Ah, the best laid plans. Thanks to circumstances beyond my control, I’m forced to skip our June Sparkle Squad shipment. If you are a subscriber, and you missed the email I sent a few days ago, read on to learn what’s up.

There are lots of moving parts involved in creating and executing a subscription service, and in order to do so, two different software programs are used to manage the subscriptions and schedule the recurring billing. This specialty software is complicated as well as costly. It also must be accessible, both for myself as well as my customers. I’ve just been notified that one of the companies responsible for the subscriptions platform has been purchased by another company, which is located outside the US. Business owners were assured that no changes to the software will occur, at least, with respect to functionality, however, they went on to say that the business owners in the United States (that would be me) will be required to pay a 20% VAT tax, which is applied to almost all international transactions. This means a substantial increase in the price of the software, on top of what is already quite expensive, as mentioned.

Also, since there is no way for me to know yet whether or not the software will continue to be accessible to people who use a screen reader, I have decided to suspend the Sparkle Squad subscription service until I can be comfortable with the potential changes to the system. It is not a good sign that the software developer I was working with for technical support has ceased to respond to my inquiries. Of course, screen reader accessibility is critical for both myself and for my subscribers, and with no assurances of ongoing support, my only option is to wait and see.

What this means to you:

For now, I will skip our June shipments. I must be able to trust that the execution of all the tasks required to run the subscription service works flawlessly. If I am satisfied with the support available to web site administrators (me) that the program continues to be accessible and functional, then we will resume in the fall, and ship as scheduled in September. I plan to deactivate the subscription software, and suspend your subscription. You may receive an auto-generated notification as to this affect. If you like, you are welcome to log in to your account and manage your subscription yourself, or cancel it altogether if you prefer, and I will notify you if and when the Sparkle Squad continues. Until then, I will retain your shipping information and preferences.

As I said, it’s all very complicated, but I always have the best interests of my customers in mind as I seek to provide an efficient and enjoyable shopping experience. I hope to resume the Sparkle Squad service soon. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write or call. I appreciate your business, and I am incredibly grateful for your trust and support. I will keep you posted on my progress with the new software.

As ever, Sparkle On!

Laura

In previous Sparkle On blog posts, I’ve mentioned that one aspect of the Sparkle Squad subscription that I’ve enjoyed is the ways in which I can test products and receive feedback from subscribers. Several of my ideas have been solidified, improved, or rejected based upon the response from subscribers. For the March Sparkle Squad box, we prototyped an item that has been requested by Elegant Insights customers for years, but I’ve been reluctant to add the item to our inventory. You may recall in my previous Sparkle On blog post, I expressed a similar sentiment about offering pins.

Several times over the years, I’m asked if I offer rings. The answer has always been no, along with an emphatic, “nor will we.” The reasons I’ve been uninterested in carrying rings is twofold. First, the range of sizes I’d have to inventory would be cumbersome. The typical ring size range is from size 5 through 10, each of which would require it’s own stock number and quantity. Second, unless you’re really a ring lover, very few people know their ring size. Perhaps you needed to know it if you had your engagement or wedding ring sized, but that may have been years ago. With ten fingers to choose from, ring sizes vary. Ring sizes may also vary on the same finger on the same hand, for example, if your fingers swell during the warmer months, or if you wear a wide band versus a narrow band ring. Unless you are used to wearing a lot of rings, getting your ring size right can be tricky. Additionally, not everyone has the same taste in what types of jewelry they love best. Some are really into earrings, and love all the styles from dainty to dangly. Others adore bracelets, collect them, and wear them in multiples all the way up their arm. For either of these, there’s really only one size. Even if a necklace or bracelet is a different length or style, you can still wear it. Fit is not an issue. Rings are different,

To me, the only logical solution to the problem was to create an adjustable ring, a “one size fits most” idea that would allow for size variations. I’ve toyed with a few adjustable ring designs over the years, and have never liked any of them. The resulting designs were unsatisfactory, as I wished to avoid the style of adjustable rings that looked like they dropped out of a gumball machine, like those I wore when I was a little girl. Yes, I loved jewelry even then.

The ring included in this month’s Sparkle Squad subscription box is not my design. Cheree, the artist who works for Elegant insights, approached me whit a handful of ring designs she made using a technique called wire wrapping. I’ve seen commercially available as well as handcrafted jewelry made using this technique. There are a few items on the Elegant Insights web site that incorporate wire wrapping, as it is a bit of a specialty for Cheree. She gave me a half-dozen rings, all similar in design but made using a variety of materials, and asked me what I thought of them. My first reaction was to realize that Cheree had come up with a design to make the ring adjustable in a way that looked more sophisticated than the gumball machine rings of my childhood. I loved the result, suggested a few tweaks, showed the rings around, wore them for awhile, and decided to give the design a try. So, Sparkle Squad subscribers, you are my test subjects.

