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Winter Bee Collection – Part II

April 28, 2019 · 1 Comment

It has been a whirlwind eight weeks for your friendly, neighborhood moonspinner. Full of honeybees and citrine, the dreaded tax season, untimely illnesses and cat snuggles. So as you can tell, some ups and downs. But through it all, I continued to work on this batch for you, part II of the Honeybee Collection. And in the end, this next offering boasts an even 100 pieces!

Everything previewed here will go live in my Etsy shop tomorrow at 3 p.m. EST as planned.

However, as I have mentioned elsewhere, I am planning on trying out a webstore here on my website. There are a few designs I haven’t shared with you yet, and I will be saving those for some surprise updates on the webstore I have been working on.

So after April 28th, I will be posting on Instagram with a handful of surprise Honeybee updates! I have chosen one ring design, a few necklace designs, and one cuff design to hold back from the regular update. But I will wait to share photos of them until the times of their debuts.

Anyways! On to the preview for tomorrow’s regularly scheduled collection release.

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Apiary Rings

The first of two repeat designs for this collection release is the Apiary Rings. After Part I of this series, so many people contacted me about missing out on these. So I pulled every single ring-sized citrine I could find in my studio.

US Ring Sizes: 5.5, 5.75, 6.25, 6.5, 6.75, 7 (x3), 7.25 (x4), 7.5,
7.75 (x3), 8 (x6), 8.75, 9 (x2), 9.5 (x2), 9.75 (x2), 10.75

To make this batch, it took over a hundred hours of finger-numbing, wrist-aching work. These are not cast, so each band and every bee silhouette were shaped and sawn one by one.

And the result of all that work: a few dozen little cups of citrine honey with two little honeybee silhouettes in either side of each double-layer sloping band. This is the last batch I will be making of these rings for quite some time. I have spent so many hours in recent weeks with them, it is a little bittersweet tucking the design away. But, I have used up all my citrine, so there’s no turning back now!

They sit so well upon the hand, and I am convinced they can call the honeybees from their hives.

If you are planning to try to scoop one up, remember to look for a ring sized at least half a size up from your regular size. I list the rings as they measure on the mandrel, but since these have wide bands they will fit snug. For example, if you normally wear a size 7, look for a 7.5 or 7.75.

Queen Bee Necklaces

The other design repeated from Part I, the Queen Bee necklace. Let me explain how I ended up making five more.

I am a bit of a gemstone squirrel. I tend to sort stones into little carnival glass dishes and salt cellars scattered around the studio, which means that every now and again I will come across a stash of stones I didn’t know I had. And that is what happened with this surprise repeat design. I found a little orange dish with five perfect stones, and I knew I had to offer them up for you.

And so here they are, five more Queen Bee necklaces. The grandest design in the collection. These necklaces are comprised of freeform, round heated citrine druzy clusters set inside floral borders. The backs of the pendants feature the impression of a large honeybee, the only design in the collection with this detail.

Large and bold and crowned with a circlet of flowers, like the queen bee herself.

Tending Necklaces

For a long time I had been wanting to design a necklace that felt reminiscent of an old-fashioned cloak clasp. When ladies and gents of yesteryear would wear cloaks, they would put a pin on both edges of the cloak below the neck, and the pins were connected by a chain. This would keep the cloak on the shoulders.

And this is my necklace that echos that shape, the “Tending Necklace.” Each necklace features two swooping honeybees reminiscent of cloak pins, and a gradient of rough citrines to comprise the “chain.”

In my mind, I designed this for dedicated beekeepers and early spring gardeners, trudging through muck and detritus to check on sleeping bees or sprouting bulbs with a cloak over the shoulders, because not even the rain could keep them from that which needs tending.

Bee Bloom Earrings

So many people contacted me asking if I would be making any dangle earrings. And so I have!

I made just three pairs of earrings, and they are the sweet, tinkling kind for wearing in a breezy, sun-warmed garden. Droplets of citrine honey drip below hand-forged ruffly roses, carefully constructed petal by petal, with brass pollen centers.

