Goodness, I love working with labradorite. Labradorite is an iridescent gemstone with a fascinating schiller or metallic luster when viewed from certain angles. The base color of labradorite is a smokey gray, but when light strikes the stone in a particular direction, it displays striking rainbow-colored reflections. Most typically, these metallic tints are violet, blue gold, and green.
It took a few weeks, but I managed to catch quite a batch of spiders! And in this offering, I have spiders made of pure labradorite magic, all autumn flash and misty grays. It was difficult, but I was able to get them all to stop scuttling for just one minute so I could take a family portrait.
I also grabbed a few copper maple leaves as they came twirling to the ground. Oh, and a few festive moons as well. Part II of the Nocturne Collection is pure autumnal magic.
Arachne Necklaces (ver. I)
There will be 18 necklaces available.
Price: ranges from $155 – $185 depending on size and stone
If you are familiar with Greek myth or have read Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” you likely know the story of Arachne. She was the daughter of a fabric dyer who specialized in purple. She herself became a gifted weaver, and pridefully challenged Athena to a contest.
Arachne mocked the gods in her tapestry, and Athena was enraged, even moreso because Arachne’s tapestry was irrefutably better than her own. She destroyed Arachne’s tapestry and struck Arachne in the face.
In shame and fear, Arachne ran away and hanged herself in a tree. But Athena took pity on her, and at the last moment transformed the rope into a cobweb and Arachne into a spider.
Such a tragic tale, but it suits these necklaces I think.
Purple, the color of Arachne’s youth; though not every stone in these pendants is purple, most have at least a bit. Each stone is webbed with fine black lines, and a single spider hidden on the backs of each pendant.
Moody, somber magic caught in a pendant.
There are three different versions of the Arachne Necklaces, each with different embellishments and styles of pendant backs.
In this first version, surrounding the pendants are either carefully textured branch borders, or beaded circlets.
The backs of the pendants feature the impression of a large web, and then a little spider has been carefully placed.
Arachne Necklaces (ver. II)
There will be 16 necklaces available.
Price: ranges from $145 – $185 depending on size and stone
Spiders are such beautiful, unusual creatures. There are so many mesmerizing aspects to them, even just the mere fact of their weaving intricate, lace-like webs to catch prey.
The way they can float on the wind using a wisp of delicate silk as a sort of parachute.
The bizarre little hopping some of them do.
They are endlessly strange, unsettling, and elegant, all at once.
Surrounding the pendants are either carefully textured branch borders, or beaded circlets.
The backs of the pendants have been textured and a spider has been cut to reveal the stone beneath.
Spiders made of shimmering stone.
Arachne Necklaces (ver. III)
There will be 14 necklaces available.
Price: ranges from $135 – $165 depending on size and stone
This design consists of rare colors of labradorites, ranging from purple to orange to a rainbow spectrum.
The gemstones are simply set in a straight bezel.
I have sawn out the backs of the pendants revealing the backs of the stones, and gently attached textured spiders overlaying the window.
Poppy Rings
There will be 50 rings available,
ranging from 4 – 11 with multiple rings in the most requested sizes.
Price: $85 per ring
As promised, here are the Poppy Rings! Well, as many as I could fit on one hand, anyways.
They range from US sizes 4 – 11 with half and quarter sizes between. I tried to make multiples of the most requested sizes, hopefully I made enough for everyone that would like to pluck one.
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.
Moon Festival Necklaces
There will be 8 necklaces available.
Price: ranges from $125 – $145 depending on size and stone
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.
November Night Necklaces
There will be 10 necklaces available.
Price: each necklace will be $155
“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)
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!)
And that’s everything that will be included in Part II of the Nocturne Collection! I am hoping to have a small flock of ravens and a batch of Memento Mori Earrings before the holidays!
Nocturne Collection Release, Part II: Tonight, November 24th at 7PM EST in the Etsy shop
