New Items, New Thoughts.

Posted on July 14, 2013 by TheStrayArrow

This post may be a bit longer, as I feel text has been slightly dwindling from this blog. Firstly, new items! These will be hitting the shop later tonight and tomorrow.

Stone rings in natural old stock Royston and Manassa mine turquoise, and a luscious pink rhodochrosite.

Other newer pieces include mini “Sweet Sayings” rings. These sterling bands feature delightful short quotes by yours truly. Each ring features a different quote, but they can be made to your size upon inquiry. Currently made are: “We are the brazen bold“, and “A darling day for rain” (for the English). These sterling bands are patina darkened and then polished to a steel like finish, with the darkened quotes hidden on the inside of the ring band. On the outside is my jeweler’s mark. These also make great knuckle rings.

A wampum necklace with mini wampum beads, old stock cut of green Manassa mine turquoise, wild horse magnesite Crossed Arrows dangles, and silver & rose gold stackers will be joining them.

It’s also been pretty evident that I’ve been somewhat neglectful of the Stretched Ears Jewelry shop. The Arrow Vanes, signature Stray Arrow wear, will soon be available in multiple gauge sizes in the shop. I’ll also be making more plugs featuring rare turquoise (Blue Moon mine), and other designs quite soon.

Now for my favourite new addition. Awhile ago I made a necklace for myself that, along with The Stray Arrow necklace, has become a signature daily piece. Out of bronze and silver sheet metal I made a 5 string banjo. Completed with a wrap around quote on the body, and sawed out arrow in the back. I’ll be offering these in the shop as of tonight as a *CUSTOM* piece. The quotes and backing design can be customized. Four string banjos are also available. They’ll put a little folk mountain life in you. No templates, all hand forged.

That’s it for new items for the next few days. I’ve also been working on some custom orders that’ll be shown here and the usual outlets (Tumblr, Instagram @thestrayarrow, Facebook), once finished.

A Note-

I’ve been noticing people imitating my work. While this is a touchy subject that seems taboo to talk about, this is getting unavoidable. Artisan one of a kind jewelry design is a difficult art to protect when compared to other art fields. Copies will happen. “One offs” are tolerated and occasionally flattering if the artist is *given credit* as being behind the inspiration. This is unfortunately not the case. I have been seeing people not only imitate my very specific signature materials (not that one can ever claim to own such a thing), but my writing descriptions, photography style, work title style and themes, and my overall aesthetic entirely. A continual ‘paraphrasing’, if you will. Most people have the grace to come up with their own designs, for those that don’t they bring down the work of others. I want to reiterate and remind everyone that if there is space to stamp my half inch “STRAY ARROW” logo onto an original piece, and it is not there, it is not made by me. This means that it is not backed by my quality guarantee, nor my 6 years of turquoise study experience. Just because a piece of turquoise is claimed from a mine does not equal good quality. I am an artist with eccentric interests, and my jewelry work is an extension of that. I try to be respectful of everyone’s creative and intellectual property, and truly wish the same in return.

In other news, I’ve been in the process of taking some jewelry group shots of pieces for things like packaging, cards, and promos (hint hint *soon*). Below are some of those shots, as well as some really great folks wearing my jewels. Click on their photos for their respective work links and check them out!

^lady Arlie, of Urban Revisions in 14k yellow gold and dark silver faceted sapphire gem ring. Paired with her new white glass jewels!

^the extremely talented Rachel (photographer), in Royston turquoise and dark silver necklace.

^Dominique of Couture Vulture wearing Stray Arrow No-see-’ems, and mini crystal rings by Concrete Polish.

Cave Ladies, Shooting in The Dark,

still a favourite.

That’s all folks! I leave you with an illustration from one of my favourites, the Pink Fairy Book~

xx The Stray Arrow

Giveaway Results, New Item Preview, New Rocks…

Posted on December 27, 2012 by TheStrayArrow

LET’S GET RIGHT TO IT, SHALL WE?

For both giveaways I made a list of the names entered with numbers next to the names. The drawing for the Koroit Dirt Drop Necklace was out of 24 names, the Buffalo out of 64. I used a random number generator to choose the winners:

WINNER of Koroit Necklace:

SARAH HAYWARD.

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WINNER of Buffalo:

LAUREN PROPER.

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Congrats to Lauren & Sarah! You’ll be contacted to confirm shipping info. Thank you so much to everyone who participated! Grazie Mille for the comments, compliments, shard stories, quotes, lyrics, and little diddys. We’ll have to see what I come up with next December!

If you all didn’t notice, both shops are currently on VACATION. I had some panic last time that folks couldn’t “find” my shop on Etsy and thought I had been lost forever, so DON’T PANIC. They’ll reopen next week! Meanwhile I’m out on the road to see some good ol’Bluegrass banjo music. Speaking of banjos…..

