Applegate Jade Planet

Get ready for something out of this world! ;)

You may remember this doublet that Larkin cut a couple of months ago-- really gemmy applegate jade (bowenite) is super dark, so Larkin sliced it very thin and backed it with a thicker slab of clear/white quartz to really make the green shine. Check out that picture of the stone back-lit!

Larkin laid out the planet’s silver ring so it would follow the naturally occuring line in the stone where it transitions from the lighter, sandier green at the bottom to the deep green at the top. Which brings us to that moon! Larkin shaped the hemisphere of silver and modeled the craters and markings from pictures of Earth’s moon!

Larkin loves the way the quartz back looks so didn't want to obscure too much of it-- silver ivy leaves climb a smaller crescent moon, complementing the feel of the front of the stone. A truly interstellar beauty!

Silver Ivy Ring

Larkin has completed bazaar custom orders and is back to the fun of design work! Larkin embellished this solid argentium silver comfort band ring with an intricately hand-sculpted vine of ivy leaves. The leaves do not extend all the way around the ring so the band is smooth and comfortable between the fingers. Silver is oxidized dark and then Larkin hand-polished the leaves back to bright. The oxidation will wear off over time in areas that are against the skin, but should stay dark behind the leaves, giving them extra dimensionality.

This comfort band is 4mm wide. Hand model is Larkin's dad, Emile. :)

Silver Mushroom Stud Earrings

It was only a matter of time...

Here at Idle Talons, we like to think we've carefully cultivated an audience full of friendly people who find it desirable to appear as if they have fungus growing out of their head. Amiright?

Larkin is busy wrapping up bazaar business this week, but had to to take a break to create these awesome little silver mushroom cluster stud earrings. They are so sweet, and sure to be a conversation starter at all the wild mycologist parties.

Rosy Garden Gate

Larkin managed to clean up yesterday's... well, learning experience 😅... and finish up this piece! This stone is an opalized petrified wood found by our family in southern Oregon. Larkin loved the way the surface retained the wood texture and grain so they left it rough and polished the sides and back to expose the creamy common opal interior.

The vining wild roses are modeled after the roses that grow in our woods and are hand-shaped from copper with silver centers. The copper mushrooms and roses are untreated and can be kept polished bright or left to develop a natural patina over time.

The silver knob is inserted through a hole drilled in the cab and fastened securely on the back so no adhesives were needed. The silver frame and window on the back completes the look of a magical portal!

If you haven’t had a chance yet, check out this and all the other goodies at https://www.royaboyahandmadebazaar.com/ !

Catastrophe!

Aaaaagh! Larkin had this frame at the final stage before tying the stone in when this happened. A polishing wheel got tangled in wire and wonked it all up! All the silver had already been hardened into final positions, so it will all have to be re-annealed and shaped. After initial tearing of hair and gnashing of teeth, Larkin thinks they can get it fixed and posted over at the Royaboya Handmade Bazaar soon.

Thankfully, no fingers were harmed in this learning experience.

Royaboya Spring Soiree

Shopping has officially begun at the Royaboya Handmade Bazaar! Shopping is all happening off of Facebook this time around, so it's super easy. Just visit https://www.royaboyahandmadebazaar.com/

Here's a reminder of a few things Larkin has exclusively available there... and there are lots of amazing products from other small, handmade businesses, too! I found a pretty amazing ceramic mug with tentacles that I couldn't pass up ;)

Wild Rose Stud Earrings

We have a lot of wild roses on our forest floor, and Larkin has paid them wonderful homage with these stud earrings!

The petals of these blooms are hand-cut from sheet copper then shaped, rounded and textured to petal-goodness perfection. The center and post are formed from argentium silver then soldered into place.

Each bloom is about 8 mm in diameter. The copper is untreated and can be kept polished bright or left to develop a natural patina over time.

What's that you say? These would make a lovely addition to a pendant design? Stay tuned, friends... stay tuned. ;)

These and many other new designs will be making their debut this week at the Royaboya Handmade Bazaar!

Sword Ring

It's a sword... it's a ring... it's a sword ring!

These hand-shaped sword rings have a ton of detail, from the tip of the blade to the lab-grown garnet set in the pommel. Larkin even textured the metal of the grip to appear as if it is wrapped in traditional leather. Perfect for D&D players, SCA members, LARPers, cosplayers, aspiring knights, and other assorted fans of fantasy! ;)

The sword blade is 4mm wide and the ring's widest point where the blade tip meets the guard is about 1.6 cm. These will be custom made to size and available later this week at the Royaboya Handmade Bazaar!

Casting An Ingot

Sound off, it won’t improve your experience at all. ;)

This video is Larkin casting a cylindrical silver ingot. They keep every little bit of silver trim and scrap wire, then melt it down to use again. Right now, Larkin mostly turns the ingots into sheet metal or larger gauges of shaped bands for things like rings-- both a big investment if you buy them pre-made.

It's pretty darn neat watching the silver turn red then melt!

Cat Shenanigans

Larkin made a little modification to these cat earrings. Apparently they sometimes shifted and hung from their rear end... which, you know, is kind of appropriate for cats, but maybe not in jewelry form. 😅

A small ring soldered to the tips of their ears keeps them in line. If you have a pair that sometimes flips, you can send it back and Larkin will add the ring and return it!

Möbius^2

Larkin shipped off a couple of Möbius rings this week and we couldn't resist checking them out stacked!

Applegate Jade Lily Pad II

Another take on Larkin's epic lily pad pendant! This time, in addition to the lily flower, there's a dragonfly tracing swooping circles. And the back! The leaves are the perfect complement to the cattail.

