Calling All Jewelry Designers

Cousin ANNOUNCES CALL FOR APPLICANTS FOR CREATIVE CIRCLE

Ambassador Program 

Five New Ambassadors To Be Selected To Join The Inaugural Group

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LARGO, Fl., May 10, 2013 – Cousin Corporation of America is pleased to announce a call for applicants for the Cousin Creative Circle™ Ambassador program for the 2013-14 term. Cousin is a premier manufacturer of jewelry making components that supplies products to craft stores, retail chain stores and professional jewelry makers all over the world.

The Cousin Creative Circle™ is a diverse group of talented jewelry makers who have a strong commitment to the craft of jewelry making and who use Cousin products because they are the best in the industry. These brand ambassadors have a platform to share ideas with the product development team, receive Cousin products to incorporate into their work and attend a team building retreat at Cousin Headquarters in Florida.

"Our Creative Circle program has absolutely surpassed our expectations," said Jeff Cousin, President. “We want to keep the craft of jewelry making relevant and maintain it as a growing art. The Ambassadors have shown thousands of people that jewelry making is accessible and rewarding, and as a result we have introduced those people to the Cousin brand.”

The selection committee will choose five additional Creative Circle Ambassadors to join the original members chosen last year. To be considered for the Cousin Creative Circle™, each applicant must complete a comprehensive application form and submit at least 3 images of their work. The deadline for submissions is Monday, June 17, 2013 at 11:59 p.m. EST. To apply, please visit www.cousin.com/CCC.

About Cousin

Cousin Corporation of America is a family-owned company founded in 1970 as Enterprise Art, a retail craft store in Largo, Florida. Today we are a premier wholesaler of jewelry making supplies. Our focus is to design, manufacture and provide quality jewelry making products at an exceptional value to customers who are inspired by the craft of jewelry making. For more information about Cousin Corporation of America, please visit www.cousin.com.

Gearing up for Brandon Day 2013

I haven't blogged in some time now since I am gearing up for Brandon Day 2013.  This will be my first time at this 3-day event.  Normally, I would be at Arts Alive Jackson.  This year, for some unforeseen reason, Arts Alive isn't going to happen.

Creating new inventory! Usually when I set up at a show, I have to shut down my Etsy store as to have items to sell at the venue.  Not this year.  I have been working hard to create new jewelry for the show.  I sat down and figured out how much of each type of jewelry I was going to need.  I would need 85 pairs of earrings, 20 necklaces for the busts, 10 for the necklace plaque, and 35 bracelets not to mention any rings and ear cuffs I decide to bring.  So far, I have made 73 pairs of earrings, 11 necklaces for the busts, 4 for the plaque and 25 bracelets.  I do have 5 rings made and about 10 ear cuffs.  I think I am in pretty good shape.  No more missing sales due to the shop being on "Vacation Mode" and trying to figure out what sold so I can deactivate the listing when the show is over.

After the Show:  After this show is over, I plan to rotate out my inventory with the new items that didn't sell in the show as to have fresh items for my shop.  I will do this on a regular basis so that my shop can always be new. 

That's all for now.  I will post pictures and give all the juicy details after the event so you can see all the fun.

Cousin Creative Circle Projects: Make The Connection: Project Number 2

Cousin Creative Circle Projects: Make The Connection: Project Number 2: This month's project for Cousin was to do a review of their new "Make the Connection" line making its debut on HSN tomorrow, September 13th...

Exciting News from Cousin Corporation

Received this just a few moments ago and wanted to share the excitement!

INNOVATIVE CONCEPT IN JEWELRY KITS DEBUTING ON HSN’S “24 HOURS OF CRAFTS”

New Approach Lets You Create a Style Then Interchange Pieces for a Different Style the Next Day

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LARGO, Fla., September 10, 2012 – Imagine instantly changing your jewelry to fit your mood, style or wardrobe with just a few pieces at your fingertips. The Make the Connection line, a new approach to customized jewelry, will let you effortlessly switch up your look when two exclusive kits premier on HSN, HSN.COM and via HSN mobile on Thursday, September 13, 2012.

The Make the Connection kits contain several different jewelry components with a simple ring clasp on each end that instantly connect the components, creating a seamless necklace or bracelet that can be changed again and again, reflecting your personality, style or outfit.

