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Moonspinner

Artisan Jewelry by Michaela Batstone

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Hand-forged artisan jewelry madein a little metalsmithing studio in Maine.

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Latest from the Blog

North Wind Collection, Part II (Final Preview)

North Wind Collection, Part II (Third Preview)

North Wind Collection, Part II (Second Preview)

North Wind Collection, Part II (First Preview)

North Wind Collection, Part I (Third Preview)

Unless otherwise noted, all images, designs, and writing is property of Michaela Batstone. All rights reserved.

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Sale ends tonight, sweet friends! At the end of to

Sale ends tonight, sweet friends! At the end of today I will end the sale and tuck my shop away on vacation mode until we are settled post-move.

So if you would like to scoop up a piece for 20% off, be sure to pop in before this evening. ✨

A sweet, little summertime moment. 🍃🦋 📷

A sweet, little summertime moment. 🍃🦋

📷 : @kylemartinx

✖️ Life Update ✖️  Apologies for the r

✖️ Life Update ✖️  Apologies for the radio silence, sweet friends! Things have turned upside down for us recently.

When we moved back to Maine right before the pandemic, we decided to stay with family so my fella could write his Ph.D. thesis (because he is restricted to only working part-time until he finishes, per Cornell rules) and I could continue metalsmithing (since I can’t smith in an apartment, with acetylene tanks and whatnot.) We planned to buy a house within a year, and everything would have worked out nicely.

Then, as with so many, the pandemic derailed all our plans and we were trapped in limbo. Laboratories that were sequencing data for him paused their previous work and started being used for Covid-related testing, which meant his thesis stalled for nearly a year. Then the Maine housing market exploded and moved beyond what we could afford.

And now, the house where we have been staying has been sold rather suddenly. So we are in a scramble to find a house to rent (which are shockingly few and far between) before the closing date of July 26.

All of this to say, I am not entirely sure where this leaves the amethyst collection. I don’t know what my smithing situation will look like in in the coming months. Currently, I would be hard-pressed to guess when I would be able to have a collection release. (Sometime in the autumn, I think?)

I am working desperately hard to finish as much benchwork as possible while I can, with the plan to do all the finishing later. I have soooo many beautiful designs to share with you! I made ever so many rings, because I know that those get claimed so quickly. And amethyst is such a special stone, I know there are so many of you who would love to catch a ring.

I hope you will stick with me! I will keep you updated as to my smithing plans. If you are nervous about missing my posts when the amethyst collection is debuting on Instagram, since it might get a little quiet around here (love that algorithm…), you can sign up for my blog newsletter. I will post previews there ahead of time, as always.

My endless thanks for your support over the years, especially now when everything looks so incredibly uncertain. <3

Oh, friends! I had told you this amethyst collecti

Oh, friends! I had told you this amethyst collection was going to be simple and small, featuring only a few handfuls of pieces. Well, I lied.

Not exactly lied, I suppose. But I got carried away and this is turning out to be a big, beautiful, full-on collection.

There will indeed be simple, understated designs. Small gemstones and whisper-thin chains, straightforward designs without too much embellishment.

But then I also made perhaps the biggest, boldest, multi-stone ring I have ever made. Some designs will only have a few pieces available, and other designs will have a few dozen.

I just realized how much gorgeous amethyst I had squirreled away over the past eight years, and now I am in a proper purple haze!

Keep an eye out here because I am going to be sharing designs and asking for ring size requests.

It is looking like this collection will be debuting in either mid-July or mid-August, all depending on how quickly my hands can work!

💜 The next collection will be an amethyst colle

💜 The next collection will be an amethyst collection! 💜

It had been a little while since I have worked with this stone, though it is one of my very favorites.

For this collection, I combed through my gemstone cabinet for the most saturated smooth stones and sparkly faceted ones. Some large, some dainty.

I am keeping the designs quite simple with this offering, for all you who want an understated splash of purple on your ears, neck, and fingers.

What do you think? Do you like amethyst?

Everything is in the mail sweet friends! With the

Everything is in the mail sweet friends!

With the help of my fella and some Australian sitcoms, all your orders got gently tucked in paper and tied with a bow. And they are winging their way to you as we speak!