Bee Bloom Rings

US Ring Sizes Include: 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 9, 10.25

For this collection release, I also picked you a handful of roses.

Carefully forged sterling silver flowers with brass pollen centers.

Rings for calling the bees.

Wild Hive Necklaces

A few months ago when I was telling you about my experiences with bee lining with my fella, and idea for a design struck me. While imaging all the wild honeybee hives tucked into craggy mountain cliffs and held by gnarled trees, I thought of this piece.

It features a sparkling faceted citrine like droplet of honey, set atop a honeycomb patterned base, all of which is being held by a hammered branch border. Like golden treasure hidden by bees, tucked away in the forest, encased in silver and oak.

My talisman for finding the quiet, secret places of the wild bees. Never to disturb, only to observe.

Solitary Bee Necklaces

A single, bright honeybee set above a smooth cupful of honey-colored citrine. In the backs I have sawn little hexagon windows to let the light through, like a little honeycomb cell full of glowy orange citrine.

Little worker bees gathering up the warmth of summer into a honeycomb cell’s worth of citrine. Perhaps the most lightweight, every-day designs in tomorrow’s release.

Simple and straightforward, a necklace meant for a bustling beekeeper who always wishes to keep a honeybee close by.

Midsummer Necklaces

Each of these Midsummer Necklaces has a unique gemstone focal surrounded by a swirl of summer.

Leaves with the patterning taken from once-living leaves, little brass pollen granules floating on the breeze, hand-forged ruffly roses blooming all at once, warm citrine gemstones heated to the color of orange blossom honey, and tiny honeybees on the back made of light and citrine.

The most detailed and work-intensive design in the entire collection, these necklaces are like little slices of summer you can wear about the neck.

And there you have it! Everything which will be in tomorrow afternoon’s collection release.

Everything will land in the Etsy shop at the same time at 3:00 p.m. EST.
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A few things to remember if you plan stopping by the collection release:

🔸 This is the last of these particular designs for a few years. I am actively using up the very last of my citrine/yellow amethyst for this offering and what few stones I have left are reserved for a few designs in progress. So if one of the designs I have shared has been calling to you, be sure to stop by tomorrow’s update because I won’t be able to make more.

🔸 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!

🔸 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. Unfortunately, this is an Etsy feature that I cannot change.

🔸 My advice is to decide which piece you want the most, 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. I will refund any shipping overages in the following days!

I wish there was a less hectic way to do this. My number one priority is that it is fair for everyone, which is why I don’t take reserves, but it does make for a rather stressful shop update.

That being said, I hope you are able to claim any pieces that have been calling to you!

See you at tomorrow’s collection release, all you bee-charmers and garden-walkers!

   

Filed In: Uncategorized / Tagged: honeybee, honeybee jewelry, jewellery, Jewelry, mermaid jewelry, moonspinner, moonspinner jewelry, moonspinnershop

Comments

  1. Jackie Durrett says

    September 10, 2019 at 3:34 pm

    Love ❤️ the Apiary rings!!!! Anxiously awaiting more!!!

    Reply

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I am sorry it has been so quiet here lately. My st I am sorry it has been so quiet here lately. My studio is a flurry of blue gemstones and hammered sterling silver, I have so much to show you, but I just keep saying "I will photograph tomorrow!" and then run back to the bench to make more. I am en fuego creatively, swirling from one design to the next. I promise I will snap some photos soon!

In the meantime, Winter Oak Earrings. What do you think? Do you like them?

———————————————
✖️North Wind Collection Release: Early-Mid March in the Etsy shop✖️
I am pushing through drifts of snow and snapping i I am pushing through drifts of snow and snapping ice from pine boughs, all to gather up enough winter for my North Wind Collection!

As you may remember, I decided to move the North Wind Collection (as well as the Mossflower Collection) to a biannual schedule. I love these stones, these palettes, these seasons so much that when I work with them, I want to honor them with as bounteous of offerings as I can muster. And so they take months and hundreds of hours to conjure.

