bead of your choice - 6mm and an eye pin - thread it on, make a loop and use it to conect the dangle to the earwire.

These should retail for you between $12 and $20 depending on what area you are in economy-wise when you do your fairs.

Quick tip for the week - go to Next Day Flyers and have some fabulous biz cards printed just to dangle your earings from - you can have a decorative front that is nuetral enough to highlight but not compete with the beauty of your earrings and then you can load the back with info about you and your website. Etsy has several very talented digital artists that make backgrounds for ATC's that work really well for this application.

Punch holes for the earrings and if you hang the cards at your shows you have 2 options - either attach a plastic peal and stick hanger (jewelry show supply shops sell these in 100 packs cheap) or you can punch a hole in the top to hang on a peg. You can also get cello sleves to slip them in, if you want to set them out in a basket (people love to pick things up and get a really good look at how fabulous they are!)

Featured

We were featured in the Etsy Wedding Blog with our Medieval Story Cameos from the Winter Rose Cameo Site Thank you Etsy for the feature - the other artist we were selected with have absolutely fabulous items!

Water slide decals came in this week, so I will be experimenting with them - they are a great way to get pictures onto odd shaped brass pieces - personalizing them. They are great for dominoes, bamboo tiles and other pieces as well - hopefully instructions for those will be up next week as well as a picture of the prizes for our Designer Challenge.

UPDATES

Catching up a bit today - listing new cameos to our cameo site with a holiday theme (Halloween that is) It is right around the corner and I have noticed an upswing in Halloween supply sales so many of you are already getting your shops stocked with frightfully fabulous designs. Following on the tail of Halloween will be the premier of the new Twilight movie in November so be sure to stock early on that - Twilight fans are crazy wild for Etsy jewelry.


There were a few questions on the twitter blog so I hope these are the answers you wanted - LOL:

1. Our Twitter name is WinterRoseShop.
2. To add Twitter to your tool bar - If you have Firefox this is the bar between the address line and your open tabs. All you have to do to create a quick is click and drag the www address down to this bar and Firefox will create a quick link for you that is always on the ready.

and a few...IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER...

June 30 - last day to get a free earring kit with your order of $10 (scroll down for info)

July 15 - Entries for Design challenge are due (scroll to next post for info)

Aug. 15 - Purple jewelry entries are due at Somerset - they are sticklers for having these in on time so do not put it off - mail them no later than August 1 (yes you guessed it - scroll for info)

Call for Designers

Posting late due to fabulous weather and a new garden - hopefully you were all out enjoying the last day of spring too. And now on to the posting - I am running a contest for designers using our Woodland Brass pieces. Simple rules and a fabulous prize for everyone who participates.
Prizes first cause that's the fun part:

First Prize - Your design and site will be featured with our next Ad in Belle Armoire Jewelry magazine and featured on this blog and Twitter. Plus a fabulous set of supplies.

Second and Third place get a fabulous sample pack of supplies and a feature with photo on our blog.

EVERYONE gets a shout out for their shop here on our blog and on Twitter for participating.

And now the rules:
A good photo of your design will need to be sent to me - use the etsy convo for this at our shop or you can send me a link to a listing you already have designed at the shop or in the comment box here. Designs must use our Woodland brass pieces prominently in either the silver or brass ox colors. (Chain and/or beads need not be from our shop but the stampings/charms need to be from us.) All entries will need to be in by July 15, 2009.

Designs will be chosen based on three factors:

1. Focal use of our products
2. Overal esthetics
3. Originality and Creativity

We may need the winner to send the product to us for a picture suitable for our ad. If you have any questions, just let me know and good luck to everyone - I can't wait to see all your designs.

SALE

Trying something new today - with every $10 order for the rest of the month, if you mention this blog you are going to get a kit to make these fabulous Midnight Blue Dangle earrings with silver plated hoops and antique silver plated bead caps - you can even cut and paste these pictures to sell them on your Etsy site. Easy and Fun.


1-2-3 instructions:

1. Push pin through bead and cap.
2. Trim pin and make a loop
3. String on ear wire

The beads are Czech 8mm - the caps are our Gothic Caps (S-167) - the ear wires are the nice long ones - nearly 2 inches for added drama.

Simple Summer

My sister requested a few very simple designs to wear this summer with sleeveless V-neck tops (apparently all the rage in the Midwest) so I thought I would post a few pictures here for everyone to get a bit of inspiration from - Simply Summer!

The supplies for these designs can be found at Winter Rose Designs


Clip a pre-made chain in half and insert a connector focal like these owls or the butterfly bellow.
Quick - Simple - Showstopper


This is a lariet style necklace with one of our silver washers and the Fleur de lis pendant - add a gem or pearl to add a bit of interest.

A charm, a wrapped pearl, a pre-made necklace and a jump ring - instant crowd pleasing necklace.

Twitter Update

Finally got the account set up for the supply shop - first post on that one this morning - if you would like to follow the name is WinterRoseShop - I'll be posting listing updates, new items, sales and anything else that pops into my head. I will return follows - so tag me if you want.

Have a great week!

To Twitter or not to Twitter

Getting the word out about your shop is hard on a budget - I advertise a bit in national mags. and I have done a few paid internet ads, but more of my sales come through direct communication like blogs and inserts. So when Twitter came along I was fascinated, but a little leery of this new phenomena - So I stayed away - till now.

In my new marketing plan 'check out Twitter' was in my research section - so I wandered over there last night and set up an account for one of my jewelry shops - It was easy to do and I was sending out tweets right away. I thought "OK, but now what - how is this going to translate into sales? Is it going to be more work with no real benefit?"

Well, here is how it translates into easy sales - you add the Twitter page to your toolbar so it is easy to log into in the morning - just like your Etsy, Email and Blog - get up there and make life easy - now click on it and send out a tiny message. Add a link to the newest piece of jewelry you listed and just watch how many hits it gets in the 2 hours after you post the Tweet!

Next, Twitter is a social networking site so you follow folks and folks follow you - within 12 hours we had a Teen Celebrity following us! You can also send out personal messages on Twitter to all your followers and invite them to look at your site - do the same for them.

And yes, Twitter did translate to sales for us last night! I was thrilled - 5 minutes was all it took!

Some Twitter tips -be spontanious and funny - it's not all about the product-it's about your personality getting some attention. Second, Twitter puts up a list of other Tweeters that you might want to add as friends based on the messages you send out - so use words that will garner you friends that are into what you do.

Be sure and post comments about your Tweeting here - I have to create another accout for each of my sites - this is far too much fun! Tweet you later - have a Fabulous weekend!