Vintaj Blog

Don’t Miss Jewel School on JTV with Mackie, June 3 & 5!

Vintaj — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:14:41 +0000

Head to JTV on June 3 & 5, 2013 to see Mackie demonstrate the 1 Step Looper as well as showcase her Signature Series jewelry line. She’ll also feature selected kits of Vintaj metals and tool packs.

The Winner of our Vintaj & Skye Jewels “Weeping Willow” Giveaway!

Vintaj — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:45:51 +0000

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in our Weeping Willow Giveaway! You all had wonderful ideas and have inspired us to get working on new & exciting products for Vintaj! The winner of this giveaway is…Mary Meier!

Mary’s comment was:
“beautiful brass creates visions of the amazing colors and textures of Ancient India. I can envision beautiful jewels with ornate brass bead cones and pendants of a cabochon type ~ reds, greens, blues – colors that bring to mind the beautiful saris that are worn, and filigree like on the Taj Mahal! Pendants that have the texture and look of henna – a whole line of “Ancient India” Vintaj Brass!!”

Thanks again and stay tuned!

You Pick Promo: Back by Popular Demand!

Vintaj — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:06:21 +0000

Registered Wholesale Customers, our You Pick Promo is back by popular demand!!
Let us know which bulk package item(s) you would like as your FREE gift in the comments section of your order (do not include them in your shopping cart). Also, enter promo code AP101 in the promo field during checkout. It’s that easy!

Retail customers, our Artisan Pewter is not yet available at VintajRetail.com, however we do have large variety of retail packaged Natural Brass, Arte Metal & Artisan Copper findings & embellishments, Vintaj tools & supplies and over 16,000 craft and hobby products sure to inspire! We will keep you posted when the Artisan Pewter makes it’s debut on the retail site.

Soon you can start to search our Internet Retailers or call your favorite bead store to see who is carrying this NEW line! We have received a lot of positive feedback and excitement already, thanks for all your support!

As always, Happy Designing!

Introducing our NEW Metal: Vintaj Artisan Pewter!

Vintaj — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:03:51 +0000

Some of these items pictured above will be available very soon… keep checking back!
{Our Artisan Pewter line is also available in Retail Packaging}

Vintaj Artisan Pewter is solid, lead-free pewter. Its the perfect complement to any metal and all your beads & findings. Patina, rivet, distress & alter to create unique jewelry components!

Simply wipe with a small amount of onyx patina to create an aged pewter effect. Our Artisan Pewter is also great for embellishing all types of scrap booking and craft projects.

As you know, we LOVE mixing metals! We’re excited that we have rounded out our range with this silver toned metal to mix with Natural Brass, Arte Metal & Artisan Copper, and couldn’t wait to start designing. Sharing some project inspiration to get things started… more to come soon!

{click on images for product links}

Happy Designing!

Enter to Win our Vintaj & Skye Jewels “Weeping Willow” Giveaway

Vintaj — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:05:12 +0000

Imagine relaxing under the trailing canopy of a beautiful weeping willow, overlooking a peaceful pond, (YES, we all want to be there right now!) You are inspired by the scenery and what else but jewelry, crafts & art projects pop in your mind. You being to drift off into the land of all that’s rustic, pretty and sparkly… What would you dream up as the perfect Vintaj collection, whether it is new styles of filigree, charms, embellishments, findings, chain, or even non-metal items, like a variety of glass beads, stones, artistic pendants, or maybe even something out of the ordinary that you wouldn’t necessary relate to crafting, such as graphic t-shirts, bags, etc.

YOU tell us… What is missing? What would you use or like to see become a part of the Vintaj collection?

Share your suggestions in the comments section of this blog post to enter and you could be the winner of this collection of Vintaj and these gorgeous Ephemera pendants from our “Weeping Willow” Art Bead Partner, Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp of Skye Jewels!

This giveaway is open until midnight CT Thursday, May 16 and the winner will be announced on Friday, May 17. Good Luck!!

Here are some project ideas featuring some of Marie-Noel’s great pendants…

Quiet Lake designed by Jess {click image for product links}

Willow Stag designed by Rose {click image for product links}

The Winner & Editor’s Pick for our Weeping Willow Design Challenge!

Vintaj — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:50:12 +0000

Congratulations to Sarajo Wentling of Sj Designs Jewelry, our blog readers voted her “Big Spring Willow” necklace the winner of our Weeping Willow Design Challenge! Here is what inspired Sarajo:

“As a child, one of my favorite treats was to go with my grandmother to the duck pond at Big Spring Park. We would take a bag of bread and spend hours feeding the ducks from under the majestic, old weeping willow tree that grew along the edge of the water. Both the tree and my Mema are long gone, but this necklace brings back the feeling of being under that green canopy with her.”

