THE BUZZ: PREP FOR THE FACTORY OUTLET SALE

Royal Flyer Bee Pin

This week we raise the curtain and give you a glimpse of what it takes to prepare for our fabulous 
FACTORY SALE! 
Yes, that Sale! The two day event when we gather all of our sparkly treasures, display them on tables, racks and walls and throw open the doors to the public. Some of you have attended this auspicious event which we’ve held for over 20 years and others of you have heard of it or seen glimpses of it in images that we’ve posted on our website. 

Butterfly Magic Pin/Pendant

But that’s the endgame. It takes  a lot of  work to prepare for the Sale, but  for us, it is a labor of love. The Factory Sale is our way of showing our appreciation to our customers for all the joy and support they give us. We offer a huge selection of our jewelry, accessories, gift items and clothing at less than wholesale prices.
We realize that many of you live far from Rhode island and cannot attend, so we try to schedule an online Sale or have special value items on our website during the two days the Factory Sale takes place. 
Approximately five months before the Sale, we  decide if we have enough merchandise to make the event fun and exciting and then choose the dates.

Bird of Fairyland Evening Clutch

It takes months to gather the limited edition items,  one-of a-kind pieces, and  forage through our archives for the limited vintage treasures that those attending search for. Many times we include clothing pieces from the Dreamkeeper collection that is sold exclusively on QVC UK. Once the treasures are gathered, we spend a great deal of time with quality control making sure each piece is perfect.

Crystal Chameleon Pin

Once upon a time the Factory Sale was held at our actual factory, but as the number of customers attending grew, we had to switch the venue to a larger place with access to much more parking. For the last few years the sale has been held at Scottish Rite Masonic Center, a lovely spacious building with room for our vast array of merchandise.

Dragonflies in the Forest Pin

 But we did say a glimpse of behind the curtain didn’t we? So here it goes: 

From the far corner of the factory the worried voice of our chief solderer calls for assistance from a designer. Can she substitute the fine jump ring on the watchband she is soldering, for a thicker one? The change is approved and the designer rushes back to  finish the prototype for a dragonfly treasure box. Customers were looking for more dragonflies, mermaids, fairies and various animals which we ran out of at the last sale.

Rainbow Radiance Pin/Pendant

A loud babble of voices is heard as it is discovered that one of the shawls has arrived in the wrong color. After our manger calms our inspectors, he seeks out an owner—can we work with the new color or will it have to be returned?  The color is attractive, more peach than the plum shade originally ordered. Someone is sent around the studio with a sample of the original and new. All of the fairies, um, workers weigh in and soon its decided: the new color is much more popular than the original. Score!

Emerald Queen Bee Pin

Meanwhile the manager receives an urgent call from production—they can’t meet the deadline for a windchime, if it remains as ordered. They're short on the chosen sparklies!  

A brief conference to decide what changes can be made to facilitate the deadline, and lucky us— Sparklies that were previously unavailable are offered as a substitute.  The intercom cuts through the jubilant "Saved!" as an urgent voice announces the need for assistance. 

Hang On Monkey Pin

One of our hand-painters from the enameling dept. is seeking advice for a second color choice on a picture frame.

Feline Fancy Heart Key Chain Charmer

Suddenly a buzz of excitement rises through the workshop. Apparently there is a cat outside. It looks a little scrawny and frightened, but not feral. Someone mentions its been outside for several days. A search of the company fridge and milk is found and poured into a jewel adorned cut glass bowl. A small group is elected to take the milk out to the cat, while the rest of the fairies, er, workers, resume working. Suddenly a  bell sounds, and it’s time for the 10:30 morning break.

 That’s just a small taste of what is happening behind the curtain as we prepare for the May  2014 FACTORY SALE.  We hope some of you can join us to see what wonderful treasures we’ve dreamed up for this much-anticipated event.

Friday, May 2, 2014 9AM-5PM

Saturday, May 3, 2014 9AM-4PM

Scottish Rite Masonic Center

2115 Broad Street

Cranston, Rhode Isand

Come “SPARKLE THE WORLD” with us!

