David Kodner Personal Jewelers is holding a design contest from November 1- November 20 for a piece created around a beautiful 5.20 carat moonstone. The winner will be determined by the amount of votes it receives on the David Kodner Facebook fan page. The winner will receive $500 cash, plus David Kodner will create an actual piece of jewelry from the first place submission, to be on display in the jeweler show room.
This might be a great opportunity for you to try their hand at jewelry design, as the competition is open to any skill level.
For more information and the …read more

Understanding how color works technically is one thing, being able to choose lovely colorways for your designs can be another!  Beverly Ash Gilbert, who shared a wonderful artist profile with us back in March, is an absolute master at chosing palettes and working with color in her pieces.  Now Beverly has published a new tool called The Eye for Color system which will help you put into practice the principles behind great color selection.

Beverly’s packet has two color wheels and six color harmony templates with a unique snap-together construction.  There is a beautiful inspirational booklet that comes with the system, …read more

Margie Deeb has a brand new color report out and ready to rock and roll.  “Subtle contrasts” are the catch phrase for the fall/winter palette for 2009.  Margie discusses the top Pantone colors that will be found in clothing this fall, based upon Pantone’s survey with Fashion Week insiders.

The main section of Margie’s report takes each of these ten directional colors and provides a report on Delicas and Swarovski beads that represent each.  She then provides several suggested palettes for using that color, including color schemes that will delight both the classic and the avant garde among us.   I …read more

Improving your jewelry designs is another great way to work through the summer slump.

Our own archives have many posts on jewelry design.
Check out the recent book review on a brand new Dummies Guide,  Jewelry & Beading Designs.
Michelle Mach of Beading Daily wonders Why Simple Designs Aren’t Always Simple to Make.
The Savvy Designer, Anne Rush, shares some insights into Jewelry Design Trends for the fall of 2009.
And Pantone has their color fashion report ready for the fall too!

What’s Up Wednesday 
Eni Oken has launched a new site, Jewelry Lessons, where you can find not only Eni’s tutorials, but those of lots of other talented designers!

We all know Eni for her fabulous wireworking, but it looks like her new site is going to move far beyond just wire tutorials. If you want to learn a new skill, or you think you might like to write and teach, check out this opportunity!

Gloria Jean-Browne, of Beading Design Jewelry, has some excellent advice posted on the Creativity Portal. If you have seen your sales go into a slump, don’t automatically blame the economy…sometimes we have to take a good hard look at what choices we’ve made!
Read her excellent article here: What to do when your handmade jewelry isn’t selling