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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

Nocturne Collection, Part II

Nocturne Collection, Part I

Violet Linings, Part I (Third Preview)

Violet Linings, Part I (Second Preview)

Violet Linings, Part I (First Preview)

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

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After years of rigorous work, academic creativity,

After years of rigorous work, academic creativity, and buckets of coffee, this week my sweet fella has obtained his Ph.d. in Plant Biology at Cornell University, which happens to be one of the the most esteemed botany program in the world. I am in awe of his achievements.

He has worked tremendously hard for the past 11 years. He has travelled to Europe and Asia to present his original work at scientific conferences. He gave the undergraduate students he taught at Cornell endless patience, kindness, and guidance, so much so that they continue to reach out to him to tell them the positive impact he had on their career and mental health. He spent long days in the field observing pawpaw flowers and sleepless nights in his laboratory running samples.

And he has somehow done all this while being the most thoughtful, energetic, generous partner in the world.

He'd work all day reading brain-breaking academic papers and then come home to make us the tastiest vegan ramen ever.

He shouldered the weight of having to write a thesis hundreds of pages long, comprised of his own original hypotheses, methodology, and analysis; and still managed to make every birthday uniquely special. (A private screening of “The Fellowship of the Ring” at our favorite movie theater!!)

He then had to defend that work, the culmination of 6 years, in one afternoon to a group of renowned scientists who would decide if he deserved a doctorate or not.

And even in the midst of that stress and prep, he would still humor me every time I wanted him to look at one of our cats that I thought was doing something funny. And good-naturedly listen to me prattle on about “The Secret History,” or altruism in crows, or “Mobile Suit Gundam,” or how buying a big piece of land and living in a yurt is totally doable for us. (A girl can dream!)

He is ever-evolving while ever-unchanging. He is absolutely brilliant. And he knows more about Drosopholids than perhaps useful.

He is a wonder, dear friends. Congratulations to my own Doc Martin.

(I just love this sneaky film photo I took of him. We were lugging boards down to the beach for me to sit with while he went and jumped into a wet suit. 🏄🏻‍♂️💙)

Sweet friends, today and every day I am thankful f

Sweet friends, today and every day I am thankful for you. Your support of my collections allows me to live the life of a full-time artisan and feed my kitty cats at the same time!

And I love the love you showed the spiders last night. Spiders are such maligned little creatures, despite their beautiful feats (I mean, those webs!) and the integral role they play in every ecosystem. The warmth you showed them during the release makes my heart sing.

I will be sure to tell the little spider, that lives in our purple stained glass lamp, how many friends she has out there.  Also, I know lots of people are sad to have missed out on certain designs from last night’s release. Since I am slowing down on annual collections a bit to make space for new ones, it is hard to know when the Nocturne Collection will return.

So! I think in the new year I am going to have a small “Presold” Collection for those of you who have missed out in the past. It would basically work where I would put out a call for customs of my designs, you could choose your stone, prepay for the piece, and then I would get to work on it.

Would you like that?

Keep an eye out here for an announcement about that in the coming months, I will need to know what stones to search my gemstone cabinet for and replenish if I am low.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, sweet friends.

Everything is in the shop, sweet friends! I hope y

Everything is in the shop, sweet friends! I hope you are able to catch what you have your eye on before they skitter and twirl away. ✨

There is quite a spectrum of stones in this offeri

There is quite a spectrum of stones in this offering, I chose the ones that gave me the most autumnal feelings. Broody magic, early nights, mist slipping through trees.

Some of the stones are rather organic: crackles on the surface, visible layers, subtle chips or pitting. Others are perfectly smooth and even, liquid color in the hand. I love each type of stone; one feels natural, like something you might find under some fallen leaves or at the bottom of a brook. The other feels like something a wizard would keep on his bedside table.

But each one is perfectly autumnal.
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✖️Nocturne Collection Release (PART II): TONIGHT at 7pm EST in the Etsy shop✖️

Tonight, tonight, autumnal friends! A few things

Tonight, tonight, autumnal friends!

A few things to keep in mind!
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🍂 PLEASE double check your shipping address on your Etsy account before the release to make sure it is correct before you place an order.

🔮 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 that for me to see all my new pieces!

🕯 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. If you click “Buy It Now” the listing’s page, you can purchase much quicker. 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.

🕸 In the days following the release, I will refund any shipping overages for those of you who place more than one order.

Phew! The blog preview is up. It includes addition

Phew! The blog preview is up. It includes additional photos, prices, and size information.

Keep and eye on my Instastories as well, I am going to put up some scrolling videos going down through all the listings before they go live at 7pm EST. That way you pause the videos as the pieces scroll by to get a better look.
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✖️Nocturne Collection Release (PART II): TONIGHT at 7pm EST in the Etsy shop✖️

✖️ Moon Festival Necklace✖️ What a joy th

✖️ Moon Festival Necklace✖️

What a joy these necklaces were to make! They feel so magical and jubilant, just like the feeling of bright, autumn harvest festivals and nighttime carnivals. Shadowy and bright all at the same time.

They feature crisp labradorite moons set at a jaunty angle. And below each moon hangs a sparkling sunstone, glittering with a thousand tiny candles. The warmth of the sunstones beneath the cool labradorites strikes a pleasing balance!

The backs of the pendants are left embellished and unfettered, clean and simple, befitting the moon.

This pendant has been aged and hand-polished for a textured, organic look, and to bring out the lowlights and accent the stone.
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✖️Nocturne Collection Release (PART II): TONIGHHT at 7pm EST in the Etsy shop✖️

Don’t forget! If you are planning to try to pluc

Don’t forget! If you are planning to try to pluck a Poppy Ring from tonight’s collection release, remember that these fit true to size. They are on half-round bands for comfort, that are not too wide. So look for your true size in the listing title. I always list the ring size in the very beginning of the title, just to make it easier to find the right one.  
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✖️Nocturne Collection Release (PART II): TONIGHT at 7pm EST in the Etsy shop✖️

“Listen… with faint dry sound, Like steps of p

“Listen…
with faint dry sound,
Like steps of passing ghosts,
the leaves, frost-crisp’d, break from the trees
and fall.”
- “November Night,” A. Crapsey (1900)
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✖️Nocturne Collection Release (PART II): TONIGHT at 7pm EST in the Etsy shop✖️

Friends! I am working as quickly as I can to get a

Friends! I am working as quickly as I can to get all the photos sorted and listings written, that way I can put together a full blog preview before tomorrow night. Be sure to check the blog before the collection release if you’d like to see everything ahead of time.

If I run out of time and cannot put together a blog post, I will at least put up some Instastories of all the listings before they go live on Etsy.

Gosh, the few days before a release are always such a flurry!
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✖️Nocturne Collection Release (PART II): TOMORROW at 7pm EST in the Etsy shop✖️

✖️ November Night Necklaces ✖️ Leaves cri

✖️ November Night Necklaces ✖️

Leaves crisping and falling from trees, another kind of memento mori.

These necklaces are made with the smaller rare purple labradorite from my collection. Set simply in pendants with small rims to allow the oxidization to frame the stones. Shadows collecting in the corners.

On the backs and built into the chains are falling copper leaves. The copper was initially given a brushed finish, but will develop an aged, weather look, just like a bright orange leaf fallen from a maple tree.

(If you purchase one of these pieces and would like a polishing cloth to keep the copper shiny, just let me know!)
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✖️Nocturne Collection Release (PART II): TOMORROW at 7pm EST in the Etsy shop✖️

That stone though! 😍

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✖️Nocturne Collection Release (PART II): TOMORROW, November 24th at 7pm EST in the Etsy shop✖️

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