Applegate Jade Mushroom With Sprouting Vine

Remember that sprout Larkin made recently? Check it out paired with this Gemmy McGemerson applegate jade!

Larkin cut this cab from a bowenite stone found by our family near our home in southern Oregon. This stone is known for its deep green translucence and black flecks of magnetite that cause it to attract a magnet! Very deep green, almost black in some light, it really glows when light passes through.

That orange-ish skinned stone in this picture of the back of the piece is the original, raw bowenite cut for this cab.

Larkin paired the silver mushroom form with a sweet little sprout, entirely hand fabricated from sterling silver and modeled after young vines currently appearing on the forest floor around our home. Larkin left the back empty to allow the stone to really shine, and topped the whole thing with a custom made vining leaf bail.

Sprouting Vines And Imaginings

Larkin is in that creative stage where there are sketches on every surface in our house and random little design components like this little sprouting vine randomly left about for me to find and photograph.

Larkin is out working on the genie today, creating some cabochons to suit the pieces they are envisioning... I suspect there will be a veritable flurry of new finished pieces soon!

New Year, New Growth!

New year, new growth!Larkin is starting to feel recovered from the gloriously diverting distraction of year-end holidays/birthdays/merriment at our house and getting back in the studio!

This sterling sproutling design is one Larkin wants to continue to play with-- possibly adding some rootlets and/or seed remnants/cotyledons.

As it is, it's a pretty powerful symbol of new growth-- and the circular bail is a nice nod to the sun's role in this business of life.

Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays from all of us at Idle Talons! Today Larkin is 18-- can you believe it?! Here they are, goofing off with younger brother Finn in front of our version of an xmas tree... solstice branch?

We are also finally able to unveil the project Larkin spent the better part of the last month working on!

Larkin has always associated Grandma Mary with lilacs, and they had been wanting to try a more sculptural project.

Each tiny element of this piece is hand-fabricated, shaped, and polished.

The flower features buds in all phases from entirely closed to fully open, and the leaf is perfectly textured to mimic the shiny, waxy surface of a lilac leaf.

Grandma Mary couldn't be happier, and we had a good time with photographs!

Roses and Raffles

We've been a bit quiet lately as Larkin is working on some holiday gifts that can't be posted until after the holidays. There’s a bit more action happening over on the Idle Talons Facebook page! If you’d like to take part in a raffle to win one of Larkin’s pendants there are just a few more days to make it happen! See pinned post at www.Facebook.com/Idle.Talons for details, and please let your friends know if you think they'd be interested.

Larkin needed to restock these wild rose stud earrings for a few orders, and we're still charmed by how they look in a bouquet (in this photo they're straight out of the pickle and not shined up yet)!

Larkin loves the idea of making some tiny botanical stalks for bunched display-- do you or someone you know make tiny glass or ceramic vases that you think would pair well with Larkin's work? It could be fun to partner up!

Sproutling On Petrified Wood

Talk about down to the wire-- Larkin finished the final polish on this piece after dark last night and we grabbed some quick photos before it disappeared off to market this morning!

Larkin cut the terrarium cabochon from a piece of petrified wood found by our family, leaving the top rough to show the original exterior of the wood and mimic the rough surface of soil.

The sweet-as-all-get-out sproutling is hand-fabricated from sterling silver with so much detail! Check out its tiny terminal bud between the two leaves! Larkin kept the frame and back simple and clean, highlighting the stone and sprout.

Larkin made the custom bail with a stylized sun, the perfect accompaniment for new growth. They were amused that it also looked much like the stereotypical sun you see in the corner of so many kids' drawings. :)

Apple Blossom Clothing Pin

Zoinks, y'all. So far all of my favorite pieces of Larkin's work have involved stones and metal, but this piece of pure silversmithing has me converted!

You may recall that Larkin fabricated this apple blossom as part of the Ringgold workshop-- well, now it has been paired with an apple leaf and transformed into a gorgeous clothing pin!

This set involves so many different techniques and textures that combine to form an amazingly realistic result.

And look how perfectly shiny the back is! Zoom in if you ever have a need for my fingerprints.

This lovely will be at the RoxyAnn Winery event tomorrow!

Manic Production Mode Activate!

