Let Us Brighten Your Day with a Deal

April showers bring May flowers. Well, I certainly hope so! We have had such rain, sun, sleet, and snow and all of us are ready for just the sunny stuff. Throughout the month of May, we are committed to bringing a little sunshine into your life by offering a series of "Deals of the Day". These are selected Charming Life Designs products that have been deeply discounted. Quantities are limited.

Today's deal is a gorgeous Rose Quartz and Coin Pearl Necklace (item #80233). This hand-wrapped sterling silver gemstone necklace has been temporarily discounted to $27.00. Trust me, that's a deal and a perfect addition to your summer wardrobe.

Check out more "Deals of the Day" by clicking HERE.

Happy shopping! Barb

We Are on Facebook!

We did it again and this time it's going to stick - I promise. About a year ago, many of us at Charming Life Designs (at these those of us who are over 30) joined Facebook. The under-thirty-year-olds didn't need to join because they had all been on it for quite some time. Full of excitement, we quickly set up a company Facebook account and had huge plans to communicate with everyone. Then, we realized something, something very bad. We had NO IDEA what this whole thing was. Walls and post and uploads and links, on my! What had we gotten ourselves in for? So, please forgive us if you have joined us in the past and never heard back.

Fast-forward one year and there's good new. You definitely can teach a not-so-old dog new tricks. We totally get it now and hope you join us as we share with you weekly specials, feature products, super deals of the day, and more.

A special thanks goes out to Britnee for getting us back into the real world

See you on FB,

Barb and the Charming Life Designs Team

The Truth About Art Glass

Recently, there has been some confusion regarding art glass beads. Made famous by the glassworkers of Murano, Italy, the process of making stunning beads has been perfected by artisans throughout the world. Some countries, including the Czech Republic, China, Indonesia, Austria, Taiwan, and India have become very adept at producing these outstanding beads.

I'm sure many of you have seen this process done at an art fair or craft event. Some artists, such as the famous artist, Dale Chihuly, from Seattle, Washington, have created magnificent sculptures by blowing glass. Others, wind molten glass around a thin, steel rod and then fire the glass using a flame torch. The glass is layered and manipulated into various shapes and styles. Whether the outcome is a sculpture of blown glass flowers or a simple art glass bead, the beauty of handworked glass appeals to all.

Charming Life Designs uses handmade art glass beads, also known as lampworked glass beads. These beads are created by skilled artisans. Each bead is embedded with a design, ranging from flowers and swirls to a marbleized pattern. In some cases, a thin sheet of .925 sterling silver foil or 22 karat gold foil is nestled inside each colorful art glass bead. The transparent nature of the glass allows the silver to shine through, adding depth and interest to each bead.

We painstakingly seek out the highest quality of beads available to us at the most affordable prices. As you browse through our art glass designs on our website you will be pleased to discover that our designs have the look and feel of one-of-a-kind, handmade beads, yet our prices are far more affordable. Accented with Swarovski crystals, genuine freshwater pearls, and sterling silver beads, our jewelry adds a splash of color to any outfit.

Take a minute to view our collection of intriguing art glass earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. New styles are added on a weekly basis. Check it out!

2010 New Designs are Here and More are on the Way

This February, Holly and I took a trip to Tucson, Arizona, where we raced through the Holidome, JOGS, GWL and a few others venues as we searched out the newest and coolest products, while meticulously handpicking coin pearls, stones, and beads. One thing is for sure, we woefully under-estimated the amount of time needed to thoroughly comb through the venues. Each year, Tucson offers a smorgasbord of jewelry designs, ideas, and opportunities to become inspired, it literally takes days to digest the event.

Nevertheless, the show was a huge success for us and we dragged our overloaded carry-ons home, anxious to get to the workshop to start creating our newly inspired designs. During the next few months, we will be unveiling a series of colorful and fun designs. Our new collection will be a mix of whimsical charms incorporated into classic designs. Without saying too much, I’m certain you’ll enjoy these collections immensely.

Our first group of designs is now on our website and they are perfect for spring and summer. With over 50 styles and colors to choose from, these festive Art Glass Earrings are a fun and affordable addition to your wardrobe.

