Custom Orders are the Spice of Life

That is a bit of an overstatement, truthfully. But I have been quite enjoying the new and varied projects coming across my desk lately.

Custom projects often come with a story, too, and I find that knowing them — where a piece is going, for which ceremony or celebration it will be gifted — adds a little more sentiment and a different kind of meaning to my work.

Some of my recent custom projects have included “firsts” — such as my first tie bar. This set above, with matching cufflinks, will be a wedding gift from a sister to her twin to her brother, who will be married this month.

Below is a tiny pinwheel necklace with a little handle, to be a birthday gift for a 12 year old.

A set of single helicopter pendants for the wife and mother of a helicopter pilot. (This design will also now be a permanent item in the shop.)

And cufflinks, which were a gift for a good friend on his 80th birthday.

If you ever have custom jewelry ideas, I’m happy to hear from you, at bluedotjewelry@gmail.com.

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Sugar Skull Cufflinks

This has been one of my favorite projects of the year. Tiny Día de los Muertos cufflinks, each the size of a dime.

These will be a wedding gift between friends, for the groom to wear on his big day!

My Jellyfish Pendant

It’s strange but true – this jellyfish pendant is the all time most visited Blue Dot piece. I can’t explain it, but I like it!

The piece originated as a custom commission for a certain someone who was stung by a jellyfish on her honeymoon. (How’s that for embracing happenstance? I also like that.)

Just recently I’ve received the most wonderful feedback from a client. I assume this sheds light on the reason for the little stinger’s popularity.

Hello!
I just got my jellyfish pendant today and I wanted to tell you that I absolutely love it!!! It’s beautiful and so well made, it looks like it could start swimming away! Thank you so much, I love jellyfish and it is very hard to find any kind of jewelry that does them justice.

It could start swimming away – what a compliment! I love hearing from you, my dear clients.

More is Merrier!

Whenever I make multiples for one order I feel compelled to photograph them together. So many starfish! Going to Texas!

Sometimes I know the full story behind orders, and sometimes I don’t. Are these for… bridesmaids? Sisters? Best friends? I like to imagine…

B’s Bee Necklace Found!

One happy story of Christmas was being able to reunite my sister with her Blue Dot necklace. It went missing on the day of my wedding, was rescued afterward at the venue, and now she’s back wearing it every day. With a little luck!

I took a snap before returning it. ♥

Happy New Year!

Grumpy Pug

When traveling, I can’t very well work with temperamental and messy silver clay, but I can make sample designs in Sculpey. While flying home from our (fun!) Thanksgiving weekend in North Carolina, I made this to fulfill a request for a pug pendant.

This is the most specific piece I’ve attempted. There is often an element of letting the clay guide me, but for this I worked from a photo. The grumpiness, I’m not sure where that came from!

And it looks like a dog. But, a pug? I think I might have crossed breeds here. Do any of you, who know better than I, see some bulldog in the mix?

I Made Cufflinks for My Groom

I have a groom! Now my groom has cufflinks! Holy moly we’re getting married in five days!

I’m happy to say I’ve finished these in time for my handsome hubs-to-be to wear down the aisle. Bonus: He loves them!

As he pointed out, it’s the first time he’ll wear jewelry a la Blue Dot. Oh, why yes it is.

Happy Bride, Happy Me

I received an email recently that made me do a happy dance. It was from a friend-turned-customer, for whom I’d made a silver sunflower pendant, which was to be a wedding gift for her best friend. The bride planned to carry a bouquet with a sunflower in the center. Beautiful!

The pendant was a good size, so it needed to be thin in order to not be too heavy, and that meant careful, close work. Technically speaking, I’d never made a piece with quite so many parts that needed to be assembled and reinforced.

In the end it was unmistakably a sunflower and pleasantly asymmetrical as requested, but it’s not my opinion that counts, ultimately, on custom orders. I always hope to please, but this was so, so happy to hear!

She absolutely loved it — so much that she wrapped it around her bouquet when she walked down the aisle. As soon as I have a picture (the photographer took one) I’ll send you a copy. Thanks again. You really helped me make a very special gift for my best friend bride.

This is what it’s all about. Woohoo!

Sunflower pendant on the bouquet

More (Tiny!) Sheep

This has been a sheep-filled few weeks. I’m not sure when another Blue Dot piece has been so instantly as popular as this wooly creation. Then I received a custom order for these tiny sheep stud earrings to go with the necklace. I love tiny things and am always happy for a reason to make them. The necklace/earring sheep set was to be a gift for a girl who is showing her first lamb this week at their county fair. How exciting!

Which made me realize, alas, it’s been far too long since I’ve been to a county fair. I really love them. I’m allergic to so many animals — sadness — so the fair in a way served as my big summer animal fix. Also, the bigger the animal I hang around the less of a need I felt to take one home. Although the rabbits always captured my heart. I always wanted to take one or five with me. So, here’s to big real animals and tiny silver animals!

Sheep stud earrings

Cufflinks

I recently conquered soldering with a small torch. These were the result, as custom ordered by a friend. He requested a Jackson Pollock-esque background, and when translated to silver, the result was something akin to what I though the surface of the moon looked like when I was six.

I feel very accomplished now that I can handle soldering. It took some real try, try again energy. Next up, cufflinks for my soon-to-be-groom! Hopefully, the hardest part of this project will be keeping them a secret. He’s not good at saving surprises because he gets so excited, so I might have trouble keeping them from him for the same reason… he knows they’re coming.