The Sparkle Dots box:

Your ring is crafted of shiny stainless steel, which is hypo-allergenic and tarnish free. Several of my subscribers have metal sensitivities, so I thought this first effort should be nickel-free, surgical steel. The ring is called a bypass style, which means that as the ring wraps around, instead of the two ends meeting to close the circle, they bypass each other across the top of the finger, like two cars going in opposite directions on the highway. In other words, the ends overlap, or bypass, each other. On one end, there is an open heart, and the ring is embellished with a genuine white freshwater pearl.

You can adjust the ring to fit by gently pulling the ring ends apart to expand the diameter of the band, or you can squeeze the ring together for smaller fingers. The ring is not meant to fit the very smallest or very largest finger size, but the adjustability aspect should work well for those in the average ring size range from 6 to 8.

The Essential Elegance box:

Essential Elegance subscribers also received the pearl ring, which, by the way, matches the steel and white freshwater pearl bracelet and pearl pendant set you received in your Essential Elegance box last summer. So, now you have a complete suite of silvery steel and pearl jewelry, perfect for a vacation or business trip. Steel does not rust or corrode, and white pearls go with everything.

You also received one of our leather necklaces from our “Hyde and Seek” collection. The braille embossed charm is a brass butterfly, and the necklace secures with an S-hook clasp in the back. The clasp itself is tiny, but the detail is super cute, as you’ll get one with either a leaf design or a heart on each end of the clasp. Just hook the open end of the hook through the closed loop end of the hook, and your necklace will stay connected.

Since wearing a fashion ring means your hands will be in the spotlight, I included a couple of items so that you can nail your nail game. Everyone gets a four-way manicure block, which let’s you clean up rough edges and bring your nails to a high shine, even if you don’t wear polish. The grit on each side of the block gets increasingly fine, so start with the roughest side to file and shape, then use the subsequent sides to soften the rough edges, smooth out ridges, and buff your nails to a shine. There’s also an emery board you can tuck into your purse or desk drawer so that your pointers will always be on point. We wrapped it all up with soft spring pastel tissue, and tucked your new ring into a little ring box with a bow on top.

As we continue to experiment with ring designs, I’ll incorporate the feedback I get from my Sparkle Squad subscribers, along with trying different metals, such as sterling silver or colored wire. I also have a charm ring idea that will bring in braille for perfect personalization. Want to be part of upcoming design projects? Join the Sparkle Squad! There are two boxes from which to choose, and you’ll get new items first, at better prices than on the web site, and fun freebies each quarter just to keep things interesting. Hope you enjoy this season’s box!

Sparkle on!

Laura

One aspect of the Sparkle Squad subscription that is a bit unusual is that it’s a quarterly subscription, rather than a monthly one. Most of the services to which I’ve subscribed in the past have been delivered every month; a monthly beauty products subscription, coffee of the month club, monthly vegan snack box, and so on. The advantage of a quarterly subscription for us is that we can take the time to consider what the next box should contain, and give us the time to query our subscribers as to what they might like. In previous quarters, we’ve given Sparkle Squad subscribers a choice of items, and it’s been nice to have the time to survey our customers to ascertain their preferences. This time, however, not only was I undecided what I wanted to include a week before the ship date, my idea took a left turn at the last minute. Nothing like the stress of changing one’s mind just prior to the shipping deadline in the midst of the holiday season. Read on for the adventure that is this quarter’s box.

The Sparkle Squad subscription service has enabled me to design items that are not currently available on the Elegant Insights web site, and to develop products based upon subscriber feedback. This season’s item may be one of those products. From time to time over the years, I’ve been asked to create products I have no interest in designing, or, there is not enough demand to justify the expense of creating such a product that may simply languish. This quarter’s Sparkle Squad boxes were inspired by a customer request for a holiday gift for several of the ladies in his life. After finding just the right components, the aforementioned “left turn” took us from my half-baked original idea to what our subscribers ultimately received…A pin.

While infrequent, I have been asked on several occasions to offer pins. I’ve never liked the idea, because to me, the idea of a pin evokes baubles popular in decades past. Think of Victorian jewelry, big gaudy brooches worn by royals, or a grandmother. Creating pins didn’t really fit the Elegant Insights esthetic, until it did. Thanks to stumbling upon the right pinback findings, and the design that we were already working on for the customer, we arrived at an idea for pins that turned out so well we’ve decided to add them to the Elegant Insights inventory.

