Larkin has been thinking about leading some local beading workshops and used Emile and I as guinea pigs for this pattern. We’re both generally pretty crafty but neither of us have done any real beadwork. We (ahem *I*) also presented Larkin with the opportunity to demonstrate both skill and patience when dealing with a particularly obstreperous student. They turned out pretty well! Especially from a distance... Larkin’s are much tighter and more solid feeling than ours...
musings
Serpentine Tree Of Life
process, product, musingsCommentThis stone is cut from a piece of serpentine, locally known as Applegate Jade, in this case found by our family along Altman Creek. Larkin cut and polished the cabochon, then wrapped it in a tree that looks remarkably like some of the old oaks in the area the stone came from! The details in this piece are especially remarkable given its small size! I included some progress photos because it's always interesting how the chaotic beginnings of a tree of life are given structure.
Van Duzen Jasper Sunburst
musings, process, productCommentHappy New Year from Idle Talons! This is a yellow agatized jasper stone our family found along the Van Duzen River in northern California. Larkin cut and polished the cabochon and wrapped it in a dazzling copper sunburst. May it be a harbinger of the brighter days ahead!
Cabs On Display
fun, musings, processCommentLarkin 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!
Ring Progress
product, process, musingsCommentLarkin has been wanting to work on rings for a long time, and the new torch set-up (plus a professional-grade ring mandrel!) has opened up a lot of possibilities. Larkin is thinking about putting these sweet silver roses on a slightly larger (and maybe hammered) band before calling the design complete. Oxidizing silver is still new and fun, too-- the rosy glow on this piece is a happy coincidence!
Snails!
product, process, musingsCommentOne of Larkin's new toys is a bona fide jeweler's torch, which gives a very precise heat source for fine solder joins. This brings us to a very important question: are there likely to be folks who frequent farmers markets that won't be able to resist a snail family charm necklace?
Hazardous Working Conditions
fun, musings, processCommentBefore 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!
More Solder Play
process, musingsCommentThese are neither a matched set nor a finished product, but they needed to be hung to photograph-- All the shaky, sparkly little dangling bits don't lay flat well. This is a copper and lapis lazuli design that has been floating around in Larkin's head for some time but wrapping alone didn't leave them rigid enough. The one on the left has solder-only connections and the one on the right has wrapped connections that have been stabilized with solder. Which would you prefer once the joints have been neatened up?
Not The One Ring, The First Ring!
process, musingsCommentThese bursts of creative energy when a new toy or technique presents itself is so fun to watch! Larkin has been wanting to play with rings for quite a while but a lack of solder made it difficult to make really nice designs. This is still a work in progress. The first picture shows the "front" of the ring... every single spot the twist touches the framing wire has a tiny solder spot. The second picture shows the join-- it's solid, but obviously will improve with repetition! There is more to learn about getting the surface of the metal back to smooth and shiny after heat treatment, but this is a pretty nice start within days of beginning to play with jewelry soldering!
Author Appreciation Project
fun, musings, process, productCommentThe 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.
Solder On...
fun, musings, processCommentLarkin 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!
To Patina Or Not To Patina
musings, fun, process, productCommentLarkin 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.
Amethyst Roses
musings, process, productCommentLarkin cut and polished this amethyst cabochon from a slab shard, then framed it with copper roses and faceted amethyst beads. The result was stunning, came out of the polisher late last night and was sold at today's market before 10am! The Idle Talons photographer didn't even have time for proper glamour shots!
Blue Moon
product, musings, processCommentIt is somehow appropriate that this piece was finished on Halloween Day! The large cabochon is shaped from a blue aventurine stone gifted from a friend. The moon is from an agate/opal stone found by our family, tangled in the gnarled branches of a copper tree. The whole piece is surrounded by a frame incorporating luminescent mother of pearl beads. Truly the kind of piece that comes along only once in a blue moon!
Simple Custom Wrap
process, product, musingsCommentAnother custom commission! A customer brought Larkin this rough stone with sentimental value and wanted a simple wrap with spirals. It's a much more 3-dimensional stone than the cabs Larkin usually works with. We think it's fluorite-- catches the light beautifully!
fun, musingsComment
If you give a jeweler some almonds to milk... chances are they’ll want to rig up a whole efficient system, complete with fancy copper scroll attachment.
Put A Ring On It!
fun, process, musingsCommentLarkin’s first crack at braided copper rings! We plan on wear-testing them for a while to see how the oxidized copper does up against skin.
Striped Mystery Stone
musings, product, processCommentLarkin found this slab at a rock sale and loved it, but no one could tell us what the stone is! Any rockhounds out there who might be able to help us out? Larkin cut and polished the cabochon and wrapped it in copper which has been oxidized and polished.
The Cab In The Slab
process, fun, musingsCommentThis is a cab Larkin cut from a piece of Applegate jade our family found. It's placed in the section of the slab it came from. It's amazing to see how different the dry stone looks from the polished final product! The lighter green areas are quite translucent, the darker areas more opaque. Larkin is envisioning a wrap evoking a stormy sea for this one.
Copper Doodles!
fun, musings, process, productCommentToday's copper doodles! Sometimes these are destined for the product board, sometimes they are further refined to finished products, and sometimes they're never spoken of again.
