Today I heard holiday music in a store. Don’t get me wrong, I am not anti-holiday music. In fact, I have a huge collection of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and the usual suspects and I enjoy listening to all of them, in December. However, on November 12th, I would much rather savor the last days of a gorgeous fall. I love the golden tones of the fallen leaves and the fresh crisp smell of those cool autumn mornings. I even look forward to embracing those chocolate brown sweaters and earth tone tops.
Charming Life has a great collection of jewelry to complement this season’s earthy colors. Our champagne golden pearls, art glass beads, and carnelian gemstones complement those rustic sweaters and wool jackets. And, don’t forget to take an additional 25% off your entire order when you enter CLDBLOG at checkout.
I'm not sure about all the other women out there...but if I leave the house without my earrings I feel totally naked! I have even been known to duck into a discount store to grab a pair of cheap earrings before a meeting just so that I don't have to face the world without my baubles. It's amazing how two little seemingly innocuous pieces of jewelry can make or break your day! Now is the time to ramp up your current inventory to match the new Fall trends. Purples, greens and browns are big for the season. Charming Life carries so many beautiful choices made from semi-precious stones. We offer gorgeous earrings made of amethyst, smoky quartz, turquoise, amazonite, kyanite, and so many others. Most are offered in a choice of either 14kt. gold-filled or sterling silver. Don't hit the Fall season unprepared...treat yourself to a new pair of earrings and enjoy the cool weather while showing off your HOT new jewelry!
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.
Today we made it to the International Gem Fair at the Denver Mart. This show is huge and we didn't even make it through the whole show. It is always fun to see our favorite suppliers and to see what's new. We hand picked our favorite pearls and gemstones and are geared up to start a new round of designs.
It's nearly midnight and our legs are jello from pounding the payment, but we feel very happy with all our new treasures.
Got to get back home and back to the design table.
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?
Are you a believer? According to crystal healers and New Age believers, crystal and gem healing is a viable practice because of the power of the earth's energies that have been absorbed by these sacred objects. They believe that crystals have physical and spiritual properties that can treat, among other things, pain, stress and depression. With the jewel tone color palette hitting stores this Fall, what better gemstone accompaniment than amethyst? Amethyst is known as a power crystal with prolific healing powers which can be characterized as purifying, pacifying and transitional. Amethyst has the ability to transform lower energies into higher and acts as a healer at all levels of mind, body and spirit. It contains sobering and calming qualities, is associated with peace and is known to calm and protect the mind.
So, whether you believe in the healing powers of amethyst or simply want to be in on that latest fashion trend, one thing is certain...you can't go wrong with this amazing gemstone. Buy, wear, enjoy!
Friends often ask me how I ended up doing the work I am doing. I had a friend who was working for a similar jewelry business years ago and she would tell me how much she liked it and all about the nice folks she was working with. I watched her making some jewelry one day and asked her to show me how to do it. Thankfully, she was a great teacher and I picked it up pretty quickly and started doing piecework, making mainly earrings and bracelets. The business took off and became quite busy so I started hanging around the office, usually, to prepare an earring kit or wait for one and I got to know everyone there.
Next thing I knew, I'm ordering gemstones, pearls, chains, findings, and all sorts of jewelry supplies. I started going to gem shows to make purchases and to search for new and interesting gemstones, and looking for new gem and jewlery vendors as well. I also helped design new earrings, bracelets and necklaces or at the least, had the chance to offer my opinion on new things being designed. I also often found myself wrapping 30 pairs of earrings at a time. During the holidays, business is quite hectic and a couple of us would even stay up until the wee hours making dozens of jewelry items to ship out the next day.
I had a little background in jewelry making because as a young teen, I made some jewlery with my grandmother. Mostly it was faux pearl and seed bead rings, bracelets and necklaces. Those were popular in the early 70's. In college, I was the manager of the jewelry department at Walmart in Stillwater, OK. I learned a lotabout ordering supplies and inventory and up-selling in those days. Also learned a lot about managing employees. The jewelry department was actually owned by a different business than Walmart. I was able to travel to meetings at other jewelry business locations owned by K&M Industries back then, where fine jewelry was sold along with fashion jewelry. This background gave me a good sense of how colors change seasonally, not just with fashion but in jewelry too. It also gave me a good idea of how some pieces of jewelry are just classic and never go out of style. I also developed an eye for what types of jewelry would sell well.
After college, I didn't have many chances to be involved in the making or selling of jewelry but I did spend a lot of time trying out different types of art media, including the use of Fimo clay. I think everyone who enjoys crafting and using their creative skills has probably gone through a Fimo clay jewelry phase! I probably still have a dozen Fimo bead necklaces and pendants in the bottom of a dusty drawer somewhere! Even my younger brother, who lived in Los Angeles at the time, made Fimo clay bead jewelry and sold it at a flea market back in those days!
I was also very involved in learning to create Ukrainian eggs. I loved all the symbolism involved and the fine and tiny details of creating these eggs. Each Ukrainian egg is like opening up a Christmas present, because they are made using layers of dye and bees wax and when you are done, it looks like a blackish mess. As you melt the wax off, a beautiful jewel toned design is revealed and it always seemed to me like they should be worn somehow as earrings and pendants and bracelets because they are so beautiful and so detailed and colorful! At one point, I'd made so many eggs and had so many broken ones, I was starting to consider trying my hand at making jewelry out of them but I started working here at Charming Life Designs and well, life has been charming but in fast forward ever since! Holly Russell Godard Director of Operations
Welcome to the Charming Life Designs Jewelry blog. We are a group of artistic women designing beautiful jewelry. We use excellent materials, including freshwater pearls, gemstones, and Swarovski crystals, and make all our jewelry in the USA.
For more information about our products, please visit us at:
Charming Life Designs is a unique jewelry design company that was created by the owner, Barbara, and her talented team of artistic women. Together, we have turned our passion for designing beautiful jewelry into a dynamic company run solely by women. Our jewelry sells nationally online, in many specialty boutiques, at home parties, and at special sales events.
We look forward to sharing our new jewelry styles, fashion tips, business thoughts, tricks of the trade, and general information about pearls, gemstones,crystals, metals, and findings. We also create custom designs to suit our customer's individual needs.
Our commitment to providing outstanding value, excellent customer service and beautiful designs has enabled us to become a thriving jewelry business.
For more information about our company, please check us out at: www.charminglifedesigns.com.
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