The stone is a dark, gemmy applegate jade (bowenite) found by our family, and the backlit picture shows how it glows green with light behind it.

If you would like to adorn yourself with this miniature silver sculpture, it will be available later this month at the Royaboya Handmade Bazaar! Preview tickets support a Ukrainian relief fund, and give you first crack at some of these one-of-a-kind treasures!

Petrified Wood Gate

As promised, here is Larkin's latest! If you were at the gem show on Saturday, you may have seen Larkin working on the wrap that is the base of this intricate frame.

Larkin cut this magical doorway from a piece of petrified wood found by our family near our home in southern Oregon-- it's amazing how much it still looks like... well, wood! Larkin hand-cut each of the ivy leaves from copper sheet and used a chisel to give them veins and dimensionality. Each leaf is attached to the larger vine with a tiny little stem, then also soldered to the frame for stability. Sometimes when fusing or soldering copper to silver, the silver liquifies and coats part of the copper. Larkin considered polishing the silver off the leaves, but decided they liked the two-tone effect.

Which brings us to that incredible little clump of mushrooms! Each fully 3-D mushroom is hand-shaped with solid copper caps. They are super solid and soldered to each other and the frame. The way they creep out from behind the frame looks so much like the way mushrooms behave in the wild! Both leaves and mushrooms are untreated copper, so they can be kept polished bright or left to develop a natural patina over time.

And how about that back?! A neat window and decoration that looks straight out of Tolkien!

Silver Möbius Ring

Larkin has finalized their Möbius ring design! This solid silver ring takes the form of a Möbius strip— a shape having only one side and one boundary curve; the simplest non-orientable surface. Larkin shaped, fused, and polished this wearable mathematical figure so it is literally seamless. ;) The argentium silver band is a “comfort band” style, slightly rounded for a more comfortable fit.

These Möbius rings are 4mm wide and can be made to fit virtually any digit! Modeled here by Emile, Larkin's dad. :)

Bowling Pin Earrings

Here's a fun design that represents the rare confluence of Larkin's two favorite pastimes: jewelry making and bowling!

One of the bowling alley moms has been super supportive of us (as homeschoolers) trying to navigate the sometimes complicated world of high school bowling. Larkin designed these as a thank you for her as she helped us understand which hoops we needed to jump through and, even more importantly, where those hoops are located. 😅

These pins are argentium silver with copper bands around the necks.

Milestones, Website News, More!

Milestones, throwback... Wednesday, website news, a give-away... bear with me y'all!

Larkin is closing in on a milestone number of website orders and thought it would be fun to celebrate the occasion with a give-away! Warning: Larkin is a weird kid so their milestone number is not one of the obvious ones! 🤣 Larkin made this septarian piece at 13, back before they were old enough to cut their own cabs at the rock shop. This is not an original design and if Larkin was going to do it over they would use thicker gauge wire. That said, it's a pretty piece and a fun little chunk of Idle Talons history!

And here's the give-away: when that milestone website order is placed (could be this week, could take a couple of months) this pendant is going to be tucked into that package! So if there's something you've been eyeing it might be time to place an order-- who knows what could arrive at your door! ;)

Speaking of the website, we've made some changes! Larkin removed some older designs (including almost all the beadwork) to focus on the direction and feel of their current work. But don't fret! (🎵You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone!🎶) If something disappeared that you suddenly can't live without, shoot us a message and I bet Larkin will be willing to hook you up.

New Cabs!

Larkin's latest cabs! And yes, that round one is what we have officially dubbed "bowling alley" jasper. Looks kind of planetary to me... or maybe it's destined to be a bowling ball?

Water Lily Earrings

Remember the tiny, perfect lily flower on the recent water lily wrap? Now they're the stars of their own earrings! Larkin begins crafting these fabulous lilies by hand-cutting five layers of sheet metal silver into four petals. The five layers are staggered, petals shaped, and fused together, then finally a copper ball is set into the center. The 20 gauge hand-shaped ear wire is fused to the back. The copper center is untreated and will develop a natural patina over time.

Each step of torchwork is another opportunity for a layer of petals to rebel and slump-- on the first lily, Larkin worked the flower in halves and caused three different halves to slump before achieving the final lily. This pair was a little more cooperative (and, of course, Larkin had a bit more experience) and there were no start-all-over-catastrophic-failures.

These have been wear-tested and are quite robust, but some care should be taken when wearing them— loose knit garments may catch and snag on the petals.

Each bloom is about 1.3 cm in diameter and the total length of the earrings from the top of the ear wire to the bottom of the lily is about 2.3 cm.

Rock Shop Fun

Larkin and Emile finally made it back in to the shop at Crater Rock Museum to cut some new finds into slabs! I kinda dig the (mustard) yellow jasper with the bright teal and red streaks, but Larkin isn't sure there's a market for "'70s bowling alley chic." 😅

There is, however, already a suspiciously planet-shaped outline on the red jasper with black markings...

Market Season

So... February always feels like a short month, but when the first Tuesday in March is March 1-- well, let's just say market season took us a bit by surprise this year! 😅 Local folks: Larkin will be back at the Rogue Valley Growers & Crafters Market first Tuesdays at the Ashland Armory... starting tomorrow! New hours this season: 9am-1:30pm. Larkin would love to see you there!

The last few days have been a blur of re-stocking, finding findings, making space on the board for new designs, stamping bags with the Idle Talons logo and lots of other preparations.

I also included a photo of one of Larkin's recent "wind-down" projects, pictured next to that sweet tiny silver lily before it was affixed to a wrap. Meet "Crumb," a baby amigurumi octopus crocheted with a single strand separated from 6-ply embroidery floss. This craft is recommended only for the young of eyes. ;)