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Has the black come out of the letters in your hand-stamped jewellery? Here's some quick and easy rejuvenation tips. 1. Get yourself a black Sharpie permanent marker ('industrial' is best, but regular will do just fine) 
2. Colour in the stamped areas of your pendant, making sure to get right down into the grooves 
3. Get yourself some nail polish remover and a soft cloth or tissue (something non-abrasive so you don't scratch your jewellery) 
4. Put a small amount of nail polish remover on cloth and begin wiping gently across jewellery. Do not rub in or oversoak cloth, as you will remove the black out of the letters along with the excess black and have to start again. 
5. Voila! You're back in black! Polish off any excess residue with a dry soft polishing cloth. Treated polishing pads can be purchased from You Name It for $2 + P&H. To order, please email Bree at thehardings@mcmedia.com.au 
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I have fallen in love. With someone that's strong, someone I'm not allergic to, someone who won't ever change, someone who shines! That 'someone' is stainless steel. Stainless steel is rocking my world and kicking sterling silver's butt. Why? It's stronger, thicker, more durable, it won't bend easily. It's scratch-free (comes to me with a protective cover) and it won't discolour, rust or tarnish over time, like sterling silver will. Why else would watchmakers choose to use it in their craft? It's hypo-allergenic, so safe for all skin types, yet just as shiny as sterling silver. It's also available in many fun shapes like square washers, moon shapes and solid four-sided bars, as well as our regular round disk sizes. But the best part about it is that it's cheaper! You can get a stainless steel pendant stamped for just $12 and it will last a lifetime. Because of this, I've decided I'm no longer going to offer as much variety in the sterling silver range. Ever since I've been stamping, sterling blanks have arrived to me covered in minute little scratches. Although they're insignificant and would occur with just a few days' wear anyway, it's still not ideal for a brand-new item. If this is also a concern for you, I strongly suggest you choose stainless over sterling. I promise you won't be disappointed. And you'll save yourself a few dollars, too. It's a win-win situation! To order, please email Bree at thehardings@mcmedia.com.au 
Wow! I have been so overwhelmed with all your support lately. My Facebook page reached 2000 likers a while ago now, but with that came lots more work. And because of that, I am only just getting around to running a special event to celebrate and to thank you all. Here's what I'm going to do. I have a SALE album on my Facebook page. It has lots of pre-made, ready-to-ship hand-stamped creations and other lovely jewellery in it that is already below normal prices, some drastically reduced! From now, if you buy one thing from this album, you can have another item from the same album for FREE (of equal or lesser value) . If you buy four items, you will be charged the two highest prices, if you buy six you will be charged the three highest prices and so on. Postage can be combined. I can fit between four and six items in a parcel, depending on what the items are. Also to celebrate, everyone who comments on this blog post or stops by my You Name It Facebook page to say 'hi' will get an entry into a draw to win one of two stainless steel square washers with heart charm on chain, pictured below. And anyone who places an order between now and November 15 - which also happens to be our cut-off date for sterling silver and gold-fill Christmas orders - will get an extra entry. Everyone who has ordered this week has been placed in the draw already. Winner will be drawn mid to late November. Thank y I hope to hear from you all soon. Good luck! Bree :) 
Did somebody say Father's Day? Yep, it's already time to start thinking about it. Father's Day orders will close early August for sterling silver and gold-fill pieces (and some uncommon costume designs) and mid to late August for our most common dress jewellery pieces. Are you stuck for an idea of what to get your father or your children's dad? Here are some ideas. 
Clockwise from top left: Double disk keyring $20 in dress silver, $43 in sterling silver; Bookmark with one stamped disk and one charm $15; foot-shaped bottle opener keyring on special for $10 - comes in a variety of colours, not just red; double disk keyring with charm $23 in dress silver, $46 in sterling silver; wine glass marker $5 in dress silver, on special for $15 in sterling silver; guitar pic leather necklace with charm $15 in dress silver, $26 in sterling silver; mini dog tags $9 each in dress silver or $20 each in sterling silver - chain additiona; singled disk keyring with charm $15 in dress silver, $26 in sterling; (centre) aluminium business card holder $10. All prices exclusive of postage. Postage and handling costs $2 for regular AP delivery or $5 for registered post.
Thank you to everyone who entered our giveaway (by ordering or offering a website testimonial). June was a pretty quiet month (just like last year), despite the prize on offer, so if you took part in our competition, the odds were pretty good. Your names were all written on card and placed in a box.  I then had my two oldest boys draw a winner before they went to bed tonight (I've been meaning to do it all week, but every time I remembered I needed to draw a winner, the boys were already in bed snoring their sweet little heads off). One (my 3YO) held the box, while my four-year-old drew one card.  That card happened to have your name on it, Tracey Chadwick.  You have won this (you get to choose the wording, of course). And I'm going to post it for free, too.  Sorry to everyone who missed out. If my 19-month-old had his way, you'd all be winners. He pulled all your names out once his big brothers had ditched the box.  Thanks everyone for your support.
Stay tuned for the next giveaway - maybe at 2000 likers... -Bree :) Would you like to win yourself one of these? 
There are a few ways you can get your name in the draw.
