I really love the Lord of the Rings. I had seen the Hobbit cartoon when I was growing up, but when I read the series early in high school, I just fell in love with the imagery, and the inspiring struggle between good and evil. I also admit to attending Rennaisance Faires, and being enthralled with Celtic knotwork. The end result being the latest reinvention in my work.

This pendant is titled “Elven Star”.

Can’t you just see an Elven Queen wearing this on her way to a grand festival? It’s probably one of my very favorite pieces that I’ve made recently, and every time I see it, I smile and dream of magical happenings…

What happened most recently, however, made me smile even more. A gentleman ordered an Elven Star for his wife’s Christmas present. Not this one, but a custom made-just-for-his-magnficent-wife blue topaz version. Let’s call him Mr.Topaz.

I was thrilled. Every time I get a custom order, I feel like I’m connected to generations of custom jewelers, creating a highly individual design for one special person.

Mr. Topaz asked specifically for the darkest, most beautiful, stunningly shadowed blue topaz I could lay my hands on without taking out a second mortgage. Okay, he asked for shadows and responsible costs, and I added the rest.

After a few false starts, these lovely beauties arrived on my doorstep.

It’s one of my life’s supreme pleasures to have the world’s most luscious gemstones at my fingertips. The one towards the top of the image had a slightly better ratio of shadows, so I picked that one, and Mr. Topaz agreed.

Looking for just the right gorgeous blue topaz for this project must have primed my inspiration, because the final pendant just about put itself together.

I couldn’t be happier with how this project came out, and Mr.Topaz is even happier.

It just makes my day to help other people celebrate. Knowing someone will make someone else smile brilliantly because of something I made… It’s wonderful.

So even though it’s not even Thanksgiving yet……

Happy Early Holidays!