These holiday markets are looming (remember the RoxyAnn Winery Holiday Bazaar is this weekend!) and Larkin is hardly coming up for air and food!

This cabochon is a piece of petrified Saddle Mountain bog wood that was gifted to Larkin. They cabbed it in a unique shape that is just perfect for the top of this sweet little mushroom house. The front has a tiny door and window, and it's easy to imagine the wee field mouse or fairy that calls it home!

The back finds a couple of butterflies resting above blades of grass, and the whole thing is topped with a custom vining leaf bail. I'm going to go ahead and use a word that seldom comes up in my vocabulary: this piece is positively Darling.

And we’re introducing a new addition to the Idle Talons market booth! This wood-framed screen is kind of like a real-life version of the website gallery-- it holds 8 x 10 photos of past work. I'm sure some of you will see some familiar images. ;) We hope this will be a larger-than-life eye-catching draw to Larkin's booth full of tiny treasures.

That photo also has some unintended easter eggs! You can see some pretty cute photos of Larkin and younger brother Finn in the background, plus a reflection of Larkin in the window hunched over like a jewelry goblin.

Ho Ho Holiday Markets!

Aaaah! The holidays approacheth! 😅 Larkin has three events coming up! Local folks have two opportunities to check out the Idle Talons booth in person: at RoxyAnn Winery next weekend Nov. 19-20, and in the Talent Holiday Market at the Talent Elementary School Nov. 26-27.

Not local? Never fear! the virtual Royaboya Handmade Bazaar is back, with all the fun and games we have come to expect! The Favorite Things Holiday Bazaar runs this Nov. 25-29.

Bonus picture of pretties: Larkin redesigned the ivy hair pins slightly and I had an opportunity to photograph them with their wild brethren. ;)

Serpentine After Dark

This cab is a beautiful green serpentine (we sometimes call these stones undercooked applegate jade). Larkin created a pretty dreamy nighttime scene with hand fabricated mushrooms and ivy, topped with a shiny crescent moon.

And that mushroom at the top? It's actually the bail! The wee 3d shroom has a loop on its back for a cord to pass through. The back of the stone is secured with a lovely little hand-shaped branch.

This piece will be available at the upcoming holiday markets!

Oak Leaf Clothing Pin

The tools inspired by the Nicole Ringgold Jewelry Designs workshop have arrived and Larkin is hard at work. This hand-fabricated sterling silver clothing pin is extremely versatile-- it could add a flash of fabulous fancy to a dress shawl for an evening out, yet won't look out of place on a warm cap at the farmer's market!

The shots with the original leaf and twig are fun-- you can see how Larkin incorporated details like the surface texture of the twig, and they even matched the look of the hard core and softer surface of the original twig. Larkin used an actual leaf from the forest around us as inspiration, and plans to press it and include it with the final piece!

The twig passes through two soldered arches on the back of the leaf to hold it in place and will work on virtually any knit or crocheted garment (it may be a little loose if used on veeery thin garments).

We tried it on hats, scarves, and even as a buttonhole decoration on a coat!

Larkin is working hard on stocking up for upcoming holiday markets, so you may notice we're not adding new work to the website right now. This is one of the items Larkin will be offering at the ROXYANN WINERY HOLIDAY BAZAAR !

Holiday Market

Larkin's first market of the holiday season happens to be at RoxyAnn Winery, the site of their very first market ever!

Check out this picture from the summer of 2018, when Larkin was 13... they were so excited (and obviously a little nervous). And wow... back then most of their work was beaded. They have come so far!

If you're local come check it out-- admission is free and sipping wine and enjoying snacks while holiday shopping sounds like a pretty nice way to get it done. ;)

Halloween Hiatus

Those of you who have been following Larkin's work for a few years may recall that this time of year there is always a lag in posts while the Idle Talons metal and stone studio becomes a costume production shop.

And, yes, we will be trick or treating. The best part? My teens still want me to go with them! So if you're in Talent you may get some big kids coming to your door while beaming parents watch from the sidewalk enjoying the night-- thank you for being part of one of our family's favorite holidays!

In unrelated very exciting news, Larkin's big sterling order AND new toys (errr... I've been informed these are "tools") arrived yesterday! Tool packaging is no joke! 😅

Larkin's hands are itching to get back to metalwork so costume finalizing is happening as quickly as humanly possible.