Stay tuned!

Barb

PS: We did manage to scout out some great restaurants. Saffron’s was recommended by one our favorite vendors, who happens to be from India, and it did not disappoint. Delicious food and extremely well priced. Note, however, that it was quite spicy so order “mild” not “medium” if you have sensitive taste buds.

Guadalajara’s, near First and Prince, was packed on a Tuesday night. Casual and fun the food was Mexican with an American twist. The décor was traditional Mexican, including hand-painted sinks, terracotta flooring, and a Maricihi Band. We ate so much our stomachs ached.

Happy Customers Make Us Happy

Everyday we strive to provide great customer service by offering both quality and service. When you order from us, we always take care in carefully packaging our jewelry, as well as shipping your order out promptly. It is so heart-warming to hear back from you!

Joe, in Portland, Oregon, sent us this thoughtful note and BOY did he make our day! Thank you, Joe, for your kind words.

Joe writes:

I can not remember a time when I was SO happy with an on-line purchase from start to finish! And I buy a LOT on line! First, I found you through Cafe Give... how great is that! And then your selection was amazing, and your prices SO reasonable! And then FREE Shipping (I'm in heaven!)... And then I get a notice less than 24 hours later my item has shipped WITH tracking (I love tracking!).. and today, the ear-rings arrived! So WELL packaged in a beautiful box and pouch,and to open them up and find such stunning jewelry too good to be true! I bought them for a dear friend as a valentine gift as she is grieving the loss of her husband and the green hearts are a perfect symbol of helping her heal her own broken heart! As a small business person myself, I am often appalled by others concept of 'Customer Service", you have outdone yourself! I am 110 % SATISFIED!

in gratitude and blessings!

Joe in Portland

Tis the Season to Pick and Pack

Black Friday has passed and Cyber-Monday has turned into Cyber-Week at Charming Life. Much like the anticipation of a tropical storm, we have batten down the hatches and are holding our own as the eye of the storm hits. Tired, yes, but there is a bit of a thrill as we see the fruits of our labor come to fruition.

Andrea (the tired one in the photo), Amanda and our team of pickers and packers carefully prepare each and every order. With our 5-step quality control process, we strive for 100% satisfaction!

In addition to our attention to detail, we are able to respond to your unique shipping needs. Whether it be a hand-written note to the recipient, a gift-wrapped package, or an international order, we are happy to help you this season. Please note that our online check-out process does not always allow for unique requests. However, you may simply email us with your specific instructions.

Time to get back to more packing . . . this Monday will probably be busier than last Monday.

Barb

Mark Your Calendars - Holiday Open House

December 10th - 12th
Thursday 1:00 - 6:00
Friday 1:00 - 6:00
Saturday 11:00 - 3:00




Come one and Come All! We are having our annual Holiday Sale and have twice as many products this year. Stop by our workshop before you hit the malls. We guarantee you'll find something for even your hard-to-please loved one. Plus, you might even find something for yourself. Now that's a sweet deal.

Address: 9730 South 700 East, Suite 104, Sandy, Utah. We are on the west side of 700 East in Candlelight Plaza.

Call us at (801) 553-2524 for more directions or other questions. See you soon,

Barb

Fred Ball, Zions Bank, features Charming Life Designs

Last Friday, Fred Ball of Zions Bank featured us on his "Speaking on Business" radio show. Just in case you didn"t get a chance to hear the radio spot, here's a transcript of the show. We are grateful to Jody, Jacqueline, and Allison at Zions Bank Women's Financial Group. Throughout the years, they have helped us grow our business. They have supported us through our loan applications, including our Small Business Loan which later grew to be our Commercial Business Loan. Their on-going support is greatly appreciated.

Barbara

November 20, 2009
This is Fred Ball, Zions Bank, speaking on business.

Being adaptable is an excellent trait to have in any situation but it's particularly valuable in the current economic climate. This is why I was so impressed after my recent visit with Barbara Kidd about her company, Charming Life Designs.

