Our favourite quote this week is from Max with:

"If You Can't Be A Shining Example, Be A Dire Warning"

We had a whole lot of trouble deciding an overall winner for the competition and after 3 days of hot debate have decided to award the final prize to two of our entries:

1. Andie, for 'Let Music Be The Weapon of the Revolution', and
2. Max for 'If You Can't Be A Shining Example, Be A Dire Warning'

Each has won 4 of our funky leather wristbands for their friends.

Thanks to everyone who took part - you had us laughing and inspired way more than we imagined at the start - and if you were keeping one or two up your sleeve, we're keeping the weekly part of the competition open for another 2 weeks.

We're off to Melbourne to take part in the Melbourne Design Market on Sunday, July 11th.

Held twice a year the market, this event makes for a significant launching pad for new ideas and products all offered within a vibrant market atmosphere.

Opening Times:
Sun July 11: 10am to 5pm

This year's markets will be held at Federaton Square in the Underground Car Park

Map

Add to your air of mystery with this exotic jewellery inspired by the Tales of 1001 Nights.

The bold and intoxicating women's neckpiece is bright and fun with cascading gold chain and ornate red topaz droplets which sparkle as they reflect the light around you.

The topaz earrings pair with the topaz neckpiece perfectly and together they are something special.

Both are currnetly available in our Latest Range

Had a fantastic time at Finders Keepers in Brisbane last weekend - the Old Museum was a beautiful space for a designer market. Below are a couple of great photos from the weekend by Mark Lobo - nice guy and terrific photograper...

Mark's photography can be seen at www.marklobo.com.au

Selling well at the designer market in Brisbane on the weekend was the Sci-Fi Bronze Necklace with Topaz Crystal - a stunning piece when paired with the right dress...

Our favourite quote this week is from Andie with:

"Let Music Be The Weapon of the Revolution"

A cool way to say that there are more powerful ways to move people than with guns. Reminds us a bit of Bob Marley's well known quote - "When the Music Hits You Feel No Pain".

So now we're at the business end of the competition - there's 1 week to go and only 1 more chance to win one of our cool leather wristbands.

Get Cracking! : )

We've been known to produce single feather earrings from exotic birds before but don't think we'll be adding this particular feather to our range in the near future.

The ABC reported today that a feather from the extinct New Zealand huia bird sold for $6470 - check out the full story here:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/photos/2010/06/23/2934340.htm

Now that would make for a very expensive feather earrings : )

Great quotes again to round out Week 2 of our Leather Wristband Competition - so please feel free to get the creative juices flowing and enter again in Week 3.

This week's prize goes to Wendy for the quote:

"Don't Cry Because It's Over - Smile Because It Happened"

This saying is often attached to Dr Suess but the stannard-inc team dug around a little and found it is an old proverb with no known author.

So... Week 3 of the competition is underway and there are now 2 more chances to win one of our cool leather wristbands - if you haven't already entered, what are you waiting for?

We're loving the quotes that are coming in and while there have been a few minor disputes over which is the best, we're excited to announce that the winning quote for the first week is:

"Happiness Is Having A Scratch For Every Itch" sent in by Rebecca.

The quote comes from "Word Power" and is by Ogden Nash, an American poet.

Week 2 of the competition is underway and 3 more chances to win one of our cool leather wristbands - if you haven't already entered, now's the time to get going!

Barbarella & Swan, Port Douglas' latest fashion boutique has just opened at Portico.

Barbarella & Swan will be stocking unique fashion items including Australian Made Designer labels Mackenzie Mode, Jiva, Sarah-Jane, Surfaceart, Yoshi Jones and Kelda-Leigh, also Australian designed and made fashion jewellery by Polli and, of course, stannard-inc.

It's not easy coming up with witticisms that are good enough to become a permanent feature of our leather wristbands.

Given the enthusiasm everyone has in coming up with your own sayings for our personalised leather wristbands, we thought we'd let you, our customers & friends get your creative juices flowing in a bid to win $450 worth of jewellery/accessories, and the potential to have your saying feature on our Leather Wristbands in the future...