Therefore, to make space in my year for all the new collection ideas I have had tucked away in my sketchbook and gemstone cabinet, I decided to make those two seasonal collections every other year, rather than annually.

All of this to say, this will be the last North Wind Collection until 2023, but it is going to be SUCH a beautiful one!

Oh! Quick little poll for you, I am feeling pulled in two different directions in my earring creation. Which do you prefer: light, lilting, dangly earrings with small stones and perhaps a fringe OR bold, drop earrings featuring slices of stone?
After asking you in a poll and in the comments of After asking you in a poll and in the comments of a recent post, it looks like you would much prefer an early March release, rather than a February one, for the North Wind Collection.

This will allow me catch a bit more winter, create more pieces, and give me a bit more time to share the stories behind these designs.

I have so so so much to share with you. If only I could tear myself away from the bench to snap some photos of everything I have finished!

I haven't settled on a date in early-mid March quite yet, I need to see how long things will take me to finish. But you will be the first to know!
The surprise collection from yesterday is all sold The surprise collection from yesterday is all sold now, but garnet will return!

I have been collecting garnet, redder hessonites particularly and some almandine, for about four years with the intention of a big collection.

I am a bit like a crow with my gemstones, I find a little handful of beautiful turquoise or agate, and I tuck it away in my gemstone cabinet.

I have another little surprise collection planned for sometime next month. What stones would you like to see in an upcoming collection? Do you have a favorite that I havent worked with yet? One you'd like to see return? I would love to know!
Edit: Sold Out (Just three left! Sizes 6, 9, and Edit: Sold Out

(Just three left! Sizes 6, 9, and 11.)

As I mentioned before, I am hoping to do semi-frequent surprise collections throughout this year to offset the fluster of my scheduled and long-anticipated collection releases. These surprise collections will allow for serendipity to carry my pieces to their intended owners.

For some of the collections, I will give a slight heads-up on the blog, since I know social media algorithms can be really problematic. I will put up a blog post announcing the date and time when the previewed collection will be released.

Other collections will be true surprises, and I will announce on social media the moment they land in my shop.
Surprise! The very first of my surprise collection Surprise! The very first of my surprise collections just landed in the Etsy shop. 

Valentine Rings. 

Sweet, romantic rings featuring natural, faceted hessonite garnets. The January birthstone, and a wonderful representation of love, I think. They range in hue from deep cherry to magenta to brick red. Set in ornate inverted heart bezels with beaded circlets to accent them, romantic and regal.

They are set atop half-round hands for comfort and fit true to size. 
The sizes available will be 6, 6.75, 6.75, 7, 7, 7.5, 8, 8, 8.5, 9, 10.5, 11.
My hands are flying over sharp sterling edges and My hands are flying over sharp sterling edges and a color palette that reflects the world outside my studio windows. I am enthralled by blue this year, and you will be able to find a lot of it in this year’s North Wind Collection. There will be the deep, crackling teal of moss kyanite, magical shimmer of moonstone, the soft liquid blues of aquamarine, and the dusky snow-squalling blues of dendritic agate. Deep winter ice and shadows on snow, all encased within stone.

(Here is a sneak peak at a new necklace design!)

I am oscillating between release times for the North Wind Release, the last week of February or the first week of March. Do you have a preference? I would love to know!
✨A call for ring sizes!✨ With my recurring co ✨A call for ring sizes!✨

With my recurring collections, most designs don’t make an appearance in every iteration. Some designs I only make once, others I revisit every now and again. A few weeks ago I asked which designs you’d like to see return from last year’s North Wind Collection. And I heard a resounding call for Winter Current Rings.

And so, I have scoured every drawer in my gemstone cabinet, and was able to gather the sweetest little bowl of teal kyanites for the rings. Nearly two hundred people raised their hands when I asked who was hoping to claim one during the release, and I am afraid I wont be able to make that many. But I will have a good offering of them! A few dozen with the sweetest, wintery gemstones.

And now, if this is a design you’re hoping to scoop up during the release, let me know in the comments below your ring size! (They fit true to size.) I want to try to have the best spread of ring sizes possible, and I will make the most requested sizes.