Here they are: 1. Order and pay for something in June (2012) and you will automatically be entered in the draw. 2. If you're a past customer, you can email me a review to be included on the Testimonials page of this website. First names only will be published, along with your town. This will get you an entry into the draw. 3. Refer your friends to You Name It's Facebook page, tell them to post a message on the timeline telling us you sent them. Everyone who refers at least one person will be entered into the draw. One entry per person per entry method. If you participate in all three entry methods (order in June, write a review and refer a friend), you will get three entries into the draw. Prize is valued at $17 and includes 1 x dress silver large washer, stamped with your wording, with charm of your choice, on silver-plated chain or keyring, and standard postage Australia-wide. Competition closes midnight (AEST) June 30, 2012 and is open to Australian residents only. Entrants' names will be written on individual pieces of card, placed in a box and one of my children will draw the winner early in July. Good luck!! Bree :) If you took a piece of jewellery to be engraved it would cost you about $25 or more, just for the engraving.
At You Name It, you can buy the whole blank in STAINLESS STEEL or PREMIUM STAINLESS STEEL and have it hand-stamped for less. I enjoy stamping metal. A lot. And that's why with some pieces the profit I make is only a few dollars (for quite a bit of work). I keep my prices low to make hand-stamped jewellery accessible to all. So while our jewellery is excellent quality, it's not 'fine' jewellery and I think our prices well and truly reflect that. Hand-stamping itself is in my opinion, an imperfectly perfect art form. Each letter is lined up by eye and stamped individually by hand, making your piece one-of-a-kind and oozing character. Some are a little wonky and uneven, some don't impress fully. Thus, our 'imperfectly perfect' slogan. I ask that anyone not comfortable ordering after reading this strongly considers looking into increasing their budget to purchase their jewellery from a jeweller and then take that piece to be engraved by machine as hand-stamping is probably not the right choice for you. This is my hobby, my craft and I see my pieces as art over jewellery. - Bree :) There are many things I love about stamping metal. Obviously the pocket money comes in handy and the creative outlet is a lifesaver. Both are things I need being mum to three busy boys aged four and under. There's one thing I love even more than both those things though... every time new stock arrives, I need samples to put up online, so I get to make myself new jewellery often! Check out what I made myself tonight: A chunky 'Tiffany'-style silver-plated fob necklace with sterling silver single clad stamped disk (copper on back - supplier says stampable both sides, but the stamping from each side did show through a little on the opposite side). The single clad disks are quite chunky and weighty, about double the thickness of most of our other blanks. And I also made a matching silver-plated fob bracelet with sterling silver small Tiffany-style heart. I love them! Until the next lot of new stock arrives anyway... 
I have been meaning to get around to running this competition since we cracked 1500 likers on Facebook a few weeks back, but I have been SWAMPED with Christmas orders ... thank you all for your awesome support, by the way. Tonight I'm making time for it because I looked at the calendar today and saw Christmas is just five weeks away. So, this giveaway is not only to celebrate 1500 lovely likes, but the festive season and my brand new website too! I'm giving away 15 prizes! One for every 100 likers, the odds of winning are not too bad at all. The major prize is a sterling silver washer pendant (pictured below) stamped with your wording, on a sterling silver chain (may differ to style pictured) and includes free standard postage. Prize value is $42. The other 14 prizes will be pendant jewellery or items from our 'on sale' album, each valued at $5 to $20. The best part about this competition is that if you've purchased from me in the past, you are automatically entered into the prize draw for the major prize. If not, you still have a couple of weeks to order! For the remaining 14 prizes, every single one of my likers will be automatically entered. If you are not on Facebook and would like a chance to win, please email me at thehardings@mcmedia.com.au to express your interest. Past customers also have the chance to gain an extra entry in the draw by emailing me a 'review' to include on a 'testimonials' page that I hope to introduce on my website soon. Facebook recently removed the 'reviews' tab and I lost all the wonderful raps you guys gave me there :( The competition will be drawn at the beginning of December and prizes posted shortly after so winners can receive their You Name It goodies in time for Christmas. Now, I'm off to catch some much needed ZZZZs ... yay, first night before midnight in a month! Take care, Bree x 
Do you remember me saying a few months back I took my stamping kit to work? Well, that was to create an entry into an award that was presented at the weekend. And we won gold for it! I work a couple of days a week at a printing company, Willprint Shepparton. For two years running, our production manager Marshall has worked his absolute butt off to get us our Level 2 Sustainable Green Print (SGP) accreditation and drastically reduced the environmental footprint our printshop leaves. This is no mean feat, the judging to gain accreditation is tough and the work to fit the criteria is tougher. Marshall wanted to enter us in the annual PICA (Printing Industries Craftsmanship Awards) in the Environmental category award. He enlisted my help to write and help present an entry into it, so we came up with the idea to present it on a bunch of recycled printing equipment ... old parts of presses, matrix, plates, pallets, bindery wire and so on. We exposed the written part of our entry onto a printing plate and then cut down old metal printing plates, which I stamped subheads onto and then screwed in their places. Check out how it looked below. The judges' comments included this: "The entry not only conveys the efforts undertaken to reduce the company's environmental footprint, but - just as importantly - uses an interesting and innovative approach to communicate its successes, which will engage both industry and non-industry people," Tony Duncan. To win this award means an awful lot to all involved. Our little printing place of less than 20 employees was up against companies that have 1000 staff and print things like Australia Post stamps and Prime Minister's dinner invitations. For us to even be considered in a field like that is amazing. It just goes to show even the littlest lion can roar. Check out: www.picavic.com.au for information on the awards www.printnet.com.au for information on SGP www.willprintshepparton.com.au for all your printing needs! The awards night was held at the Grand Ballroom, Hotel Sofitel, Melbourn 
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