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Archives for June 2018

On Tolkien and Trillium

June 15, 2018 · 6 Comments

This year’s Mossflower Collection has been a blessing to me in so many ways. Over the past several months, I have intentionally shifted the way in which I approach this work. I have begun to allow myself to wander within every idea, every theme, every collection. Rather than constraining myself, I move where called and attempt to manifest what comes to me in silver and stone. Every year I return to the Mossflower Collection, pieces based around springtime and prehnite. It is a joyous thing to so love that season and that stone, otherwise the work would be dull. But every year I sing out green, trilling music and swing my hammers merrily to create this collection. I think I could work within this space for many happy years, with all its thorny rutiles and leaf print.

But this year, I allowed myself to really meander through its creation. I allowed myself to test ripe looking ideas in the hedgerows and climb up to the tall branches to pluck a perfect design that I inexplicably missed for so long. I pulled words and images from the present and allowed those weeks, days, moments spent within the work to imprint themselves on this collection.

In April, around the time when I first laid open my sketchbook and pushed prehnite gemstones around the pages, I also took The Silmarillion down from the shelf. I don’t know what drew me to it, but it felt like the right time. As I read, I breathed in Tolkien’s words and exhaled designs. With every page, parts of the collection took shape in the periphery.

It baffles me how one writer could create something so beautiful. I could actually hear every sentence spoken by an ageless bard in the hall of a great king, recounting the history of a people, a country, a world. There were points in the reading where I had to close the book, close my eyes, and sit with the vision laid before me: the conjuring of plants and animals in Arda, the light of Telperion and Laurelin charioted in the sky, the awakening of the elves, the birth of Luthien. These were the images in my mind as I was bending metal and setting gemstones, it is no wonder they found their way into the work.

With springtime crackling and shimmering outside my studio window, I couldn’t keep from joining in the chorus a bit, even though I was giddy with enthusiasm and ideas for the collection and had such a limited time to do studio work. (What a joyous life it would be to have an open-air smithing studio set in a forest or an unruly garden! I would never leave it.)

And so I would take breaks to pluck lilacs from my neighbors underappreciated hedge or watch the mother grackle flitting to and fro from her babies, endlessly bringing food. But one day, my fella asked for an evening away from the bench, to take me to what he called “the most beautiful, magnificent place” he had ever seen. And so I grabbed my camera and a sketchbook and we drove out of town to a secret hollow. After bumping along a dirt road and getting just a little bit lost, we got to the place, which didn’t look like much of a place, that is… until he pointed; there above us was a forested ridge blanketed with thousands of white trilliums. These regal flowers only bloom for a very short time and are quickly gobbled up by roving deer, so it is a rare thing indeed to see so many in one place.

We were both in awe of it all. It was a though we had stumbled into Tolkien. I was breathless with the timing of it all. We were in Beleriand, and Luthien had just been born:

“And at the end of the first age of the Chaining of Melkor, when all the Earth had peace and the glory of Valinor was at its noon, there came into the world Lúthien, the only child of Thingol and Melian. Though Middle-earth lay for the most part in the Sleep of Yavanna, in Beleriand under the power of Melian there was life and joy, and the bright stars shone as silver fires; and there in the forest of Neldoreth Lúthien was born, and the white flowers of niphredil came forth to greet her as stars from the earth.”
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The Silmarillion, Of the Sindar

It was getting late, and the pure white flowers did indeed look “as stars from the earth” set against the darkening forest floor. As my fella knelt down to identify interesting flowers and gently lift them to smell, he reminded me of Yavanna, whispering to the plants in a quiet, secret language and appreciating every bud, leaf, and tendril. And I could then see in myself Yavanna’s counterpart, Aule, the smith-god who shapes metal and stone into artful, beautiful objects. Aule, who is ever pressing forward in kinetic creation, pulling structure out of silver and firmly setting stones. My fella’s life is comprised of the slow stretch of shoot and vine, and mine of the sudden crack of flame and metal.

Tolkein and springtime, trilliums and my love, it all can be found under every stone and woven into every chain of this collection. I let life and art flow through me and into this work, and I feel it is the better for it. I cannot wait to see what inspiration summertime holds, I am open to it all.