I hope you are weathering 2021 comfortably. Perhaps by catching snow squalls and spinning magic out of ice, all while holding a steamy mug of something warm.
❄️ Winter Oak Earrings ❄️ I made a versio ❄️ Winter Oak Earrings ❄️

I made a version of these for my very first Mossflower Collection, featuring a round shape and little prehnite gemstones. My initial vision for these were of sturdy oaks, rough in texture and bold in their size. And those earrings reflected that.

While I smith in the studio, I can look out towards the slender, leafless birches and tremendous trees beyond them, thick and sturdy. And what a thing to see a tree in winter: weathered, bare, still. To run hands along branches slick with ice, touch the coarse bark in its hibernation. But in that same moment to know that they will soon shake the ice off their arms, kick the snow off their toes, and then toss on their green, glowing mantles.

And so, these earrings are for them. The winter version of my Oak Earrings. Emulating the beauty of great, frozen trees, lovely in their roughness and glowing with winter. Earrings for walking through frozen oak glades and filling your pockets with winter.

They are sawn in a marquise shape, seemingly spilling below the ear. The surface is textured, weathered, and oxidized. And at the bottom of each earring, a beautiful kyanite. I have sawn a window behind the stone so these gemstones truly glow below the ear.

So far I have only made this pair of Winter Oak Earrings. I wanted to put out a call so I could get an idea of how many I should make. So if these earrings are calling out to you, and you think you’d like to claim a pair during the release, let me know in the comments below!
Friends! I have decided that I am going to start s Friends! I have decided that I am going to start sprinkling surprise collections throughout the year. Since the long-scheduled shop updates can be a bit hectic and frustrating, I think a few small, surprise ones will allow for serendipity.

I will let everyone know about surprise collections in posts here that will be simultaneous to when the pieces appear in the Etsy shop. Since the algorithm can be a bit of a bother for some people, I will try to put a blog post up the day before. So if you are signed up for the newsletter, you will get a collection preview and the timing of the release slightly in advance. (You can find the signup on my website.)

First surprise collection coming soon!
❄️ February Rings ❄️ The companion design ❄️ February Rings ❄️

The companion design to last year’s January Rings. They will feature shimmering white moonstones and icy aquamarines, varying in surface cut.

Some of the aquamarines are the deep blue of an arctic lake, and others the softest blue, like early morning blue skies above a winterscape. The variations of blues and the different ways in which they shimmer and glow will be so splendid to see all together.

I finished these just as the fresh snow arrived, and I was able to catch a few snow crystals and place them daintily around these gemstones. I tucked a few frosty pebbles around the stones, and set them all atop a heavy-weight half round band. I have lightly textured the surface of the bands to look like a lightly trod footpath over fresh snow.

I am in love with this design, I have been wearing the aquamarine ring all morning, tilting it into the light to look down into its crackling depths. These are truly rings made for queens of winter. Made for holding snow squalls in the palm, and reaching into frozen pools towards the deep undercurrents.  Rings for February.
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The rest of the February Rings are unfinished and waiting for bands, there will be a few dozen made for the collection. If this design is calling to you, let me know in the comments your ring size and whether you prefer shimmering white moonstone or icy aquamarine! (These rings fit a smidge snug as the bands are about 6mm wide, but I think ordering your true size is just fine.)
I am positively thrumming with excitement about my I am positively thrumming with excitement about my upcoming North Wind Collection! I only have a few designs that I will be revisiting from last year (thank you to everyone who weighed in on the polls!), which means my bench is covered in brand new sketches, prototypes, eager piles of gemstones, and tools just itching to be used.

This morning it snowed a fresh blanket, cedars dipping under the weight and the pond all but swallowed up. And it arrived just in time, because I was able to reach my hand out the window and pluck some snow crystals from the air for these February Rings I am making. Shimmering white moonstones and deep, icy aquamarines will be set beside some daintily resting snowflakes and mounds of snow.

Keep an eye out here because I am going to send out a call for ring size requests so I can know how many to make for all you snow queens and winter walkers.
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