I am in full book mode right now and have been putting together a list of supplies I need for it. I had a large mixture of items I needed from metal clay to sheet and even a few tools (to replace some of mine that look like they went through a nuclear war!), so while I do purchase supplies from a lot of different vendors, I decided to just place one order through Rio Grande since they pretty much have everything (and the kitchen sink).

Rio Grande is known for having a huge assortment of jewelry making supplies as well as wonderful customer service, but until recently this company was also known for having one of the most user unfriendly sites on the Internet. It used to force you to sign in just to browse, and for whatever reason, my username and password rarely seemed to work. Then navigating was just a nightmare.

While I knew the company had done a major overhaul on its site, I had decided to just call in my order just in case. However, I needed to find out the prices of a few items since they charge according to the metal market that day, and that meant trying the web site again.

Wow! Talk about a night and day difference! I found it so easy to use that I went ahead and ordered directly through the site. The site is now a dream to navigate, and the search feature worked flawlessly.

I know a number of other jewelry designers that were also turned off by the old Rio Grande site, so if that description relates to you, check it out again soon. You will be totally impressed!

And, now, I just wait patiently (yeah right) for my box of jewelry supply goodies to appear at my door…..