The Sparkle Dots Box:

Each Sparkle Dots box subscriber will receive 2 of our new bar pin designs, one is a Christmas motif, the other is a winter snowflake theme. The Christmas version is gold tone, with red and green pearl beads, a tiny jingle bell, and dangling enamel holiday charms. If you’ve purchased our Charmed by the Holidays Touch of Celebration Christmas Purse Charm, or received it in a previous Sparkle Squad box, this pin coordinates beautifully.

The second pin is silver tone, and features the components with which you may already be familiar if you’ve purchased any of our existing snowflake items — the Wintersparkle Dangle Earrings, the Sparkling Snowfall Purse Charm, or the Shimmering Snowflurry Sautoir Necklace.

On the winter theme pin, there is a large snowflake charm surrounded by smaller snowflakes, beads and crystals, all dangling from a bar pin embellished with a row of beads and wirework that covers the bar. Both pins are dangle style pins, which is so much more fun and out of the ordinary for a typical tack pin or brooch.

Sparkle Dots box subscribers also receive 2 mystery items, gifts you may have received in a previous box, or which may have been included in the Essential Elegance box from previous quarters. It might be a coin purse, a sachet, a card holder, a hand lotion, or something else. Everyone will receive two items, but they will not be the same two. Hope you enjoy your goodies!

The Essential Elegance Box:

In addition to the 2 pins described above, you’ll also receive a snowflake zipper pull. We used charms and components similar to those we used for all of our winter snowflake jewelry and accessories, and the dangle design of this zipper pull is super cute. We used a different clip this time, giving you a bit more flexibility as to how you might want to use this zipper pull. It’s larger, opens wider, and will fit on purse hardware, jackets, or backpack straps. Finally, Essential Elegance subscribers also receive a package of facial cleansing wipes, perfect for removing makeup, or when you need a quick, refreshing cleanse on the go. No rinsing required. You’ll also get a sample bottle of a retinol face serum and a pretty, embroidered lipstick case.

I will be so interested in the feedback I receive from the Sparkle Squad subscribers as to how they like the pins. With any necessary tweaks or changes, I can see adding a pin in the motif of many of our existing collections, such as the Falling in Leaf, Touch of Americana, or the Suddenly Summer collections.

Sometimes, the best ideas are inspired by my Elegant Insights customers.

I hope you enjoy your Sparkle Squad box, and we’ll be back in Spring with another fun and stylish new year of bling for you. Thank you for reading the Sparkle On blog, for being a subscriber, customer, or social media follower. Wishing everyone a joyful and healthy holiday season and happy new year. Elegant Insights will be closed starting at noon on Friday, December 22nd, and will reopen on Wednesday, January 3rd, 2024.

Warmest wishes,

Laura Legendary, owner
Elegant Insights Braille Creations
To subscribe to the Sparkle Squad quarterly subscription follow this link for more info!

Each quarter, I write a blog post to describe the contents of the Sparkle Squad boxes for my subscribers who have low or no vision. Some of the members like to know in advance what they will receive, others like to be surprised. So, for those who are waiting for a rundown of what you’ll find in this season’s Sparkle Dots or Essential Elegance box, keep reading.

Boo!

Fall brings so many wonderful things, not the least of which are the flavors of the season, such as sweet treats and holiday feasts. Since I could not ship you a complete Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, I tucked in some Halloween candy instead. A turkey just wouldn’t fit. So, hope you enjoy Skittles and caramel apple pops. There’s candy in every box.

Sparkle Dots box subscribers were offered a choice of motif. Last year at this time, I included a jewelry or accessory item perfect for fall. This year, subscribers had a choice of a fall or Halloween theme. If you responded to my outreach, you have a bracelet and coordinating pair of earrings in your preferred motif. If you chose fall, your bracelet and earrings are crafted with bronze metallic beads and crystals, with a leaf charm dangle. If you chose Halloween, your set is made using glittery pumpkin orange beads and crystals, with a Halloween dangle charm. The earrings feature a stainless steel earwire and charms that match your bracelet.

Essential Elegance box subscribers didn’t get a choice, because they received both sets: Two bracelets and two pairs of earrings, both in the autumn and Halloween theme as described above. Wear them together for a fun seasonal look, or keep the Halloween set to wear on fright night.

Plus, since it’s the start of cold and flu season, I thought everyone should have a little bottle of hand sanitizer. The 2 ounce bottles should be enough to get you through the holiday travel and party season. Stay safe out there.

We’re already working on the December Sparkle Squad boxes, and we hope you love your surprises. Not a member? To learn more, read about the Sparkle Squad here.

If you like to check out one of our boxes to help you decide whether or not to subscribe, you can purchase a “one time only” box, in your choice of the Sparkle Dots or Essential Elegance option. Go here:

Shop for the Sparkle Squad one time only box!

Happy fall!

Laura