DaisyTrail is excited to show off a new designer at their the shop – Vintaj! Designed by Vintaj, these kits are colorful and creative. Including inspirational brass embellishments, nature finds and hand-drawn sketches turned digital stickers! We are more than thrilled to be collaborating with Dasiy Trail and we hope you love our new digital kits!

Willow Pond: Dream up beautiful layouts with this charming kit. Aqua and violet elements combine with dragonflies & pond life to make up a stunning colour palette.

Midnight Garden: Capture your memories with big blossoms, bold colours, and creative keys in this garden inspired kit.

Weathered Fields: Create your own timeless treasure with this beautiful kit, which includes climbing vines, dried flowers and vintage embellishments

Autumn Crush: Welcome autumn with love. Falling leaves, vintage treasures & wooded blush make this kit unique.

Perennial Forest: Make a gorgeous scrapbook complete with layers of forest elements, earthy embellishments, detailed frames and bold designs.

Don’t have Craft Artist yet? Here is their free version! Download the ultimate digital crafting software – for free! CraftArtist Compact is the ultimate software to create everything from photobooks and greeting cards to scrapbooks and wedding stationery. Download it now and you’ll soon be able to create beautiful designs without having to spend a penny on materials.

For more information, and a detailed list of what each Vintaj Digital Pack contains, please visit DaisyTrail.com.

Today’s “Mixed Metals” project ideas come to you from the design table of Rose Noble! This necklace and earring set is stunning. Rose shares tips on how she created this Vintaj Metals masterpiece. . .

Necklace & Earring Set designed by Rose Noble: “It’s all about distressed circles in this design. A hammered Arte Metal Rhapsody Novella holds dangles of hammered Natural Brass Standard Washers and textured Artisan Copper Circle Blanks.

I hammered Artisan Copper Large & Small Circle blanks using a dimpled texture hammer. Reliefing the metal adds contrast and allows for that texture to pop. An Arte Metal Etrusia Ringlet is layered over the large textured circle for added dimension.

Once hammered, a Natural Brass Creative Hoop becomes stronger and rustic looking. Hammered Arte Metal 15mm Jump Rings and Petite Etched Cable Chain add length and variance to this design.”

“These matching earrings are simple and sweet. Hammered Artisan Copper blanks layered with Arte Metal Oval 2 Hole Blanks, Natural Brass jump rings and hammered Arte Metal jump rings. Finish off this design with reliefed Natural Brass ear wires to bring in another metal color – polished brass.”

Inspired??? Join us in our “Mixed Metals” Design Challenge. Submit your piece, featuring a combination of Vintaj  Natural Brass, Arte Metal & Artisan Copper (you can also add Silver and Pewter to the mix), by NOON (CST) Friday, February 3rd.

Happy Designing!  

We love the energy that surrounds everything about CHA. We wanted to share what’s happening during our week in California. Click through our gallery below for some of the highlights and follow the links to see our Facebook albums!

Click the links below to view our Facebook photo albums!

Set up

Workshops

The Show

Stay tuned – the show is open until Wednesday, there will be plenty more to share!

We’re CHA bound… California sunshine, here we come!

For those of you attending the CHA Winter 2012 Show this coming week, be sure to visit us at the following booth locations to see demos using our NEW Patinas & Glaze by Ranger, DecoEmboss & DecoEtch Dies by Sizzix and Tools by BeadSmith! We will also have a ton of project inspiration in all three booths. Hope to see you there!  

Loving our “Mixed Metals” theme…. and I can hardly wait for you all to see our NEW Vintaj Mixed Metals Jewelry Technique Book (coming soon)! This is by far one of my favorite themes to date!

This Metal Trio cuff, was made with 3 Artisan Copper Rectangular Bracelet Blanks as the base. I used a “checkered” textured hammer to distress the surface of each. The bands of Arte Metal layered over the copper were made from Marcasite Border DecoRivets. I simply removed the rivet points and hammered them flat. Using a 1.5mm hole punch pliers, I added holes at the ends of the flattened borders. Using them as a template to mark holes on the copper with a sharpie. Once the holes in the copper were punched, I used 1/8″ Nail Head Rivets to create a cold connection with the pieces. Additional rivets were added to the corners of the copper for a decorative look. All three of the copper blanks were slightly bent to form to the wrist. Two hammered Arte Metal 7.25mm Jump Rings connect each of the blanks together. A piece of black leather cording is knotted from one end with a 14mm Lobster Clasp to finish the cuff. I love the look of these 3 metals combined!

