Jewelry Business Articles & News

Denison jewelry store allows customers to buy, create own pieces of beaded jewelry

Denison jewelry store allows customers to buy, create own pieces of beaded jewelry
Sherman Denison Herald Democrat, TX

There is now a place in Denison to shop for jewelry where a customer is not limited to what is only seen on display. If the piece of jewelry is not there or the item is only in the buyer’s head, Wild Lotus Beads will help the buyer create that piece of jewelry. Wild Lotus Beads, at 613 West Main St., in Denison, is not a new store, but it is new to this area. Owner Alison Jones has been in business for five years.

“The main thing about my gallery is, a customer can choose from a lot of pre-made jewelry, or you can design your own jewelry,” said Jones. “My whole bead section is set up so you can copy a piece of jewelry or design something themselves. They can build it or I can build it for them. I usually let the customer pick something out that jumped out at them, and together in an hour or so we can create a unique necklace that we designed together. It’s a one of a kind with parts you can’t find just anywhere.”

Jones said she has found that most people have designs in their heads and she said it makes her day when she can help get it out and help them produce the perfect piece of jewelry for their collection. Jones said the worst thing that can happen is the customer doesn’t like the piece when it’s finished, so all you have to do then is to start over.

“I like it when people surprise themselves when putting the pieces together,” she said. “Even people that don’t consider themselves creative come up with the most interesting jewelry.”

Jones said that in a few weeks she will begin holding classes, teaching the basics of earrings and necklaces.

Wild Lotus Beads carries gifts and artifacts imported from Asia. “Everything I have in here are high quality gemstones from all over the world and right now I am importing a lot of things from Asia,” said Jones. “I wanted it to be more than just a site gallery where you can actually shop, have fun and create things.”

Jones said she loves matching a personality with a necklace. She said a lot of people are picky shoppers, and in her store they can be as picky as they want to be.

The shop will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday. Jones also does gift wrapping and jewelry repair of all kind.

Jones’ Web site is www.wildlotusbeads.com.

Add comment November 6th, 2006

Baseball players honored at halftime with jewelry from championship run

Baseball players honored at halftime with jewelry from championship run
Corvallis Gazette Times, OR
By Cliff Kirkpatrick
Corvallis Gazette-Times

CORVALLIS — Five months after winning the College World Series, the national championship bling arrived.

The Oregon State baseball team received the rings that go with being the best in the spring of 2006. The players and coaches were presented with them Saturday afternoon at halftime of the homecoming football game in Reser Stadium

“It’s an exciting weekend, and it’s nice to see everybody again,” shortstop Darwin Barney said. “We’ve been waiting for this for a long time, just to finally get the rings.”

The celebration went beyond the ceremony. There was a banquet for the players Friday night; they were involved in the morning homecoming parade and held an autograph signing session before the football game.

All the players except for pitcher Dallas Buck returned for the presentation, even though many of the key members graduated or turned pro early.

Nine players, a school record, were selected in the Major League Baseball amateur June draft, and eight signed pro contracts. Two more signed as free agents.

“This is what we were looking forward to, was the rings,” said Chris Kunda, the second baseman from Philomath who began his pro career during the summer. “It’s nice to see the guys again and talk to them. It’s kind of hard when you go from the College World Series to playing all summer. Now we get time to reflect together.”

The team was honored for winning the Pacific-10 Conference title and cruising through an NCAA regional tournament and Super Regional series over rival Stanford to earn the program’s third trip to the College World Series.

OSU was one of eight teams in the double-elimination tournament in Omaha, Neb. It didn’t look good early, losing to Miami in the first game, 11-1.

After a day to recuperate, the Beavers rallied to defeat Georgia, Miami and Rice twice in four days. That set up a best-of-three series with North Carolina.

The Beavers dropped the first game again, but won the next two to claim the program’s first national title. It was the university’s second NCAA national title.

“It’s good to remember what we’ve done, and now we can move on,” Barney said. “This gives us a chance for closure and for us to put into prospective what we’ve done. It’s just now starting to settle in.”

Add comment November 6th, 2006