Competition Dates:

Mon June 7th to
Midnight July 4th

The competition is open to everyone that has access to the internet - that means you so don't be shy, Enter the Leather Wristband Competition here...

How to Enter

Simply browse to the main competition page and enter your name, email address, the quote you'd like to enter, and the story behind it

• There are no prizes for originality - don't let this discourage you but if you fancy entering a sensational quote from a song, poem, famous speech, please go right ahead - the prize is for the best quote, not the best 'original' quote
• Your quote should be in English - not because we aren't talented polylinguists but simply because 99.9% of our customers are native english speakers - so the quote will make more sense to them - and therefore be commercially viable for us, if it's in english
• Quotes must be in capitals and need to be alpha numeric, that is: 0-9 or A-Z.
• 80 Characters max (the wristwraps are designed to wrap around the wrist 2-3 times)

Do's & Don'ts of Your Submission

• DO submit a funny, philosophical or otherwise life-changing quote
• DO post each week - there are multiple chances to win so why not take advantage of them?
• DON'T submit a quote that is sexist/racist/age-ist/pornographic, etc - you get the drift. while we aren't against sex, racing, aging, etc.., we'd prefer you kept anything that is aimed to be offensive out of the competition, and submitted it to an audience on another site that will appreciate it.
• DON'T email us to see how you're going or ask why you didn't win - it's really poor form!

The Story Behind Your Quote

• If the quote is original, please tell us how you came up with it - is it an in-joke with your friends or some wisdom passed on to you by a grandparent?
• If it is not original, please tell us who said/sang/wrote it and where it appears (which song, poem/speech) so we can attribute it correctly.
• Also, you agree that by submitting a quote to the competition that it becomes part of the public domain - that is; you don't own it, we don't own it, and if someone (you, us, them), gets rich in 5yrs by putting it on a t-shirt, you won't send them a love letter from your lawyer.

How Often Can Entries Be Made

• Everyone may enter once per week

Prizes

• We will send a weekly email with details of the week's winner and a quick prompt to remind you to re-enter the contest if you'd like to.
• At the end of each week, the stannard-inc team's favourite quote submitter will receive a wristwrap with their quote
• At the end of the 4 weeks, there will be 4 winners from which the team at stannard-inc will choose the overall competition winner
• The competition winner will win a wristwrap for 4 of their friends?

Last But Not Least

stannard-inc also reserves the right to make the final decision as to who wins each week, and who wins the overall competition. Note. none of us have worked in government at any level and we are not open to bribes, deals, or any other under-the-table dealings (we are willing, however, to consider these outside the comp).

Surgical or Stainless Steel Jewellery doesn't oxidise, rust or tarnish and is hypoallergenic although not currently certified as such

Stainless Steel Accessories don't require much in the way care but do benefit from an occasional wash in warm water to remove any dirt build up.

Remember to dry thoroughly before storing for extended periods of time.

Apart from that, the general rule of thumb is to keep all steel accessories away from chemicals - perfume and hair sprays can cause damage and discolouration.

For people with sensitive skin where even sterling silver causes reactions, stainless steel is the perfect replacement - and of course, it's much cheaper : )

Heading to Brisbane to attend the Finders Keepers Markets from June 26-27.

Finders Keepers has pulled off some sensational designer markets for emerging designers for a few years now so we're totally excited to be part of the Brisbane market this year!

This bi-annual event showcases the work of emerging designers and artists from around Australia, and occasionally, New Zealand!

With a passion for bringing independent design to the forefront and encouraging the Australian emerging art & design scene, the FK team have created markets that maintain a grass roots level but still have work of very high standards.

If you have never been to one of their events you are in for quite a treat, like no other event in Australia the markets have a festival feel with live music, cafe & bar with thousands of people celebrating independent art & design. Best of all, the events will always be FREE and everyone from all walks of life are invited to join in...

Opening Times:
Sat June 26: 11am to 6pm
Sun June 27: 11am to 6pm

This year's markets will be held at The Old Museum

Cnr Bowen Bridge Rd & Gregory Terrace in Herston

Map

Fatboye group, stockists of stannard-inc jewellery & accessories has opened it's second store at Bondi Beach in Sydney. The girls have a great eye for fashion so next time you''re in the area, it's definately worth a look...

