Behind The Scenes : Shattered Blue capsule collection by Zoe Cope
This capsule collection project was so much fun to work on. The Talisman and Lovers Ring, or Lorelei’s Ring, are so integral to the story line thus I knew I wanted to make them speak to not just the literal descriptions, but also to the element of mystery/magic that’s prevalent in Shattered Blue.
My original idea for the Talisman was to make an actual chest charm but luckily Bird had the idea to instead incorporate my “geode” theme and make a new type of design. I ended up creating a gyroscope inspired unit that is lined with crushed dyed blue amethyst. I wanted the piece to look magical since the concept is Callum had to break off part of his soul and trap it for Noa to wear so he’d be able to touch her without taking her Light. Usually when I line my geode jewelry units with crushed gems I use chunky pieces but for the Talisman it seemed more fitting to use the smallest bits of crushed dyed blue amethyst to keep the silhouette cleaner. I chose to use a chain with infinity links to symbolize eternal love. My hope was to create a piece that could stand on it’s own and be beautiful without you knowing the story of Shattered Blue, but that was also a careful and considered interpretation of the Talisman described in the book.
The Lover’s Ring design took more time to figure out. At first I was going to make a ring and incorporate braided house hair. But it wasn’t coming together in a clean enough way for me to feel confident in the design. So then I moved on to figuring out how to represent the hair in metal. I chose to use three different styles of silver rings and give each their own scribed in texture. The rings represent the hair of Lorelei’s children Callum, Judah and Lily. I wanted to offer the ring on a chain of some kind and was thrilled when I cam across beautiful hand dyed silk ribbon. I chose a midnight blue ribbon to represent Lorelei’s hair which is described as being so black it’s almost blue throughout the novel. I added two silver tone African beads to give another detail to the finished piece. Lastly, the ribbon has two slip knots so the wearer can choose the length that suits them best.
Also included in this capsule collection is a design from my original EARTHBOUND collection. The Mini Mikro Geode Necklace is offered in dyed blue amethyst. Irradiating a stone does not change its composition, and therefore, does not change the stone’s inherent healing properties. And so, compositionally, the stone is still an amethyst and will retain the healing properties of an amethyst. The dyed amethyst will have the color healing properties associated with indigo blue. Indigo symbolizes a mystical borderland of wisdom, self-mastery and spiritual realization. While blue is the color of communication with others, indigo turns the blue inward, to increase personal thought, profound insights, and instant understandings. Noa really has to look into herself and find her own power making it beyond fitting that the stone used in this design is dyed amethyst.
Here’s how I make each Mini Mikro Geode Necklace:
- First I draw the pattern of the Mini Mikro geode on flat sterling silver sheet metal, saw it out by hand, solder it so it’s now one complete round unit, hammer it perfectly round, then go and solder on the jump ring on top to make the bail for the chain to go through.
- Then I use my flex shaft (kind of like the big brother to a Dremel) and use different abrasives to clean up and smooth the edges of the silver geode form.
- Next I put the form into my tumbler (yep, it’s a rock tumbler but it works perfect for doing all over finishes on jewelry without the physical labor) using a plastic media that makes the silver matte. After running it for a few hours, I check the piece for any weird indentations, marks or other visual imperfections and then put it in the tumbler again but this time with steel shot that makes it super polished and shiny.
- This next step is the longest one! I hand adhere the crushed gems with a two part resin. I have to rotate the unit once one section is dry so each Mini Mikro takes an initial three rotations. Then I go in and make sure the silhouette of the crushed stones looks good and add extra stones where necessary.
- Finally I go back to the flex shaft and use a very abrasive unit and knock back any of the crushed gems that stick out past the silver (so they won’t scratch or catch on anything).
- Lastly I loop the chain through the bail and solder the endcaps and add the clasps. Bada bing!
written by Zoe Cope