Oak Leaf Hair Pin

I am so excited about these leafy hair decorations! This is the first (hopefully) of many. Larkin plans on making a whole line of leaf hairpins, each unique and modeled after actual individual leaves in our forest and surroundings.

Larkin hand-shaped and textured this oak leaf from sheet metal and wire. The wire base is bent and shaped into waves like a bobby pin for greater staying power.

This pin can be used alone for a small amount of hair (it will hold slightly more than a bobby pin and less than most barrettes) or added as decoration to a hair tie.

This is the leaf Larkin made in the Ringgold workshop and is solid 0.925 sterling silver. After lots of experimentation and frustration at home, it became clear that argentium just doesn't behave as well as sterling for these kinds of sculptural projects-- it gets brittle and tears and cracks very easily. While Larkin will continue to use argentium for some projects, they bit the bullet this week and placed an order for sterling that essentially meant replacing all the metal in their home workshop.

Samaras Pendant

And the samaras got their final polish!

These are currently a one-of-a-kind pendant, but once some new tools arrive Larkin hopes to make repeatable designs for earrings and pendants. Larkin hand sculpted these detailed maple seed pods from 0.925 sterling silver.

In our childhood, these “whirligigs” or “helicopter seeds” had a special place in our hearts! Immortalized in silver, these seed pods are remarkably sturdy while appearing amazingly delicate.

Still Life With Twig

Next up in workshop results is what (I think?) is Larkin's most purely sculptural piece yet!

Larkin entirely hand-sculpted this pendant (I've been calling it Still Life With Twig 😅) from 0.925 sterling silver. It is truly three dimensional and can be appreciated from all angles!

The twig itself is impressively realistic, and made even more so by the cluster of cup lichen at its base. A wee silver inch worm making its way toward the bail is the perfect topping for this sweet little piece of nature-inspired art.

I suspect that the right person will know this unique piece needs to be theirs as soon as they see it!

Red Jasper Mushroom

Larkin is slowly putting final touches and polishes on the results of last week's workshop and we'll be listing them in the next few days! First up is this super sweet mushroom pendant.

Larkin cut this uniquely shaped red jasper cabochon from a stone found by our family in Humboldt County, California. All metalwork is done in 0.925 sterling silver. Larkin is having a small crisis of commitment after working in sterling at the workshop. They vastly prefer the color/quality of argentium, but it's not clear if the ease of working with metal at the workshop was entirely due to using sterling or the quality of the tools. Lots of experimentation ahead!

The sweet little rounded mushroom base frames a cluster of young mushrooms, and the back of the bezel setting features a trio of hand-cut and textured oak leaves.

ACME Delivery

As predicted, Larkin came home from last week's workshop with tools on their mind! The first arrived today like this (no, we didn't unwrap anything before taking a photo)-- can you guess what it is? 🤣 Apparently anvils are so big and heavy that they don't bother with a lot of pesky packaging.

Workshop Wrap-up

The last day of the Nicole Ringgold workshop was a bit eclipsed on the home front by Larkin's brother having his wisdom teeth extracted (he's doing great!) so I'm playing catch up now.

When Larkin sent me this first photo I thought it looked like the worst toothbrush ever 😅.

But it turned out to be a pretty adorable inchworm twig ornament!

Larkin also took a class photo, so to speak, of all the pieces (not all are complete) they worked on this week. That little round shape that looks a bit like a wad of aluminum foil is the beginnings of a hollow form pumpkin.

I also want to include a few pictures of the workshop space, which I'm pretty sure has become Larkin's dream studio! Not pictured are all the frogs that apparently inhabit the many plants Ringgold keeps around as models.

Larkin and Emile are now moseying their way south, stopping at every hopeful-looking rockhounding site on the way home. Bonus photo of a maple with Larkin's samaras in amongst their brethren.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the results of this week as much as I have-- I'm super excited to get my hands on this new work in person and get some glamour shots. :)

Workshop Day One

First day of the Nicole Ringgold workshop! This is what's currently on Larkin's bench:

Also, a reminder that this workshop means that Larkin will not be at tomorrow's Rogue Valley Growers & Crafters Market, but will be there next week-- probably with some brand new treasures in tow. ;)