Thursday, November 19, 2009

The Barefoot Sandal Gal's


Have you ever tried to arrange a surprise birthday party for someone long distance? Well, that’s just what I did for my sister Pat (and the other half of Jewels by Jan).


Those birthday’s that end in a zero are special. They’re milestones and they should be celebrated. But Pat doesn’t like to be the center of attention and she made her husband swear he wasn’t doing anything special for this birthday. He was off the hook. Little did she know that it was her sister in San Diego who was sneaking around sending out save the date cards followed by one of her famous poem invitations.
Yep, we got her good! And it was all SO worth it. Everything turned out great and I was able to see all my family in one place!

After the festivities were over (attended by 50 of her closest relatives and friends) we had the chance to put on our official Jewels by Jan Swarovski crystal tees to take this photo. If you’re a fan of our barefoot sandals, the shirts will be available on our web site soon! They’re made of top-quality cotton-poly with genuine clear and pink Swarovski crystals. What a fabulous way to add some bling to your wardrobe!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Holiday Party Season is Just Around the Corner!


Every year the holiday season seems to creep up on us a little bit earlier.  It isn't even Halloween yet and I'm already seeing holiday decorations in places like Target and Wal Mart.  I'm just wondering when we'll see the first TV Christmas ad.  So the last thing on your mind is what shoe's you'll wear to your office holiday party or for New Years Eve.

With the economy in a slump and many people without work, saving money will be on everyone's mind this year.  Here's an idea that will not only save you the cost of buying a brand new pair of shoe's to wear with your holiday dress but will also turn you into the fashionista of the night!  Dive into your closet and pull out that pair of plain, strappy sandals and transform them into a dazzling pair of shoes that is sure to start a trend. 


Jewels by Jan Swarovski crystal barefoot sandals can totally change a pair of shoes.  With a collection of over 20 different designs of beaded foot jewelry you're sure to find the perfect pair to jazz up your party shoes.  The sandals shown here are called Elegant Evening, aptly named for either a night on the town or a fabulous New Years Eve event. It's only one of the many colors and designs we offer. 

Visit our site and find your favorite pair - we'll custom make them to fit your foot perfectly!  The sandals come in pairs of course!  So sparkle....dazzle.....and impress this holiday season!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Browse a Thousand Markets in the Comfort of Your Home



Imagine how nice it would be to sit at your computer in your comfy clothes with a nice cup of coffee or tea and Christmas shop at your leisure. No crowded stores with endless waits to get to the cashier. You can take your time looking at everything and when you’re ready to check out you have your own personal cashier.

I just discovered this site and I was so impressed I had to open up my own shop with our handcrafted foot jewelry. 1000 Markets is an art-filled, authentic shopping experience where everything is handmade. If you appreciate the time and talent of a uniquely handcrafted item, you will love this site. One-of-a-kind items you won’t find at Nordstrom or Bloomingdales. Gifts for everyone in the family – every order guaranteed. They’ve partnered with Amazon to give you the best guarantee in the business. Relax. You’re covered.


With over 60,000 items, your sure to find something for everyone. Like these surfboard chairs – where could you find chairs like this?

Or another unique, handcrafted item –

a very useful and chic laptop bag. You’ll find all kinds of art, clothing, accessories, toys, home and garden items, jewelry and much more

I highly recommend spending some time on this site!
JAN

Using Swarovski crystals and pearls in jewelry design






Have you ever wondered what it takes to create a complex bead design? I can tell you from six years of experience when you work with small components, it’s a very time-consuming process. The tiny little seed beads and 4mm crystals are just plain hard to pick up off the bead mat. If you use long tweezers to pick up the components like I do, they can fly across the room if you squeeze the tweezers too tight. But we have found that the smaller the bead, the more feminine and dainty the sandals will be.


When Pat and I started our business we knew that quality materials would be the key to producing a lovely piece of jewelry. It was important to us to find bead suppliers that offered A-quality products at a reasonable cost. That’s why we selected Swarovski pearls and crystals to use in our barefoot sandal designs. Everyone can identify with the name Swarovski.
Each Swarovski Crystal Pearl is created around a crystal core, hence the name Crystal Pearl. This crystal core gives the pearl its ideal weight and combined with the Swarovski Pearl coating it causes each Crystal Pearl to glow from within. The pearl coating developed by Swarovski is applied around the crystal core in pearly layers.


Swarovski (Austrian) Crystal is considered by many people to be the finest quality, full-lead crystal made today. To cut hard materials such as crystal and gems in such a way that they have a hundred identical facets in several directions is a very complicated task: each direction of the reflected light must first be calculated by computer, then this has to be simulated in 3D, optimized and finally converted into control programs for complex machinery. It is this machine that makes it possible to cut crystal to perfection.
When we receive an order of Swarovski crystals there’s just nothing more brilliant than opening up their careful packaging and seeing several hundred sparkling prisms of light shining back at you! Knowing the process of how they are cut makes it even more amazing.