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 JENNIFER JACOB

You have won the April drawing! 

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QUICK & EASY NO-DYE EASTER EGGS

This week we thought we’d share a few non-dye egg remedies for anyone coming late to the Easter decorating game, but still looking for a way to shower their home with Easter pretties. We’ve sorted though the DIY language and brought you some of the best, fast, easy and personable, sparkly egg artworks we could find.
There is still time, you aren’t too late—really, these are easy, fun, tasteful and inexpensive!

WASHI TAPE EGGS/ADHESIVE TAPE EGGS

Washi Tape is beautiful decorative Japanese masking tape. It comes in assorted colors, patterns, and widths and in solid, metallic, glitter, lacy, transparent or translucent colors. It is typically made from natural fibers: bamboo or hemp, or the bark of trees that are native to Japan: the mulberry, the mitsumata shrub or the gampi tree. Most washi tapes are strong, but it’s easy to remove, reposition and to rub out tiny bubbles from curved surface applications. It’s fairly inexpensive and available in crafts stores and online. Amazon has a wide assortment. It is simple to decorate an egg with washi, just grab an egg, hardboiled, blown out, plastic or ceramic and let your inner artist go wild.

Adhesive Tape/Sheets: You can also get double sided scotch tape, wrap a piece around your egg and dip it in glitter. Brush off excess with a Q-tip and repeat for a second, third, etc. color. If you are feeling ambitious, you can also purchase 8x10”adhesive sheets and adhere your own fabric to one side of the sheet. Cut the adhesive backed fabric into strips and apply them to your egg, much the way you would washi tape.

SCRAPBOOKING STICK-ONS/SELF-INKEDSTAMP EGGS

Some of you may remember Scrapbooking or may still utilize this art form, but the important thing is that craft stores are just full of wonderful miniature adhesive backed scrapbooking decorative embellishments that can be used to make personable eggs. 

Flowers, hearts, bunnies, stars, butterflies, glittered and unglittered, 3-D and flat, vintage-inspired cutouts and words and monogram letters. Not to mention you can make personalized eggs for travelers, gardeners or teachers and on and on. And you’ll notice there are plenty of adhesive metallic shapes and sparkles to add to your eggs. Self-Ink Mini Stamps are perfect for a quick and easy, but attractive eggs. You can purchase them in colors or black, just make sure they are small. If you like to color, fill in your stamped egg design with some sharpie markers or even gold and silver metallic markers!

NAIL ART & TEMPORARY TATTOO EGGS

Nail Art Embellishments, yes those miniature art decals or 3-D jewels used for manicures, are great for making a elegant, refined egg that looks like it took hours to create. Often dollar stores carry nail art embellishments but Amazon.com carries a huge selection at very affordable prices. Just stick them on your egg, repeat and voila, no mess or fuss, gorgeous sparkly eggs!

We adore these butterfly eggs!

 Temporary Tattoos are also excellent for colorful dignified eggs. From kiddie tattoos to grownup tattoos, florals, feathers, animals, words, lovely calligraphy scripts and even glow-in-the-dark temporary tats abound. Also henna tattoos make for a lovely egg Look for small tattoos or cut up larger temps and follow the instructions!

GOLD, GLITTER AND FOILED EGGS

Fine Craft Aluminum Foil sheets are available in a multitude of colors and make creating beautiful eggs easy. Simply cut a square off and crumple it around your egg and press until you get a glowing burnished metal egg. 

Forget the glue for Glittered Eggs, just use stickers, glitter washi tape, double face tape or punch out rounds from any double-side adhesive tape and dip in glitter. Remember to initially place only as many dots or strips of tape that you want for your first color of glitter and then add more tape for each additional color. You can also just draw lines or doodle on your egg with metallic pens, add adhesive backed letters for monogramed eggs, or brush on metallic paint… in decorative daubs. 