I hope my bracelet inspired you to join us in our “Mixed Metals” Design Challenge. Submit your piece, featuring a combination of Vintajl  Natural Brass, Arte Metal & Artisan Copper (you can also add Silver and Pewter to the mix), by NOON (CST) Friday, February 3rd.

Happy Designing!  

We wanted to show off one of our talented designers to our bloggers. If you attend CHA, any of our workshops and Bead&Button this year you will get to meet Mackie in person! We’re excited to start sharing Mackie’s design inspiration with you every month, starting with our “Mixed Metals” theme! Take a look into her design style and find out what inspires her. . .

Click through our gallery of Mackie’s portfolio!

How long have you been designing and how did you get started? I have been designing almost all of my life.  I actually started when I was about eight years old and I’ve grown up with it ever since.  My Mom started the company around that time of my life and I always tried to spend as much time as I could with her as a child, so naturally, I began a love for jewelry and design myself.

Where do you find inspiration?   I have always found inspiration in the world around me, but more specifically, in culture.  I’ve always been fascinated with people and especially with people of different places, race and lands, all over our world.  I believe everyone has a story, and everyone’s story deserves to be told.  I also find tons of inspiration in nature.  I love the mystery of the unknown and nature has a sense of that, a sense of discovery.

What kind of space do you design or create in? When I design, I like to surround myself with inspiration.  So, sometimes I end up grabbing a bunch of beads and findings and take them outside and design.  Like I mentioned earlier, I am inspired by nature, so sometimes feeling the sun on my face gives me that extra creative boost that every artist needs, every once in a while.

What are your favorite Vintaj products to work with? As I’ve looked back on all the designs I’ve created, I’ve noticed that I love to use butterflies, especially the filigree butterfly.  It’s so elaborate and beautiful, yet natural and organic.  I also love to make pieces somewhat non-objective and abstract, so most of my jewelry is asymmetrical.  I love using rings.  I think of them as a signature element of mine.  You’ll see them in almost all of my jewelry.

My design process: When I design, I definitely do not know what my end product is going to look like.  I like to add as I go, and I also like to change things around as I go.  I like to keep my mind open, so most of the time my piece is completely different that I might have expected.  I’ve learned to not plan and to just start designing.  Spontaneity and adventure, are the most important things to me in life and are the most important things for creating exciting, interesting and beautiful jewelry.

We featured Stampington’s Altered Couture from Autumn 2010 with Mackie’s altered shoes back in October 2010. Check it out!

Also visit our Meet the Designers page to learn more!  

We’ve updated our blog & Idea Gallery at vintaj.com with new “Like” buttons! Click into a post and scroll to the end or browse our gallery, click the “Like” button and it will show up in your Facebook news feed!

You can also pin our photos to your Pinterest boards, a lot of you already have! Once you’ve signed up for Pinterest you can download a “Pin It” button to your toolbar and pin away. We love entering the search word Vintaj and finding all of the designs that inspire!

*certain browsers may be different, our blog is run on Firefox. 

Thank you for the “Likes”!

Combine Natural Brass, Arte Metal & Artisan Copper for a gorgeous Mixed Metals design! This month’s “Mixed Metals” theme was inspired by our new book; Vintaj Mixed Metal Jewelry Techniques ~ Available in February! To start off I’m excited to share this fun Textured Bib-Style necklace with you!

Learn this fun technique in 8 simple steps….

Start thinking of design ideas using all the Vintaj metals for our Mixed Metals Design Challenge ~

We are more than excited to share with you a preview of our soon to be release Mixed Metals Technique Book! (Available February 2012) It has a fabulous 30 pages of stunning mixed metal techniques that will definitely inspire your creativity!

In the pages of this technique book you will learn how to combine natural brass, arte metal and artisan copper with patinas, image transfer, etching, embossing, distressing, riveting, hammering, melt art and many more techniques!

Including Vintaj in 15 beautifully photographed and meticulously detailed step-bystep techniques and projects including bracelets, earrings, necklaces, pendants and rings. Learn how to create your own bezel, wrap with filigree and create altered effects…. the possibilities are endless!

We have worked with a lot of great resources in this book, just check out our amazing list:

SIZZIX, Beadsmith, Ranger, Beadaholique, Bello Modo, Dahlia Inc., Diane Hawkey, Diane Sepanski, fusionbeads, Green Girl Studios, Humble Beads, Lisa Kan, Sea of Glass, Silk painting is fun, Susan Lenart Kazmer Ice Resin, Renaissance Products, Vintage Meadow Artworks, Viva Decor & Wire Lace.