Yummmmmmmm. . .New Charms to Whet Your Appetite for more Pick Up Sticks

2010
04.23

April showers bring May flowers; Spring is in the air; In like a lion, out like a lamb.  We’ve all heard phrases to describe the onset of springtime.  But at Pick Up Sticks, the most exciting part of Spring is designing new charms and trinkets for the Summer show season.  Aren’t you dying to see what we’ve come up with?

Here’s something new for you to feast your eyes on – one of our Chalkboard Series Word Charms (WD018) with the new Pearl Drop Trinket (PT058) on an 18″ Chunky Sparkle Necklace – all new pieces that will be available to order in May.  Is this a delicious piece of jewelry or what?

Word Candy Contest!

2010
04.21

Welcome to the very first official contest on the Pick Up Sticks blog!  We’ve been working on several new word candy charms to add to the line this season, all of which will be available to order next month.   We want you to take a stab at guessing what words we’ve chosen to match the above image!

If you’re the first person to correctly guess the words on the back of this image, you’ll win the charm on a 20″ stainless ball chain necklace! 

The contest is also running on Facebook – check out our page there http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Pick-Up-Sticks-Jewelry-Company/372218491219?ref=ts to see the hillarious guesses we’ve received.  And no, the answer is not “Nice hooters,” although we find that response damn funny!

Charm Bracelets – The Original Timeless Classic

2010
04.18

 

At Pick Up Sticks Jewelry Company, we know that women of all ages love unique jewelry that tells a story, with pieces that commemorate special occasions and milestones in one’s life. For centuries, charm bracelets have been the perfect way to tell one’s story. They are truly the original timeless classic – jewelry with an amazing history that also celebrates the wearer’s personal history.  Want to know the story of charm bracelets?

The Egyptians wore them in 3000 BC to let the gods in the afterlife know who they were in the social hierarchy. The Babylonians wore charm bracelets in 700 BC because they believed charms had special powers. In medieval times, charm bracelets were worn to identify your family of origin and the fiefdom in which you lived.

Queen Victoria wore them in the late 19th century, first as a fashion statement, and then as a way to mourn her great love, Prince Albert. She had her personal jewelers create charms with locks of Albert’s hair and others with his photo. And at the 1889 Paris Exposition Tiffany & Co introduced the general public to a chain link bracelet with a single heart pendant hanging from a link. The modern charm bracelet was definitely here to stay.

U.S. World War veterans introduced the women in their lives to charm bracelets when they brought home charms from the various European cities and South Pacific villages they’d visited. Charms were inexpensive gifts, easy to carry, and soldiers were anxious to commemorate the positive aspects of their travels. In the 40’s, you could get charms out of gumball machines – they were universally available to anyone with a whim for creating their own jewelry. Historians believe that even cavemen in prehistoric times wore charms and amulets to ward off evil spirits and to demonstrate one’s prowess to an enemy, And over time, in all these cultures, adding charms has always been a way to mark milestones in one’s life.

And now we do it. Charm bracelets have experienced a revival in popularity since the turn of the new century, and at Pick Up Sticks, we’re combined double-sided photo charms conveying a message with coordinating trinkets to create very personal wearable art for each charm bracelet customer. Our designs are created to make  customers smile with sentiment and laugh out loud with instant recognition of life’s magic, humor and irony. Our vintage inspired charm bracelets offer each customer a chance to tell her own story. Which, evidently, is what all women have been doing for centuries. And centuries. And centuries.

That’s why we blog.  So we can tell our stories and hear your’s.  Got a favorite charm bracelet?  Send us a picture and tell us all about it reach us as marketing @pickupsticks.net.  We love your stories!

Brenda’s Favorite Necklace

2010
04.09

Brenda may be relatively new to the studio (we’re sooooo lucky to have her. . .), but she’s not new to wearing Pick Up Sticks Jewelry.  She’s been one of our most loyal local fans for years.  Here’s what she has to say about her favorite way to wear it: 

I really enjoy wearing the pearl necklace because it is so versatile. I can wear it alone or with charms. I can also double the chain and add charms to either one level or two. On the top level I chose to wear the “faith” box charm (BC003). This charm reminds me to “keep the faith”. It definitely draws the attention of other people and also makes a bold statement. On the lower level I added the “B” alphabet charm, which is my initial. Pairing it with the crosses reminds me to be true to myself.

Alspaugh’s Sterling Events

2010
04.05

 

Alspaugh's Judy - Just one great way to display Pick Up Sticks

We Love Our Customer’s Testimonials!  Here’s one from Alspaugh’s Sterling Events in Kingwood, Texas: 

Alspaugh’s Sterling Events was proud to add the jewelry company, “Pick Up Sticks” to their assortment in 2009.  This unique jewelry line has intrigued our customers from the minute it hit the floor of Sterling Event’s 2000 sq. ft. Kingwood, Texas gift shop. The vintage inspired reversible photo charms, earrings, necklaces & bracelets make up a fabulous collection of novelty jewelry for our customers.

Dorothy Alspaugh

Alspaugh’s Sterling Events

Kingwood, Texas

281-361-6550

Word Candy Contest

2010
03.31

If you want to get in on the Pick Up Sticks Word Candy contest, check us out on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Pick-Up-Sticks-Jewelry-Company/372218491219 and send us your ideas.  Winner gets the new word candy on a chain!

Jalaina’s Favorite Necklace

2010
03.30

Today I wore the 18” silver plate with two candy initial B’s (CWI0B) and a J candy initial (CWI0J) because those are the initials of my husband Brandon , myself, and my two-year old son, Braddock. I wear them because I truly cherish and adore my family (more to come on that later).