Barbara tells me the company started in 2003 as Fashionable Fundraising and was designed to do home shows and help nonprofit organizations raise money. She loved the work but found it difficult to make a profit. To increase her profitability, Barbara designed a collectible charm for one of the nonprofit organizations she was working with.

Other nonprofits caught wind of it and started requesting their own charms. Barbara learned more about designing custom charms and began making them in all kinds of forms, from Chinese characters and a whimsical heart to breast cancer awareness charms. The charms were so popular that Barbara completely changed her company's focus, turned it into a for-profit business and re-named it Charming Life Designs in 2005.

Sandy-based Charming Life Designs provides custom charms to boutiques across the United States. In addition, Barbara also secured a contract to sell her charms and handmade jewelry on Overstock.com. She makes necklaces, bracelets and earnings from genuine gemstones, freshwater pearls and 14K gold filled and sterling silver precious metals. Barbara noticed early on that customers gravitated toward less expensive items. Earrings quickly became the top seller. The online jewelry portion of the business started in 2006 but didn't take off until 2007.

One of the special things about her company, Barbara says, is that all pieces are handmade. She employs 15-20 part-time workers, mostly stay-at-home moms, who create the jewelry. She hopes to see Charming Life Designs continue to grow as she finds clients searching for custom-designed products and adapts to each new situation and change in the market.

For Zions Bank, I'm Fred Ball. I'm speaking on business.

Charming Life Designs
9730 S. 700 E., Ste. 104
Sandy, UT 84070
801-553-2524
http://www.charminglifedesign.com

"Speaking On Business" Radio Spot

Mark your calendars. Charming Life Designs will be featured on KSL's radio program, "Speaking On Business", hosted by Fred Ball, on November 20th. You can also listen to the broadcast by going to KSL.com and on Zion's Bank website, ZionsBank.com type “Speaking on Business” in the search engine at the top right of the page).

Weekday Broadcast Schedule:

Wasatch Front - KSL 102.7 FM, 1160 AM (7:23 a.m., 11:47 a.m., 5:23 p.m.)
Logan - KVNU 610 AM (7:43 a.m., 5:28 p.m.)
Manti - KMTI 650 AM (8:15 a.m. and 5:25 p.m.)
Moab - KCYN 97.1 FM (7:40 a.m., 5:20 p.m.)
Monticello - KAAJ 103.5 FM (7:50 a.m., 5:10 p.m.)
Richfield - KSVC 980 AM (8:20 a.m., 5:22 p.m.)
Price - KOAL 750 AM (7:30 a.m., 5:18 p.m.)
St. George - KDXU 890 AM (7:25 a.m., 5:25 p.m.)
Vernal - KVEL 920 AM (7:45 a.m., 5:15 p.m.)

Hope you tune in,

Barb

Our Newest Member at Charming Life

Hailey has been with Charming Life Designs from our humble beginnings and she's helped us become the organized, well-run office that we are today. So, when she decided to leave her position as Office Manager and become a full-time mom, we had mixed feelings. Of course, we were all thrilled for her. Most of us are moms and we know how magical those baby years are. However, Hailey was our computer guru and an expert at loading software, solving server issues, dealing with CSV files, and handling computer meltdowns with confidence. I really had no desire to delve into THAT territory. Hummm, I thought, maybe she really won't want to be a full-time mom . . .

Then, of course, Miss Evalyn Ruby made her grand entrance (3 weeks early, I'd like to add). My dreams of avoiding calls to tech departments were dashed. It was clear that Evalyn was here to stay and that Mom had her hands full. It was also clear that all of us at Charming Life Designs would have to wean ourselves from our need to run to Hailey to solve our technical problems. Oh, how reality bites sometimes.

Now that the dust has settled, Hailey and Evalyn are back in our lives. This time as a team. Hailey continues to be a stay-at-home mom, but helps us by working out of her home. She's now a member of our manufacturing team and creates jewelry for us when Evalyn is napping. Evalyn helps out by being an absolutely gorgeous and perfect baby.

One of our most popular charm necklaces is our Angel Wing and Heart necklace. For many customers, the Angel Wing Necklace represents someone dear to their hearts. Packaged with a jewelry pouch, it makes a great gift for the holidays.