And wouldn't you believe it, I already am started on my next collection. A simple offering. A small offering, well, small for me.

Any guesses as to the stone the collection will feature??

Through much of the second half of my North Wind c

Through much of the second half of my North Wind collection, I had off and on insomnia. Agonizing difficulty falling asleep, then instantaneously wide-awake at 3:00 a.m. or so. OOPH!

There aren't many positive parts to going through bouts of insomnia. However, this particular sunrise was worth that night of troubled sleep.

Thank you, my sweet friends, for your support of t

Thank you, my sweet friends, for your support of the final North Wind offering! So many familiar names, so many new faces. My heart is full!

I will be starting to ship orders out tomorrow, as well as sending along shipping refunds for those who placed separate orders.

I see that people are still placing orders, so I thought I would give a bit of time before I start shipping, that way all the separate orders you place can get packaged together.

💙💙💙

✨ Alpinist Rings ✨ Each ring features a singl

✨ Alpinist Rings ✨

Each ring features a single dark blue kyanite gemstone, the color of the sky on those impossibly clear days. The band is a sturdy, wide band that has been given a hammered texture, rough and weathered. And the bands have been given irregular, undulating edges to resemble a mountainous skyline. Peaks and valleys, saddlebacks and passes.
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✖️North Wind Collection Release: PART II - Sunday, May 16th at 7:00 p.m. EST in the Etsy shop ✖️

Also, a little reminder that you can sign up for t

Also, a little reminder that you can sign up for the newsletter if you want to have previews delivered to your e-mail inbox.

I know that a lot of you miss my posts because of the algorithm, so the newsletter is a good way to stay tuned.

It's a good thing to every now and again visit the pages of your favorite accounts and give the most recent posts some likes and saves. This lets the algorithm know you want to keep seeing their stuff.

I try to periodically do this with makers I follow as well, otherwise I don't see their work in my feed. I cant tell you how many times I have missed a Pitch Pine mug because of this. 😭 Ooph, I miss chronological feeds.

✖️IMPORTANT REMINDERS FOR THE RELEASE!✖️
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🔸 All the pieces I have been previewing the last several weeks will be in tonight’s 7:00 p.m. EST shop update. It is first come first served, to give all a fair chance to claim the pieces that are calling.

🔸 Remember! Etsy won’t reveal my new listings for you right at the release time, you have to refresh and reload my shop page, sometimes a few times, before they all show up. It even does the same for me!

🔸 Etsy is often slow with populating my shop after I publish my listings, I believe because I list so many pieces at once! I have been told this is because they work out of the cloud now rather than dedicated servers.

So if you want to try for a piece at release time, start on the home page and move through the pages from there. If you click on the collection section on the left, sometimes it takes 15 minutes or so for listings to show up. A very strange glitch, but it happens. Refresh often!

🔸 Make sure you look at all the photos of the pieces you are looking to purchase, because I try to photograph these pieces from every angle, in my hand for size reference, and in natural light, so you can see exactly what you will receive. I want you to be sure you are purchasing the perfect pieces for you!

🔸 That being said, an item isn't "yours" until you complete checkout. Meaning that other people can purchase items you are looking at, or that you even have in your cart. This is an Etsy feature that I cannot change.

🔸 My advice is that if you have a piece you have your heart set on, complete checkout with that item first. And then go back for the other pieces you want. Checking out separately allows you to claim your pieces more quickly, and you have less of a chance of a piece being scooped out of your cart. Following the release, I will refund any shipping overages for multiple orders.
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I hope you are able to claim the pieces that have been calling to you!

✨ December Flight Necklaces ✨ An owl in fligh

✨ December Flight Necklaces ✨

An owl in flight, clutching a sparkling winter gemstone.

This small owl is hand-forged from solid sterling silver. It features a tiny flying owl silhouette set against a black background, like an owl in the night sky.

Below each owl is a faceted winter gemstone (kyanite, gray moonstone, or quartz) to sway gently like a last leaf in the breeze. And the back of the pendant has been textured on granite to resemble a winter stone.
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✖️North Wind Collection Release: PART II - Sunday, May 16th at 7:00 p.m. EST in the Etsy shop ✖️

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