Gimmel Ring, V&A

Absolutely stunning one-of-a-kind piece made in Germany circa 1600-50′s. How could I make it for everyone? A jewelry designer usually first makes a ring in a neutral size like a 7 which is about in the middle. This way one can size down or up the design – but since these are three with an interlocking bottom and coordinated on top, I found that it would be impossible to do this for all sizes – after 2 attempts. And, for the first design I made the sleeves too long for the smaller sizes. So, the reason that it took me a while was because there are really two prototypes. One for sizes 5 , 6 & 7 and another ring for sizes 8, 9 & 10.  The larger ring is actually almost 10% bigger than the smaller size because it was the only way to keep the integrity of the words as well as the design. To put it into production terms, from the two prototypes I’ve made rings for each whole size, which makes 15 rings and 15 molds before I could even start production. So, wow, I’m kind of tired.

Now to tell you something that made me cringe last week. First of all, my friends will tell you that I will be the first person who will admit an error. This is probably because I love to learn languages and the only way to speak well is to make mistakes over and over again. I suppose that is the same is for jewelry. So, I concede, I was wrong – well maybe half wrong. I had kind of a Diana/Ysabeau moment. Remember when Ysabeau chided Diana for only knowing modern French. Well, I am guilty as charged. I definitely do not speak 15th century French. So, when I had engraved “A ma vie de couer entier,” I didn’t see a mistake at all – unlike “du passe” which I really had made a spelling mistake earlier in the process. “A ma vie de coer entier” is the correct 15th century poesy, and it was caught by an astute fan, Celia Chapatot. As you can imagine, I am now changing 5 rings [sigh] and I am sorry to say it will push back the ring production by a few days BUT it will be correct and beautiful. In any case, I am thrilled at all the enthusiasm and hope you will love it. PDF technical notes on the ring.

Kim's one-of-a-kind black angel feather: She doesn't wear a lot of jewelry, so she wanted a single black feather. I added the bail in the end to continue the spine of the feather.

The angel myth is not just a Judeo-Christian phenomenon, some Wiccans believe that the Watchers [Grigori or fallen angels] guard the portals to other worlds. The Zoroastrians were the original believers that all humans have a guardian angel. To learn more about angels, browse through A Dictionary of Angels by Gustav Davidson. It is very helpful in researching specific topics like Azazel, without reading google hits on X-Men. Whether you believe they exist, are fallen, love women, are cute and chubby and/or don’t exist in the post-deluvian world, they are a part of pop culture and should be celebrated. I’ve started with feathers, but I intend to branch out to flames, halos, incarnations of cherubim [not putti] – anything but angel wings. I realize that wings seem to be the defining physical feature of an angel, but I am convinced it is really the blinding light. If I could capture the light in metal like Hermione can put blue flames in a jar, I would. Instead, I settled on one single feather.

You may have seen this on my facebook page, but I wanted to explain more about the feathers. One side is dark [nephilim/watchers or kind of bad boys], the other side is light [seraphim/guardian angels or the kind of good boys]. The flat side can be inscribed with your favorite angel’s name as well as the ring. You will be able to choose which side you want black or white for the inscription. This way, you’ll always have your angel near by to evoke.

Angelic Feathers

Here are some Cherubim I would like to try my hand at:

Tetramorph Meteora/Cherubim Icon

Some Rebel Angels depicted in art:

Frans Floris

Sebastiano Ricci

Some selected books with Angels in them:

Lauren Kate – Fallen Series

Richelle Mead – Georgina Kincaid Series

Nalini Singh – Guild Hunter Series

Laini Taylor – Daughter of Smoke and Bone

J.R. Ward – Fallen Angels Series

Hope you like everything. If you have suggestions with more angelic accessories, please, please suggest them as well as more books, movies, manga or tales. Thank you!

LEDs

First I have to admit to one thing, I’ve been reading a lot of historical romances recently, and I have to say that I’m completely stupefied by what women wore to balls. There are gowns, pelisses, corsets, bodices, stays, kirtles, chemises, gloves, garters, stockings, lace and that’s just the beginning. So, when I was invited to the MAD LED Ball, I thought I would design something outrageous that I read in a book. I’m so terribly predictable. I still don’t know what it is but I assure you, it will be audaciously delicious.

So what does one need to make wearable LED art?
1. Power source
2. LEDs that are different colors and flexible, ie can conform into shapes
3. Programmable LEDs for blinking or even blink to music [yes, I know how to  program] I will be using Arduino, I think.
4. A design
5. Time period to build it, try it out and fix the glitches.

I’ll try to keep you up to date on the progress weekly. I suppose I should make a schedule now. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

And just when you thought I couldn’t tie this into something supernatural …

Recently, I’ve read a long essay from Umair Haque who is an economist. I know, you’re thinking BORING, but let me just quote something here from his BETTERNESS: ECONOMICS FOR HUMANS:

“What if the great challenge for enterprise in the twenty-first century is no longer merely manufacturing the alluring, spotlit glamour of mass-produced opulence, but cultivating a more authentic plentitude that matters in human terms? …I call this positive paradigm betterness; in contrast with business, it’s not about being busier and busier (to what end?) but about becoming better.”