Sarajo wins over 75 pieces of Vintaj metals and her design will be entered in our End Of The Year Design Challenge! Visit her blog, www.sjdesignsjewelryblogspot.com and Etsy shop!

Our Editor’s Pick for Weeping Willow is Barbara Krajnik Olsson of Krajol Design!

Here is what inspired Barbara:

“A pair of earrings made of waxed linen thread in 2 colors, small seedbeads, chech glassbeads, Vintaj Filigree Bead and altered blank, etched with Fine Feathers DecoEtch Die.”

Visit Barbara’s website!

Thank you to everyone who participated and voted, it was an impressive selection!

We are skipping a month… our next Design Challenge is “Ocean Surf”, submissions are due June 28!

Bead Trends May 2013

Vintaj — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:00:06 +0000

The editors of Bead Trends were inspired by the Pantone Color Of The Year, emerald green for this issue. There are beautiful pieces showcasing the color green! There are also inspiring designs made with Mom in mind that you won’t want to miss. We loved the story Kristi Harrison shared about her mom on pages 82-84 with her “Mother’s Garden” necklace and earrings.
We’ve featured designers who used Vintaj in the gallery below, Click the image to enlarge and scroll through to enjoy!

[Show as slideshow]

To find more information on this issue and how to subscribe click HERE!

Step-by-Step Tutorial: Filigree Wrapped Bail Pendant

Vintaj — Wed, 08 May 2013 17:34:32 +0000

Learn how to filigree wrap a beveled glass pendant with a Natural Brass Passion Flower Filigree & create a wire wrapped pendant bail with 18gauge Vintaj Artisan Copper Wire!

Open publication – Free publishing – More bail

Click center of image to view full screen!

Visit the Vintaj ISSUU page for some of our past tutorials.

Make this necklace, all the supplies at Hobby Lobby stores! Vintaj Natural Brass & Arte Metal jewelry findings are 25% off this week at Hobby Lobby! Also includes BIGkick Embossing Machine, DecoEmboss & DecoEtch Dies, Technique Book & Bezel Sheets. * expires Saturday, May 11, 2013.

Happy Designing!

Weeping Willow Design Challenge ~ Let’s vote!

Vintaj — Mon, 06 May 2013 18:39:05 +0000

We hope these submissions to our Design Challenge inspire you to try a design with a “Weeping Willow” theme using Vintaj! Click thumbnails to enlarge. The title and inspiration is listed below the enlarged photo of their piece – just click on the thumbnails, you may need to scroll down a little.

[Show as slideshow]

Vote for your favorite by selecting your favorite ‘number’ on the poll listed above and clicking VOTE in the lower right corner! If you do not vote through the polling system your vote will not be counted. One vote per person please!

The poll closes at midnight (central time) on Friday, May 10. The challenge winner will receive a collection of over 75 pieces of Vintaj products, a posting on our blog with a link to their site/blog, and they will also be entered into the End of the Year Challenge contest!

We will post the winning design on Monday, May 13, by noon (central time) so be sure to check back. Our Editor’s Pick will be announced the same day.

Tip: Transform Filigree with Metal Shears & File

Vintaj — Wed, 01 May 2013 16:11:08 +0000

Do you ever wish a filigree was a different shape or size?

It’s easy to transform Vintaj natural brass filigree, simply cut filigree with our Metal Shears and smooth the rough edges with our Metal File. Turn a large filigree into multiple smaller unique jewelry components. Use them to wrap stones and cabochons, suspend as a pendant bail, or incorporate as a decorative connector.

Our NEW 63mm Full Diamond Circle Filigree is awesome

You can use it to wrap around large pendants,as seen below in the Antique Tile necklace…

Or cut it up into smaller pieces, as seen in the Weeping Willow & Willow Pond necklaces…

1. Use Metal Shears to clip through inner opening of filigree, along the double swirls.

2. Continue to cut away the decorative border of filigree to reveal the large diamond shape.

3. Use the Metal File to smooth all rough edges.

4. Clip away the sharp pieces and file the 4 smaller sections.

5. You now have 5 filigree components, 1 large for wrapping and 4 matching pieces!

Willow Pond, features a large Ephemera pendant by Skye Jewels, with 2 of the smaller filigree pieces wrapped around the top front and back of pendant to create a decorative bail.

Weeping Willow, features the center diamond shaped wrapped around a circle Ephemera pendant by Skye Jewels. Smaller sections hang from the bottom and top of pendant to hold beaded dangles and Willow Branch connectors.

Happy Designing!