One of my favorite things is creating a piece that has a special meaning to someone. Making something special for a birthday, Mother’s Day or a wedding means that the recipient will have something unique, something that is only theirs. But when someone asks me to make something in memory of someone, it always humbles me to be asked to be a part of that.
A customer came to me and told me that she wanted something special for her niece’s wedding present, but not just an ordinary present. The niece had lost both parents and she wanted something to be made in their memory for her. Both parent’s birthdays were in August, so pairing up sardonyx and peridot was the perfect match. The challenge was finding the stones that I wanted to use within the budget, then coming up with a design from just a few pictures of the niece to get an idea of her style. That’s where the idea for this bracelet was born. It had to have a warm tone to it, almost a leathery look, but be durable enough to hold up and work with the stones I was able to find. The bracelet came to life after oxidizing it to tone down the copper and give it more of the look of leather. The second bracelet was created for her husband, so that they could have matching pieces, without them actually matching. Both use the same stones and the same antiqued copper, but with totally different looks.