Barb

Boston for Fun and Fashion

Boston is simply one of the best town's to visit in the USA. It has something for everyone, particularly for the young at heart. With over 40 universities and colleges in its vicinity, it is the quintessential college town. Coupled with great shopping, historical sites (who can resist taking the Freedom Trail 2-mile hike?), and fantastic food, it is surely a city not to be missed.

My trip brought me to Boston for two very specific reasons. First, I was visiting a Charming Life Designs customer who is very excited about our newly formed partnership. Charming Life will design exclusive jewelry for this selective online store. We'll keep you posted when our new products are up and running. Although not New York, Massachusetts is home to many well-known apparel companies, including Talbots, Chadwicks, and Sigrid Olsen and we are looking forward to working with our newest customer.

My second reason for coming to Boston was personal. My daughter who is a sophomore in college, brought me out here for parent's weekend (well, she didn't really bring me out here . . . I sort of jumped at the opportunity). We had a ball eating and shopping our way through Boston. As we meandered our way through the streets, I notice several things. Unless you are in the market for expensive, fine jewelry, you are at the mercy of mass-produced costume jewelry, made of brass and rhinestones. The styling may be good, but the quality is really quite poor. Before making your next impulse buy, check out our unique jewelry at Charming Life Designs. We guarantee our quality and our products. Don't forget to take an extra 15% off your order by entering CLD15 at checkout.

Barb

PS: For a great meal, head to the North End and take a look at the many Italian restaurants on both Salem and Hanover Street. We took a gamble on L'Osteria, a humble but highly-rated restaurant and we loved our meal (104 Salem Street). Even if you have no room for dessert, you MUST walk over to Mike's Pastry on Hanover Street. You can't miss it. It's the small and simple shop with customers pouring out the door, even late at night. The canollies are to die for! However, that's all I was able to taste. I would imagine that all the pastries is pretty darn spectacular.

Charming Life Designs Gets a New Website

It's here and just in time for the holiday season. Going against all common sense, time, and energy, the stars happened to align in such a way that I was literally forced to respond quickly to our reality. As it turns out, the company that hosted our old website was purchased by Network Solutions and the old platform was soon to become obsolete. That basically left me with two options. Option One: Do nothing and hope for the best (translation: The whole site would automatically be shut down and we'd have to figure out how to patch it together at a later date). Option Two: Migrate to the new platform, design a new site, reorganize inventory, rewrite content pages, and deal with all the details that go along with a cybermove. I promise you, I really wanted to go with Option One. REALLY.

However, I didn't. After weeks of jumping through hoops and pushing hard to complete this project under Network Solutions insane design timeline, our new Charming Life Designs website has arrived. I have to admit, all of us at Charming Life are thrilled with our new online home. In the next few weeks and months, you'll continue to see changes, adjustments, and improvements as we settle in. We hope you'll stop by to check us out. Oh, comments are always welcome.

Barb

Buyer Beware: You Don't Have to Sacrifice Quality for Style

The leaves are turning and fall is in the air. We even had our first dusting of snow in the foothills. At least for me, that means it's time to clean out the closet, shake out those wool sweaters, and do an assessment of what needs to go. I do this exercise every fall for one simple reason: Guilt free shopping. I can go forth, with my "must have" list and enjoy the hunt. Basics are always on the list. Jewelry, thankfully, I have that covered.

As I combed through my favorite stores, including Nordstrom, Ann Taylor, J. Crew, and a handful of usual suspects, I realized that much of the jewelry out there is truly, well for lack of a better word, junk. I admit, the styling is funky, fun, chunky, layered and flashy. However, most pieces are made of base metal (which will tarnish or irritate skin), plastic beads, and fake pearls. The end clasps are flimsy and will probably not survive a season. Even more surprising, the pricing was high for costume jewelry.