And I am so glad you are with me for it.

Filed In: Inspiration / Tagged: art, artisan, artist, artists, creative process, foraging, forest, hiking, inspiration, metalsmith, metalsmithing, moonspinner, naturalist, nature, photography

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💜 I kept a pair of these for myself, and it fee 💜 I kept a pair of these for myself, and it feels perfectly right that they wanted to wait until it was a bit more summery. 

☀️ They drink the sunshine and brush bare shoulders, perfect for long summer days. 

🌸 Keep an eye out for more of these and one other amethyst earring design! I couldn't finish them in time for the amethyst release, but they are finished now and begging to be plucked. As soon as we are settled, I promise! 
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#uniquejewelry #artisanjewelry #heytheremaker #makersvillage  #ardentfinds 
#handmadejewelry #bespokejewelry #persuepretty  #modernmaker #justmyart  #jewelrywithintention  #everydayjewelry #craftsposure #mainemade #thatsdarling #meetthemaker  #shopsmall #seekinspirecreate #inherstudio #handmaderings #femalemade #womenwhocreate #standwithsmall #cottagecoreaesthetic
🌿 The shop is officially shuttered and the sign 🌿 The shop is officially shuttered and the sign on the door reads "Back in 5" while we move house. 

🌲 Three days from now we will be tucked in a cabin up north, and I will be dreaming up new designs for you.

💌 All orders placed during the sale will ship over the next day or two. Thank you, my sweet friends, for keeping food in my kitties bowls and the lights on here at Moonspinner Headquarters. You are just the peachiest!
🌟 Sale ends tonight, sweet friends! 🌟 - - - 🌟 Sale ends tonight, sweet friends! 🌟

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#uniquejewelry #artisanjewelry #heytheremaker #makersvillage  #ardentfinds 
#handmadejewelry #bespokejewelry #persuepretty  #modernmaker #justmyart  #jewelrywithintention  #everydayjewelry #craftsposure #mainemade #thatsdarling #meetthemaker  #shopsmall #seekinspirecreate #inherstudio #handmaderings #femalemade #womenwhocreate #standwithsmall #cottagecoreaesthetic
D R Y A D L E A F E A R J A C K E T S 💫 Per D R Y A D  L E A F  E A R  J A C K E T S

💫 Perhaps my very favorite design I have ever created. 

🌟 Leaves sung into silver and prehnite gemstones made of the first spring leaves. 

✨ Made for dryads stepping out of ancient oaks.

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#uniquejewelry #artisanjewelry #heytheremaker #makersvillage  #ardentfinds 
#handmadejewelry #bespokejewelry #persuepretty  #modernmaker #justmyart  #jewelrywithintention  #everydayjewelry #craftsposure #mainemade #thatsdarling #meetthemaker  #shopsmall #seekinspirecreate #inherstudio #handmaderings #femalemade #womenwhocreate #standwithsmall #cottagecoreaesthetic
🌟 Heads up! My Spring Cleaning 25% Off sale end 🌟 Heads up! My Spring Cleaning 25% Off sale ends Thursday. 💫

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#uniquejewelry #artisanjewelry #heytheremaker #makersvillage  #ardentfinds 
#handmadejewelry #bespokejewelry #persuepretty  #modernmaker #justmyart  #jewelrywithintention  #everydayjewelry #craftsposure #mainemade #thatsdarling #meetthemaker  #shopsmall #seekinspirecreate #inherstudio #handmaderings #femalemade #womenwhocreate #standwithsmall #cottagecoreaesthetic
🌟 Just a reminder that the 25% sale will end in 🌟 Just a reminder that the 25% sale will end in a few days, and then I will be buttoning up my shop so we can settle into our summer place!

🌟 Cheers to everyone who has stopped by the sale so far! I am so pleased that so many of you have been able to pluck some pieces you’ve had your eye on for a while.

