Today’s cab progress, interrupted by a game of Dungeons and Dragons... because sometimes you just gotta be 15. Not that tools are ever far from hand.
Just another shot from the Idle Talons office... nobody told us the wonderful world of jewelry making would be so glamorous! Coveralls that fit Larkin’s not-quite-5’2” frame don’t seem to be a thing. We think the shot of hot pink really pulls the whole outfit together.
Stocking up on treble clefs! Spirals, spirals everywhere!
It's a sit-by-the-fire-stocking-up kind of day. Today it's little red frog plant jewelry!
Larkin’s wonderfully supportive and generous grandparents sprung for a Genie cab polishing machine over the holidays! It was a process. Apparently they were backordered and wouldn’t arrive in time for the holidays... so what Larkin actually received was a magic lamp and a letter from a sorcerer explaining that if someone worthy rubbed the lamp every day eventually a Genie would appear. And it did! But it arrived broken. Cue the strings. Yesterday the replacement FINALLY arrived and it is in perfect working order. Hooray! Larkin broke it in last night, shed a bit of blood discovering that new wheels are a wee bit more abrasive than those at the rock shop, and turned out two lovely cabs in short order. Woot— leveling up!
This is a piece Larkin made mostly to play and practice some soldering. It’s far too finicky and time consuming to become an official product, but it will go up on the board next market season as a one-off!
We were pretty amused to realize that Larkin is finally old enough to use seed beads. 😂
Larkin was working on sketches for a commission and suddenly got a wild hair and had to run off to create this sweet little creature peering out from behind an amethyst wand.
Larkin now has some legit cab cases so it’s convenient to leave them out to drool over and beg for our favorites to be wrapped next. ;) These are all cabochons Larkin has cut and polished, just waiting for inspiration to strike!
Happy holidays from the Idle Talons team! Larkin is home from Europe, turned 15 yesterday (big kids need fuzzy onesies, too!), and is buckling down to play/work with some new toys. More soon... we hope you are surrounded by peace and the people you love most as the year winds down.
Before Larkin embarked on foreign adventures, I got permission to clean up the Idle Talons studio (sounds fancy, right? ...okay, I mean Larkin’s bedroom). I have three big paper grocery bags going: things to disassemble and reuse pieces, things to finish and list for sale, and WTF. 😂
My favorite find so far is this poor little early prototype that looks like it lost a particularly vicious round of Frogger. Now imagine three paper bags full of things like this spread evenly over 100 square feet, selectively mined with sharp wire ends and needles, and tangled in snarls of wire, thread, and chain. Sometimes supporting a young artist gets a little messy. ;) I can’t wait to see what Larkin does with a clean workspace!
Never fear, I have been assigned homework while Larkin gallivants about Europe! ;) We've heard customers call these beaded beauties everything from sea shells or fairy tunnels to purses. Now in a few more popular colors, lovely by any name.
Bonus shot of Larkin at the top of the Eiffel Tower!
I may have buried the lead when I previously posted about Larkin's fan art necklace for a favorite author. The book signing? In PARIS! Larkin had an amazing opportunity to spend a couple of weeks traveling in France and Italy with a wonderful family we know and the book signing was today. Larkin replaced the chain between the charms with straight copper rods which cleaned up the look and really made the charms stand out.
This also explains why things have been a little quiet on our end lately. ;) However, we home-bound Idle Talons minions are ready to ship any orders in Larkin's absence, so please keep Idle Talons in mind as you do your holiday shopping!
The author of one of Larkin's very favorite web comics/graphic novel series is doing a signing, and Larkin made this charm necklace as a fan gift. The leaves, hearts and stars are the interstitial doodles the author uses around frames and between chapters, translated into wire.
<replacing my admin hat with my parent hat> Larkin is feeling very hesitant/self-conscious about giving this gift at the signing. I maintain that this is the kind of fan interaction that will make an author's day (if not month!) and Larkin should include an Idle Talons card with the gift. Please leave an encouraging comment telling Larkin how right I am (😂) if you feel so inclined.
The series is Heartstopper by Alice Oseman, and is an almost impossibly sweet coming-of-age/romance/coming out story. Highly recommended if you need more warm fuzzies in your life.
Larkin has some designs planned that require soldering connections. Soldering with a torch rather than an iron on a teeny tiny jewelry scale is, well, somewhat terrifying to behold. Here's to learning new tricks for the Idle Talons toolbox!
Larkin is working to make more designs available in silver as well as copper, and we'd love your input! The pair of earrings on the left is bright, polished silver. The pair on the right has been patinaed then polished. Should Idle Talons make both available? Do you think one would me more popular than the other?
Idle Talons works with argentium silver, an alloy that contains a higher percentage of elemental silver than sterling, and replaces some of the copper content with germanium which makes it more tarnish resistant than any other silver alloy.
Larkin entered a cabochon into the Roxy Ann Gem and Mineral Society monthly contest for the first time and won! It's hard to get a good picture through the case, but this is a piece cut from a slab of local Applegate jade. Larkin has a leaf wrap planned for the cab, but it will be on display at Crater Rock Museum through November so the wrap will have to wait! The prize includes some free machine time (more cabs!) and means that the next cabochon Larkin submits will be considered at intermediate level. Woot!
Idle Talons will be at the Roxy Ann Gem and Mineral Society - RAGMS Holiday Market tomorrow, 11/2, from 10am - 4pm at Crater Rock Museum in Central Point. If you're local and love rocks it's the place to be! Free museum admission all day.
Somehow the Halloween Hiatus wasn't timed quite right for a full retrospective, and it turns out our <cough> historical photographer wasn't quite as reliable when the kids were younger. Here's a quick montage, including 8-year-old Hermione with sidekicks Harry and a very strict McGonagall, 7- & 5-year-old sibling Ben 10 costumes, 5-year-old Princess Larkin with Uncle Court Sorcerer, and 3-year-old Larkin's first trick-or-treating costume in 2008 ("fairy witch"). And, because I got shamelessly swept up in nostalgia, I also included a picture from Larkin's very first Halloween in 2005. Idle Talons wishes you all a wonderful holiday!