I wear the crystal a lot by itself because it can dress any outfit up and makes me feel a bit fancy!

I am also wearing a 30” box chain with a “Make You Smile” charm (LV043) and a “Blessed” word candy charm (CW014). I choose these charms because my family is what makes me smile and I love spending time with them. The CW014 blessed charm I wear because I am truly blessed to have such a great family.

What’s In a Name?

2010
03.26

Pick Up Sticks. We’re asked all the time how we came up with that name. And we thought fessing up would be a great way to begin one of our blog posts. But of course, we want to save that story for the end of the post – the best for last and all that. . .

I love you cousin!

Before we give you that tidbit, we want to talk about blogging. We are, first and foremost, family. As most of you know, Glena and Sabrina, the owners of Pick Up Sticks, are cousins. Practically sisters. So similar in appearance that frequently customers will initially meet Glena in the booth during show season, and then come back later, mistaking Sabrina for Glena. If you’ve wandered the website, you’ve read their bios (about which we’ll do an in depth post later. . .). I can tell you, as their pal the Blogwriter, that these girls’ creative business streak goes way back. I have a lot of stories, but we’ll save those for later. 

Bisbee, AZ - Sabrina's Trailer Trash Birthday Weekend

Some of the stories involve water skiing with boys from Texas, some involve a dalmatian in a swimming pool, some involve dancing with questionable cowboys, some involve trailer trash proms. . .

But wait! This blog is all about profession- alism. All about business. Maybe just a little about fun. Or a lot about fun. What we hope to do is to let you know what’s going on with Pick Up Sticks and give you information that will both entertain you and help you market the line to your retail customers. At Pick Up Sticks we’re all about the customer. Sabrina says that when she’s designing, she envisions the woman who will be buying our charms, and the reason she’ll be buying them.

So, we’ll tell you more about Glena and Sabrina (hang in there – I have some really great trailer trash prom photos to post. . .), and we’ll introduce you to Jalaina and Candace and Brenda, the girls you get to talk to every time you call the studio. We’ll post some photos of us at work.

We might even show you Sabrina’s adorable husband, Bruce, in his order-filling apron, surrounded by the poodles (yeah, we’ll even devote a blog post to the poodles. . .), and Glena’s mom Anna Lee at the table surrounded by baggies and charms.   Because all these people are family as well, in the best possible way.

We’re excited for you to get to know us better, and from time to time, we’ll also post info you send us. We want to know all about you. The best part of running this business is going to shows and meeting all of you and hearing the stories about your retail stores and how Pick Up Sticks works for you.

So here goes. If you have a great testimonial (and thanks to all of you who have already provided one), e-mail it to marketing@pickupsticks.net, send some photos along, and we’ll include your story in the blog.  Be sure you let us know who wrote the copy and all the names of your principal players.  We want to give you full credit!

Oh, by the way. The name thing? Well, in the beginning we were Sticks and Stones Jewelry Company. We were searching for fun names for what we were doing, way back in 2000, and the husband of one of our pals suggested Sticks and Stones. Whimsical, fun, playful – just like our jewelry. But when we got out there in the world and started doing well, we had to register our name. Checked out Sticks and Stones, and it was taken by a tableware company. So we had to sit around the table in the backyard and drink several Coronas with lime and eat lots of freshly made pico de gallo and think hard and someone, somehow, came up with an even better, even more playful and memorable name. Now we’re Pick Up Sticks. And very happy being who we are!

More later. . .

Candace’s Favorite Pick Up Sticks Necklaces

2010
03.24

You heard from Glena.  Now, how about Candace’s Favorite Necklace?

Candace says, “My favorite necklace changes all the time, just because wearing Pick Up Sticks can make such a statement! Today I’m wearing my all time favorite, which is the long pearl necklace with a faceted initial “C” (SFIOC) and the crown icon charm (TR063). The pearls paired with the faceted initial create a very classy look but yet it is very personal at the same time. The faceted glass sparkles with every movement, so it’s bound to catch someone’s eye, and the size is perfect. It allows everyone to see the initial “C”.

I layer the 36” pearl necklace with a 20” stainless chain holding a pistol (PT049) and a wild women charm (CG038). I love CG038 because every woman dreams of and demands some sort of excitement in their life. And the pistol is just pure fun – always a conversation starter, which seems to happen a lot when I wear Pick Up Sticks!!”

Glena’s Favorite Pick Up Sticks Necklace

2010
03.22

  

Everyone in the studio got together and wrote a piece about their favorite Pick Up Sticks necklaces. Here’s what Glena has to say:

My two favorite necklaces are currently the bird trinket (PT039) paired with my initial candy “G”(CWI0G)on a 20 “ stainless steel ball chain, layered with (AN054)”Notice the little things” photo charm on a 16” sterling box chain.

I love these two necklaces for several reasons. The bird trinket is inscribed with the word “fly” on the back, which is significant to me because my 23 year old son, Cameron, is a helicopter pilot and this trinket is my tribute to him and his career choice. I’m so proud of him. The “g” initial further personalizes this necklace, and is the perfect size (small) to coordinate with the bird trinket.

“Notice the little things” is a great quote – it reminds me to stay in the present and see beauty in what others might classify as mundane. My goal is to always take time to be thankful for special little things that happen in my life on a daily basis – friends, family, and of course, Pick Up Sticks Jewelry Company.

This is what I love most about wearing Pick Up Sticks jewelry – whatever charm, trinket or necklace I choose, I can use our designs to tell the world my story. And when the story changes, there’s always another charm to fit my new mood!

Stay tuned for Jalaina’s, Candace’s, Brenda’s and Sabrina’s favorite necklaces. We’d love to hear from you about your favorite pieces of Pick Up Sticks Jewelry. . .