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#amethystjewelry#amethyst#amethystring#amethystcrystal#crystaljewelry#crystals#handmadejewelry#handcraftedjewelry#witchyjewelry#witchy#witchyvibes#witchythings#handmadering#sterlingsilverjewelry#jewelrymaking#bohojewelry#instasmithy#seekinspirecreate#femalemade#womenwhocreate#cottagecoreaesthetic#everydayjewelry#jewelrywithintention
🌟 Cheers to everyone who has caught my spring c 🌟 Cheers to everyone who has caught my spring cleaning sale so far! 🌟

It is such a joy seeing past designs being plucked, like they were waiting for their intendeds all this time. And soon all of those claimed pieces will find their people: owls will fly off to the post, tiny icicles will form below ears, lucky feathers will settle around necks, and last year's violets will bloom atop hands. 

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#amethyst#springfashion#handmadering#sterlingsilverjewelry#jewelrymaking#bohojewelry#instasmithy#seekinspirecreate#femalemade#womenwhocreate#cottagecoreaesthetic#jewelrywithintention#everydayjewelry#amethystjewelry#amethystcrystal#springtime#springjewelry
✨🌟 S P R I NG S A L E 🌟✨
 As we pack ✨🌟 S P R I NG  S A L E 🌟✨

As we pack up our home and take endless trips to the summer cabin and our storage unit, I thought “what better time to have a spring cleaning sale?” 

I don’t often do sales, but I am so appreciative of your patronage, and relish the thought of making space for new work on the shelves. And then I can also purchase some yummy gemstones I have been eying for a summer collection for you! (I spent one single morning with my sketchbook, and now this summer is looking quite foxy.) 

🌟 The sale includes all my older designs, as well as pieces from Part I of the Violet Linings Collection from last summer. 

🌟 No need for a code! Everything that is included in the sale is already marked down. 

🌟 My shop will be open for a few days, and then I will put it on pause while we get settled. When it reopens, the sale will be finished and we will be back to our regularly scheduled programming. 

Cheers!
🌟 Life Update 🌟 We are in the process of mo 🌟 Life Update 🌟

We are in the process of moving house, so life is rather akilter at the moment! 

Our 9-month lease ends this month and doesn’t pick back up until September, so we decided to spend the summer at a cabin in northern Maine. My fella is taking a much deserved summer off to spend his days hiking, making wood-fired pizzas, fishing, reading on a sunshiny deck, mountain biking, all the best woodsy things. I am bringing my studio with me, so I will be spinning silver for you all summer!

I will be taking things a bit slower than usual, days spent reading my back-log, and sipping coffee, and napping with the cats, and taking pictures of funny mushrooms, all the usual things. 

The shop will stay open for as long as I can tuck orders in the mail, I will give you a heads up if I have to put it on pause. 

I still have two lilting earrings designs to share with you that are just about finished, so keep an eye out for that!

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#uniquejewelry #artisanjewelry #bohemianjewelry #prettylittlethings #etsyhandmade #heytheremaker #ladysmith #makersvillage #instasmithy #silversmith #crystaljewelry #ardentfinds #bohoinspo #modernmaker #justmyart #madewithlove #jewelrywithintention #standwithsmall #everydayjewelry #etsyjewelry #seekinspirecreate #inherstudio #handmaderings #amethystjewelry #springjewelry #springtimejewelry #springtime #cottagecore #cottagecoreaesthetic
Packing up your orders is always such a lovely tim Packing up your orders is always such a lovely time for me. 

I get to greet familiar names, and many new ones. Often I can remember what pieces from past collections these familiar names had caught. I can imagine their growing collections of my work, the specific-to-them pieces that called to them from my studio. 

I imagine personalities based around the pieces claimed. “I bet she puts her hand on the bark of every tree she passes.” “They would totally have a pet crow named Copernicus.” “She probably wears all my pieces at once, like beautiful, feminine armor.” 

You, my sweet friends, are the best.
Our sweet, little, dorky menace, Finn. ✨ Our sweet, little, dorky menace, Finn. ✨
Everything is in the mail, sweet friends! If you p Everything is in the mail, sweet friends! If you placed an order, your violet should be winging its way to you as we speak! ✨💜
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