*NEW ITEM PREVIEW*

I’ve always liked some nice twang. While I listen to many, many different “genres” of music, I adore old Appalachian Folk, Bluegrass, Delta Blues, and old Country. Banjos in general are just neat. So, I’ve been bangin’ out some 5 string banjo-shaped pieces for keychains and little necklaces. They are out of thick copper and bronze in two different sizes. Each has my maker’s mark on the back, and a CUSTOM song quote or tittle on the front. There will also be a standard set of quotes to choose from. The key chains will be great for guys and gals alike, the necklaces shall veer slightly towards a steampunk fashion with antique watch faces for the banjo body, reading, “BANJO TIME”, on the back. These will be up in the shop for sale next week as a “first draft”at this new concept.

These new goodies will also be in the shop next week:

Also new will be one of a kind stacking ring sets, “The Cave Stack”. Each will feature two pieces of natural turquoise from a collectable mine. Each will have 4 rings in the stack total, often spur of the moment made stackers. These may be one shot items. They’ll all be patina rustic, echoing your inner cave dweller. The Cave Stack below features Castle Dome turquoise from the Southwest in a size 7.5. A set featuring Damele mine turquoise is also made up in a size 6, and a #8 Mine Cave Stack is currently in production in a size 8.5. These can also be custom made!

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NOW ON TO ROCKS.

Some sad news is I *WON’T* be heading to the fun and fruitful Tucson Gem Show this coming year. After getting slightly more organized this year, I’ve realized that I do have an extensive rock inventory that really does need to be used up before I buy oodles more. Because of this, I just snagged a HUGE, MASSIVE amount of natural old stock turquoise stones from a secret source of mine. In addition I’ve formed a couple of other selective sources for primo quality natural turquoise. A few days before I picked these out, the man I acquired them from had just had a mini summit of sorts with 5-7 different Mine *owners*, so this is pretty great stuff straight from their respective sources. Most are currently up for grabs for any custom orders (great for Cave stacking sets!). Feel free to inquire about any sizes, or custom ideas!

^ABOVE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: rough Manassa, rough Damele, Skyline Mine, Snowville Variscite from Utah.

That’s it! Hope everyone has had a Happy Holiday season, whether you’re celebrating Channukah, Christmas, Yule/Solstice, or what have you. See you all January First for Rock Appreciation Day!

xx Stray Arrow

“The Wind-God Frowns In The Murky Skies…”

Posted on August 13, 2012 by TheStrayArrow

It has been a little while since my last post, and I’ve had some amazing travels. It has also been raining the past few days, and I have been loving it. This is going to be a fairly long post. I have news to share, recent custom orders to show you, new pieces that’ll be added to the main Etsy shop tomorrow and Tuesday, as well as new stones!

I’ve traveled before and left the Etsy shops open, but then it is never a true vacation. I always feel the need to respond to conversations immediately or think about all the sold items to wrap when I return. So, last week, I switched both shops to vacation mode. Thank you all for bearing with me!

For all those who don’t know, I love to drive. I mean truly. If I am behind the wheel, I’ll go anywhere. I spent around 23 hours driving in a span of 6 days and it was AMAZING. Thanks to my friend, who never asked to take the wheel. We drove all around the New England and Tri-State areas following one band around. Who needs a fancy vacation when you have good music? We spent all of Saturday at their festival in Portland, ME listening to new bands, and songs of other’s we could sing along with. Through heat stroke, blistered feet, frizzy hair, hot and humid weather, the worst sun burn I’ve ever had, and most importantly a serious lack of caffeine-we had the time of our lives.

We plan to do it again.

~Pictures of the voyage at the end of this post~

Now I know I missed “Rock Appreciation Day” this month, but don’t worry! I’ll be doing TWO rock/gem types next month on the 1st!

BELOW:

Some of the more recent commissions I have finished and adored:

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*I have one LAST pair of these beautiful natural rounded trillion cut druzy gems

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BELOW:

All the new goodies coming to the shop tomorrow and Tuesday, plus a few others that are still in the works! Some of these pieces include some beautiful quality stones and gems for extreme Statement pieces. Check the main shop tomorrow to see descriptions, prices, sizes, and more pictures of these new jewels! http://www.TheStrayArrow.Etsy.com

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Although I am *not taking* any custom orders for this month, I do have new stones to share! These can be reserved for custom orders which will resume next month.

In order of the photos below:

BOULDER OPALS (stone on right is already RESERVED)

MARY ELLEN JASPER

FOURTH PHOTO FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: WHITE BUFFALO TURQUOISE HEART, WATER WEBBED NACOZARI, PRUDENT MAN PLUME AGATE (already in use for a ring!)

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A peek of our travels…. Some new pieces shall emerge by the end of the month inspired by all that is Folk music, mainly old traditional Appalachian Folk ballads.

*our night after an ADDITIONAL 4 hours of NYC traffic piled on to my 4 hour drive.

*happy feet! A little leaf leaped into my shoe to join in our trek. I left him in there.

A very nice gentleman was able to take two seconds of his time for a picture.

It is my one photo memento of the full week of music my friend and I shared.

Everyone we met were exceptional, sweet, generous, and all around great folks.

Well I am now back in the studio at full steam! Prepare to see a lot of new pieces in BOTH shops in the near future. I wish you all the great luck bestowed upon my friend and I.

xx Stray Arrow