Or if you are really ambitious—paint the entire egg, but that’s kind of like dyeing, huh?

Combine any or all of the above ideas to create eggs that are quick easy and uniquely yours and ….

"SPARKLE THE WORLD!"

Have a great Easter Sunday!

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FROM THE DESIGN STUDIO: POMEGRANATE PENDANT

       This week we share the inspiration behind a “straight from our design room” pendant that pays homage to the enigmatic fruit, the pomegranate. 
       Cultivated since ancient times, interest in the succulent fruit has been renewed due to its health preservation properties. It is a natural antioxidant, aiding in flushing poisonous toxins from the body. It a has also been found to reduce the risk factors of heart disease, blood pressure, viral infections and even aids in prevention of dental plaque. The astringent qualities of the flower, juice, rind and tree bark are considered valuable for stopping nosebleeds, gum bleeds, toning one’s skin and have been used to treat a wide scope of intestinal illness. Pomegranate juice has also been used as an ingredient in eye drops and is believed to slow the development of cataracts. Tests to further understand the health benefits of this amazing and tasty fruit are ongoing, and look promising in fight against disease.

Demeter the Greek Goddess of Harvest

The inspiration for our pomegranate design came primarily from the Greek myth: Demeter, Persephone and the Six Pomegranate Seeds.

Demeter, the Greek goddess of Harvest, was responsible for all of Earth’s life-giving plants, enabling all on Earth to eat and grow strong.  She loved her daughter Persephone and kept careful watch over her. As Persephone grew older, so did her beauty and her curiosity. One day she asked her mother for permission to go visit the sea nymphs who had often kept her company as a child. Demeter granted permission after Persephone promised to be careful and to return at an appointed time.

As Persephone walked the fields that led to the sea nymphs, a huge black dog raced toward her. Having never seen a dog, she laughed and pet the enormous animal, who slobbered happily and the two began to play together.

Hades captures Persephone

She had no idea that the animal was Cerberus, the Lord of the Underworld’s dog. Hades had come up to take the animal for a walk and seeing the empty field, let the dog run. When he came upon the beautiful goddess playing with his dog, he was instantly smitten and swiftly captured her and his dog and took them to the Underworld where he married her. Devastated, Persephone  refused to eat.

Meanwhile Demeter, frantic with worry, allowed the crops to perish. Zeus was forced to step in. He implored Hades to return the girl to her mother, but Hades explained he was in love.  Hades was a powerful God, so Zeus couldn’t just order him to return Persephone. Zeus had to negotiate with him, which took some time.

Demeter welcomes Persephone back

Down in Hades lair, Persephone was starving. What could a girl do? Well, when no one was watching she consumed six pomegranate seeds. Finally Zeus made Hades see that Persephone belonged with her mother.  But the Fates had a rule that anyone who drank or ate food while in the Underworld was doomed to spent eternity there. Upon discovering that Persephone had consumed the pomegranate seeds, it was decided that she could live with her mother for six months of the year, but had to return to her husband for the other six. 
According to this myth that is how we came to get our seasons. Spring heralds the arrival of Persephone from the Underworld and Demeter happily encourages the plants to grow, come Summer they bear fruit. But as the time for Persephone to return to Hades draws near, Demeter’s heart breaks, and Autumn begins. By Winter Demeter is deep into her grief and nothing grows.

This is a much-condensed rendition of the original myth, of which there are multiple versions. But this is the myth that inspired our Food of the Gods Pomegranate pendant. At 17" with a 3" extender, it's shown here in our beautiful oxidized silver and brass ox plates.
Crafted to look chic in any season, our three-dimensional pomegranate features a realistically  modeled back, which has been hand-enameled in a transparent pale ruby. Its front side mimics the juicy fruit of the pomegranate interior, with Ruby and Ruby AB crystals serving as its the plump seeds.

We promised you would see pieces straight from our design room and this design has not yet been marketed in our web store.



 We'd love to hear your thoughts on this design!

Until next time…

"SPARKLE THE WORLD"

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