The two Make the Connection kits making their debut on HSN and hsn.com are Everyday, designed to be colorful and on-trend, and Formal, designed to have a timeless, elegant feel. More than 30 combinations can be created from each style kit for only $19.95 each kit.

Make the Connection designer Michelle Simpson knows being stylish can be time-consuming and expensive and created the kits for HSN to help solve the ongoing fashion dilemma.

“Imagine putting on an outfit and knowing you can create a complementing piece of jewelry in seconds, and then creating a different piece every day for a month, all from the same kit. Make the Connection is about simplicity and variety at a value,” says Simpson.

Make the Connection will inspire jewelry lovers of all ages who want to complement their wardrobe with personalized jewelry without the expense of buying multiple bracelets and necklaces. For more information about Make the Connection on HSN, join the conversation on Facebook at Make the Connection on HSN.

This Week's Featured Designer

This week I am featuring author, jewelry blogger, and bead enthusiast Lisa Crone.  Lisa is also a Cousin Creative Circle Ambassador for this 2012-2013 session.

 Meet Lisa:

"I've been happily designing beaded jewelry for over 20 years. Yes, I'm a serious bead fanatic and enjoy learning new techniques from other bead enthusiasts through books, magazines and classes or improvising as I go!


I've started this blog as part of writing my jewelry making book, A Bead in Time, as requested by the publishing company, F+W Media (North Light Books). I never knew it would lead to years of daily blogging and so many wonderful new relationships! I'm eternally grateful!

I love sharing in the fun of the online beading community! I typically showcase beads, techniques, projects, bead artists, designers and crafters."

You can connect with Lisa through her blog A Bead A Day and on twitter.

About Lisa's book: "A Bead in Time: 35 Jewelry Projects Inspired by Slices of Life"

A Bead in Time is perfect for beaders of all skill levels who want to make their jewelry more personal. 

A wealth of step-by-step projects offers clear instruction on a wide range of beading and jewelry techniques, including wire wrapping, peyote stitch, using memory wire, macrame and more! 

Each project begins with a discussion on the inspiration for the piece, including a photo depicting that specific inspiration. 

Tips and tricks will show you how to design pieces based on your own life - a unique twist to most beading and jewelry making books.

Ellie's Bijoux: Meet My Fellow CCC Ambassador Shelly Owen…

Ellie's Bijoux: Meet My Fellow CCC Ambassador Shelly Owen…: I interviewed Shelly Owen one of my CCC fellow ambassadors and here is what she had to say… Me…How long have you been making je...

New Fall 2012 Colors Brought To You By Pantone

As a jewelry designer, one can become comfortable with certain colors and color groupings and allow them to hang out in all new designs. Pantone is really stretching the designer this year with the release of the Fall 2012 Fashion Colors. They are different, vibrant, sultry, and mysterious. The combinations of these colors push the envelope to new possibilities and ideas. Today, I found myself stuck in a design rut. I pulled out the color chart from Pantone and sorted my beads accordingly. Rich chocolate brown, vibrant tangerine and pink, smokey rose, gray and lavender, lively greens, brilliant deep yellow, a strong blue fill the color palette and fuel the imagination. We see the return to the fashion world of Tangerine again this season. "Tangerine Tango" is now Pantone's Color of the Year. It showed up for Spring and is sticking around for a while. The vibrancy of this color makes for some interesting new color combinations especially when mixed with the deepness of "French Roast". A new color for this fall is "Pink Flambé", a striking pink that stirs images of Miami and a life lived out loud. We see the rise of "Olympian Blue" this season as well. It is a brilliant blue that is not too bright and not too dark. I love the sultriness of "Rose Smoke, "Rhapsody" and "Titanium" that have comeback this Fall. "Honey Gold" sparks this season's color palette giving it the perfect Autumn feel.  We see the additions of what is usually a spring color, "Chartreuse", and a summer color, "Ultramarine Green".  These additions brings a lovely balance to the palette.  These colors in any combination bring vitality to this season and I for one am looking forward to using these colors.

Today I am incorporating some of these colors in a new design. Mixing and matching the colors to bring drama and intrigue is proving to be more fun than daunting. Try out some of these colors for yourself today....and as always, Happy beading!



*NOTE:  All images are from the Pantone.com website.