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

Finding Inspiration Outside the Box

On a normal Thursday, you are most likely to find me back in the office, juggling business demands, employees needs, and trying to stay on top of current sales and budding trends, not to mention "managing" (I have to use that word cautiously) my own teenagers and their immediate needs. Finding the time to create new designs can be a challenge.

Today, however, I am outside my Thursday box. I am in Portland, Oregon (my home town) and she is exceptionally beautiful today. The city is glowing with fall sunshine and the river is calm. City walkers are out and it seems that every building downtown has been lovingly restored. The city is a visual feast for the eyes and I find true inspiration by simply walking the streets. I am outside my box and cherishing it!

Moments like these help me recharge those creative juices. I am able to get away from those daily interruptions and take in the natural beauty. The contrasts of light and dark, muted greens, soft blue skies, and endless designs are all going into my mental tool box. Sunshine is in the forecast for the next few days in the Northwest, a rare treat. I think I'll stay!

Barb

Travel Tip: Open Table (www.opentable.com) is a relatively new site that offers real-time reservations in most major cities. A great resource for travels and non-travelers alike. My tech-savvy Portland friends love it.

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 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

Fall Trends 2009

As I was out shopping I noticed layered necklaces continue to be a popular look this season. Multiple chains, often strung with charms and beads, are one version of the style. Just as popular are multi-stranded necklaces made from beads of varying gemstones, shapes, sizes, and colors. The necklaces might be
ready-made for layering, but don't hesitate to mix and match your own jewelry. Raid your jewelry box and stack a few necklaces around your neck.
Want to wear something a little more simple yet bold try conversation starting chandelier earrings.
You will never hear the end of how great you look. Who doesn't love attention?

Britnee

Interesting Links About Jewelry Trends

Some jewelry trends in color this year to look for include black and white, coral and yellow, amazonite greens and translucent turquoise according to Anne Rush, a jewelry designer.

Look for more cloth beads, Indian art glass beads, more texture, matte beads, seed beads, chunky wooden beads, printed and painted shell, rose gold plating on metal parts and chains, and colorful, lightweight, chandelier earrings.

http://jewelry-business-blog.com/jewelry-making-tips/spring-2009-jewelry-trends-the-jewelry-designers-guide/

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At this link, you can find photos of current and upcoming jewelry and gemstone trends: http://www.annerush.com/savvy-gallery/

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At this link, you can find numerous articles written by author Lorraine Yapps Cohen of CUSTOM GEMSTONE DESIGNS, a jewelry designer who wholesales her jewelry to galleries across the country: http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/547891/lorraine_yapps_cohen.html

Have fun exploring! Holly Russell Godard

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.