Charming Life Designs has created many of these popular styles without sacrificing quality. In many cases, our prices are as good as or better than the fashion jewelry you'll find in many stores. Plus, we use genuine pearls, Swarovski crystals, gemstones, sterling silver, and 14 karat gold filled metals. Our money-back guarantee helps our customer's feel confident about their online purchase and our design center is ready to help you design the perfect piece of jewelry. To learn more, simply send us an email.


Barb

The Perfect Pearl Necklace

I've always loved long strands of pearls, even the one's Grandma use to wear. And, I have always found myself wanting to have the option to wear those long necklaces as 2 necklaces (doubled-up) or even as a multi-strand bracelet. Sounds so simple, doesn't it? For some reason, those necklaces wear never quite the right length to suit my needs.

So, as the saying goes,"necessity is the mother of invention", I decided to design my own line of versatile jewelry. This pearl necklace was our first design. It hangs beautifully as a long strand of pearls, sterling silver beads, and clear rock crystal gemstones. It can be easily converted into a 2-layer necklace. If you prefer, it can wrap around your wrist to make an impressive pearl bracelet. Several links and a lobster clasps allows you to adjust the sizing to best fit your needs.

This necklace has become one of my personal favorites, and it truly is the perfect pearl necklace.

Barb

The Denver Gem Show Day Three

Exhausted and shopped-out, we make our way back to the Denver Airport. As in years past, it is always a challenge to forecast sales and to predict hot-sellers and trends. Certainly last year was more challenging than most, when we experienced a drastic slow down in sales in October and then limped along through the end of the year. And, we were the lucky ones! Our year-over-year sales were good and we survived the economic tsunami.

Now we find ourselves in the same place, one year later. However, the atmosphere feels quite different. Vendors are wiser and buyers are buying, albeit cautiously. We head into the last quarter with sales already heating up. Our best sellers, such as our pearl earrings, charm necklaces, and art glass bracelets as really starting to move very quickly. The million dollar question that looms over my head is, "How much DO we buy for the end of the year?" I'm feeling optimistic and taking a leap of faith, proclaiming, "Yes, this is going to be a good holiday season. Buy now or forever hold your peace."

Travel Tips/Denver: The airport is quite a fair distance away from the city (10 miles or more). Plan accordingly. If you rent a car, it takes about 30 minutes to drop the car off, gather your luggage, and shuttle to the terminal. The terminal is huge, so time needs to be allotted for going through security and taking the train to your terminal. I was traveling on a very light travel day and it still took me a long time to navigate through the airport.

Barb

We're Evolving

Today, it hit home that the Christmas season is underway, when I ran up charges on the credit card at just one vendor that came to 5 figures. THAT is a first for us. Vendors seemed generally still hungry for sales and most were willing to make good deals since we were buying most things in bulk. We found some great new items that can't wait to get back and use in new designs. Some of the vendors I'll be seeing again next weekend when they come to the Salt Lake City area.

Found a great way to transport the stuff we are buying too. We went to Walmart and bought a Jeep brand backpack that has wheels and a handle. It is 100% better than the old jewelry tote that I was using. This has 3 pockets and is nice a roomy inside and the wheels are great. The handle is nice and long too. You can wear it as a backpack also, which is nice for events where they won't allow any strollers or luggage style totes. It was a great buy, now i think I want one for my own travels.

Holly Russell Godard

Seasonal Help Needed

Looking for some extra cash and interested in working in a creative environment? We are gearing up for 4th Quarter and will need help in our packing and shipping department. Additionally, we will be looking for friendly and enthusiastic salespeople to help us with some up-coming Special Events Jewelry Shows. These roadshows will be in both Utah and Salt Lake County. For more information, please call Holly or Barbara at (801) 553-2524.

On-the-Run Postings

Our designers can now send their jewelry posts via their email. We are looking forward to getting fashion tips and great design ideas on-the-run.

Day One

Here we go. The creative team of jewelry designers at Charming Life Designs has decided to start a jewelry blog. Our goal is to share our years of jewelry design experience, business know-how (things to do and not to do when starting your own small business), fashion trends, tricks of the trade, and helpful information that we have gathered through the years. Day One was consumed with setting up the blogspot. Barbara thought it was be an easy task, but hours later she is finally ready to sign off.