They've also thrown some funky vids up on their youtube channel...

stannard-inc's Bronze Jewellery is made using White Bronze which is an alloy of Copper, Tin & Zinc. Each bronze piece is unique. It is first handmade in wax & then cast. It is then cleaned up (sanded & polished), and finally hand-coloured. Polish with steel wool (provided with order)

Bronze Accessories tarnish slower than silver but the chemicals in perfume and some hairsprays will speed up the process of tarnishing.

While bronze can get wet and should be washed intermittently in warm water to remove any dirt build up, avoid wearing your bronce jewellery in when swimming in chlorinated pools or salt water.

Polish occasionally and lightly with steel wool to increase the sheen.

Black bronze Jewelry

While stannard-inc does not design black bronze accessories currently, should you need to know how to care for black bronze, the process is similar to that of white bronzel. Over time the black color will wear away slightly to reveal the warm color of bronze underneath. A patina then forms on the surface as is normal with bronze. If you prefer the deep black colour, the bronze can be re-coloured black.

Occasionally we find a new online toy that makes us laugh and this is one of them...

Uniqlo have brought out a movie about anything!  Click on the link below to see a mini-movie about what people are saying about stannard-inc on Twitter!!!  If you're a Twitter fan, tweet us with love!!!

http://www.uniqlo.com/utweet/#/search/stannardinc

Our Handmade Feather Earrings and Feather Necklaces are delicate and need to be treated gently as they can become flattened or slightly ripped during storage and travel.

Our Feather Jewellery and other feather accessories using Peacock or Pheasant Feathers can be rejuvenated after prolonged wear 'n tear by following these steps:

1. Blowdry or dust lightly to remove any dust build-up
2. Use a slightly damp cloth to wipe the feathers gently - Always wipe in the direction of the feather growth to maintain the shape of the feather
3. Use a soft dry toothbrush to comb your feathers to maintain their proper shape
4. If the feathers have lost their shape, when you make a cup of coffee/tea in the morning, hold aside any silver or leather and gently wave the feather/s over the kettle and the steam will fluff up the feathers again. Use your fingers to bring the feather back to shape if necessary
5. If you need to store your feather jewellery, store the piece loosely and with mothballs or similar pest deterrent.
6. Dyed Feathers (as evidenced by bright colours), should not get wet as this will cause the colour to run.

Time to welcome in stannard-inc's new website with a bang!

We're so excited at how it's all looking that we're offering 20% off all men's and women's accessories for the next 60 days - simply use the discount code "blast off" during checkout to take advantage of the offer.

We have a great competition coming up to get everyone's creative juices flowing - stay tuned for word on how you can participate and win fame and fortune : )

Just in time for our website re-launch, claire's emerged from her workshop with 2 beautiful new styles of feather earrings to add to our feather accessories collection.

The Guinea Fowl Feather Earrings are just stunning with shades of iridescent green, burnt orange & brown.

Swarovski crystals and Oxidised Snake chain round out this new style.

The guinea fowl feather earrings retail for $110 - which can be reduced to $88 during checkout using our current promo code 'blast off'.

Introducing a single-earring style (ie. not a pair), the single swarovski crystal and feather earring is a true statement piece.

With a combination of subtle honey/fawn-toned & iridescent green feathers, as well as swarovski crystals, this seductive single feather earring retails for $80.

Both styles of feather earrings are available now from stannard-inc's online store.

Claire has just finished creating 2 new leather belts to add to our range of leather accessories.

The first is a military-style double-buckled leather belt.

Made from Black rough buck suede, the belt also sports brass hardware to add to the military look.

The military leather belt retails for $89 - which you can reduce to $71 during checkout using our current promo code 'blast off'.

Claire's second belt is a brass and leather belt that doubles as a neckwrap.

Created using hand-stitched leather and burnished brass rings, this belt come neckwrap retails for $80.

Both belts are available now from stannard-inc's online store.

Fatboye Group, a boutique retailer of new designers and artists has just opened their store at the Arthouse Hotel in Pitt St, Sydney and is stocking stannard-inc accessories.