Summer Sparklers

Three new charms with sparkling pave crystals, will make your bracelet glow! I'm thrilled with the way the Bluebird of Happiness charm came out. Lovely, meaningful, yet cute. Collect this one now, and in the spring, you can add the Red Robin version.

Shooting Star. You are the star, let's see you shine!

This sparkling slice of Watermelon is the penultimate symbol of summer! Enjoy.

In the Garden with Charmish

In the Garden with Charmish. Wouldn't it be fun to have a garden themed charm bracelet? I would definitely put in the cute Snail friend (the kind who doesn't eat your favorite lettuce!), the enamel Apple, and pretty flowers like the Daisy. I would add some pretty glass beads in greens, golds, and orange!

What themes do you have? I'm currently working on a Fantasy character themed bracelet with a rainbow of colored glass.

Charmish Exclusive Design - Curly Sheep!

An exclusive charm bead for my fiber "freak" friends who love working with wool, knitting, crochet, felting. I designed this cute Curly Sheep just for us!



"I Love Knitting" charm has been so much fun, and being a fabric, fiber artist myself, I am committed to building our collection of crafting/arts charms. Please suggest which craft we should represent next.

xo
Aly

Avatar The Last Air Bender - choose your element!

The Last Air Bender movie is out. Have you seen it yet? I'm a big fan of the cartoon series, which was probably a sub-conscious influence on my Elements series, one of the first sets I designed for Ohm Beads.

While designing, I was thinking of the classic Chinese elements that relate to one's birth date, and imagining the beads to look like hand carved wood, with inlaid jewels. One of the few horizontally laid out designs, which is especially great for necklaces and rings designed to hold European Charm bead jewelry or Pandora style glass beads.

Wear your favorite tribe's charm on your bracelet, or choose the element associated with your zodiac sign. See each bead's listing in Charmish Beads for more information about the symbolism behind each one.

Fire!
Earth!

Air!

Water!

The four tribes united.

Nesting Doll - the Matryoshka Charm

This cute Matryoshka charm bead was created, by me, via a Charmish customer request. Yey!!!

What is a Matryoshka and why is it sometimes called a Babushka? Matryoshka is the Russian name for "nesting doll". A babushka is a grandmother. So sometimes the nesting doll depicts the grandmother figure, but it can take many forms, so the names are not interchangeable.

History of Nesting Dolls:

The first Russian nested doll set was carved in 1890 by Vasily Zvyozdochkin from a design by Sergey Malyutin, who was a folk crafts painter in the Abramtsevo estate of the Russian industrialist and patron of arts Savva Mamontov. The doll set was painted by Maliutin himself. Maliutin's design was inspired by a set of Japanese wooden dolls representing Shichi-fuku-jin, the Seven Gods of Fortune. Maluitin's doll set consisted of eight dolls -- the outermost was a girl holding a rooster, six inner dolls were girls, the fifth doll was a boy, and the innermost was a baby.

In 1900, Savva Mamontov's wife presented the dolls at the World Exhibition in Paris, and the toy earned a bronze medal. Soon after, matryoshki dolls were being made in several places in Russia.

Modern artists create many new styles of nesting dolls. Common themes include animal collections, portraits and caricatures of famous politicians, musicians, "robots" and popular movie stars. Matryoshka dolls that feature communist leaders of Russia became very popular among Russian people in the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Today, some Russian artists specialize in painting themed matryoshka dolls that feature specific categories of subjects, people or nature.

The biggest matryoshka

It cost 3000 rubles (it worth saying that a popular Soviet car cost in that time 5,000 rubles). The doll was sent to exhibition in Japan.

In the 80-s artists from Semionovo developed new types of matryoshkas Artist Serov designed new matryoshka "The Father Frost and Snegurotchka". This matryoshka was so designed that children could learn to count: inside a big "mother" 10 small was hidden.

DIY nesting dolls. I found a great source for nesting doll blanks. Paint your own in any theme. Make a set using photos of your family's faces and painting in the rest.

Japanese nesting dolls.

To learn more about STARTING a collection of Russian nesting dolls, check out this eHow article.

Enjoy! I'd love to see comments and photos from those who collect them!
Aly

Gift Ideas using Boys and Girls Charms

Summer is a great time to plan your engrave-able holiday charm bead gifts. Girls and Boys charm beads are designed with a plain back so you can take it to your local jewelers and have your child's name engraved on the back.

Great ideas include:

• Grandma's brag bracelet. Combine Boys and Girls with birthstones and favorite hobbies.Gift for new mother: engrave the baby's name and birthdate.

• Memorial bead for loved ones who have passed on to the other side. This is often a great comfort. Not so much a holiday gift, but an acknowledgment during an important time.
  

• Sweeties beads: put your and your sweetheart's name on a set.

• Adoption/surrogate brag bracelet: add the child's name or special wish for child on the back of the bead.
  

• Mother's day bracelet: hey, any day can be Mother's Day! Add a charm for each child, Mother's favorite colors, foods, hobbies, and beads that symbolize special vacations and memories.
  

Fairy Charm Beads- one for each season

Our charming Fairies have just flown in to help us celebrate the seasons. Wear them one at a time as the year turns 'round, or together as a set.

Fairy charms make wonderful tooth fairy gifts (left under the pillow from the tooth fairy).

Do you believe in fairies?

Summer Fairy is holding the first bright summer ray of sunshine. She reminds us to celebrate the fun of the season, to frolic and picnic in nature, go exploring, listen to the birds, and smell the flowers on the long sunny days of summer.

Autumn Fairy has her hood up and is holding the first fall colored leaf. She reminds us to enjoy the harvest that Summer brought, prepare our homes for the upcoming season, and enjoy the cool splendor of the Autumn

"No spring, nor summer beauty hath such grace

As I have seen in one autumnal face"
—John Donne

Winter Fairy is holding her crystal snowflake wand. She takes great delight in the long, cozy nights of winter, family gatherings, telling stories around the fireplace, and the beauty of fresh rain and snow.

Spring Fairy is walking in the garden gathering her first bouquet of Spring. She celebrates the new season, a time of change and fresh starts, blooming flowers, gentle spring rains, and visiting birds.

The world is very old;
But every Spring
It groweth young again,
And Fairies sing.

Cecily Mary Barker, Flower Fairies of the Spring (1923)

Summer Designs Release Party!

You are invited to the Charmish "Summer Charm Beads Release Party"
Wed July 6th,
at 11am West Coast USA time

Be the first girl on your block to wear the new designs, like this cutie, "Beach Trip" above. She's got her convertible, sunglasses, mini board, picnic, and tunes. She's free for the day and heading to the beach!

Others in the list? Roller Derby, Lighthouse, Tree of Life, Love Birds, Flip Flops, and the newest Sock Monkey charm........ wait, I can't tell you EVERYthing! Come see! Also new are charm bead jewelry boxes and travel pouches.

All my charms are solid sterling, threaded, and will fit on bracelets from other major brands. I also carry bracelets to get your collection started. Convo me on Etsy if have any questions about compatibility. I'm always happy to chat.

Aly
Designer of all things CHARMISH