Wow! I think he’s talking about ME! Of course I want to be better – all designers want to be better, more innovative, more precise, more functional … I want to make better jewelry for you. Obviously, I can make very beautiful custom posh pieces, and I still do a bit, but I recently decided that I just want to make better meaningful pieces from universes and myths I love for people who share my passion for good stories.

And to make things even better, I’ve also decided to write stories for some of my pieces. When I mean stories, I mean 200 word stories and/or descriptions. Most of my emails ask me about my inspiration so, I thought I should just makes stories for them and share my references. I am a huge fan of Indian tales. I read the Mahabharata and Ramayana every year [abridged, of course! P. Lal translation] so you may recognize my myths and storytelling from here.

So, onward and upward and maybe a little nap on the side.

Impromptu observation: who knew my kale would still be growing in this strange New England Winter.

Dinosaur Kale

Matthew Clairmont, the hero in ADOW, wears an ampulla from Bethany when he thinks he may murder someone. The ampulla is also thrown into the fireplace of a magical house where its contents become somehow activated. Obviously, this object has a lot of significance in the book and had to be designed both as a personal and magical object. An ampulla is first a vessel. As a pilgrim’s talisman, it holds a few drops of holy water and worn during the pilgrimage. Here are a few examples ampullæ that I researched to inspire Matthew’s talisman.

ampulla 6-7th c, earthenware

14th c ampulla, tin

Ampullæ are common and come in all sorts of material – glass, ceramic and metal are the most common. In fact there is an ampulla in the crown jewels of England. Matthew wore his regularly over a few centuries. It was ancient and worn by time and Matthew’s touch. Below is his ampulla. I designed to be like him. Forthright, strong and mysterious. It is made of solid sterling silver and feels heavy and solid in one’s hands. It is crimped shut so that the precious holy water does not come out. It feels like it has the power to stop someone from killing. Its austerity holds the secret of Lazarus. Hope you like it.

This is how it’s described in ADOW: “’It’s an ampulla from Bethany.’ It was shaped like a coffin and just big enough to hold a few drops of holy water … He drew the leather cord from the neck of his sweater and touched the worn, smooth surfaces of the Lazarus’s silver coffin.”

Matthew's Ampulla

It’s almost the new moon, so I think it’s appropriate to start again from the top. I need help developing more jewelry for The Morganville Vampires Series written by Rachel Caine. Here’s where the jewelry lives now: The Morganville Jewelry Store.

The contest is simple – do you have a Morganville Vampire jewelry idea? Then write, doodle and/or video tape it and post it here on this blog or on THIS FORM. IF YOU HAVE ALREADY ENTERED, WE’LL KEEP YOUR ENTRY OR  YOU MAY ENTER AGAIN.

EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATES WILL GET 15% OFF ALL JEWELRY ON CADSAWAN.COM.

Thanks for your enthusiasm and Good Luck!  BIG THANK YOU to Rachel Caine and Sarah Weiss for making this contest possible.

1ST PLACE: MYRNIN CHARM

2nd Place: LAST BREATH ARC

3rd Place: BITE CLUB

These brothers have stories, that even without the steamy romances, would be enough for me to read them. Evil parents, sibling rivalry & guilt, deep scary secrets, hidden monsters … you name it, these brothers have experienced it. Needless to say, everyone who reads about them is touched by their redemption. I am not immune either. In fact,  my favorite brother is Vishous. I won’t go into his story other than he has mommy and daddy issues as well as duties. Maybe I can identify with that coming from a very conservative, genius Asian family who still don’t quite understand what I’m doing with my life. In any case, I’m not the only one. Everyone one has a favorite and I’ve attempted to manifest these warriors for all to wear. Here is an example of some inspired BDB charms. All of them will be up on www.cadsawan.com/thestore.html soonest. Hope you like them.

Black Dagger Brotherhood

 Sterling Silver. Approximately .75″H

Happy, Happy Fall Everyone!

Just when we thought the new website was finished, alas – Amazon has asked that we make more adjustments to the photos. So please sit tight, a lot is on its way – some you’ve already had a taste of, some completely new.

Before the holiday season takes off, I want to thank a few people who made a lot of these pieces come to life and who have helped me get here: Sherry; The Girls ; Anna, Karen & Christine ; Indira [my patient assistant who is very gifted in everything dragon]; Brett [my social media guru]; Rachel Caine, Cat & Sarah Weiss; and Nimbo & 3rd wheel. There are really too many authors to mention, but I think everyone knows the ones I love because I mention them daily! It really takes a lot of people to make cadsawan jewelry function, and I am thankful that I can create objects that mean more than the metal they are made from.

Happy Autumn,

Janet

P.S. THANK YOU JEWELRY LOVERS AND MY FANS!!!! XOXO

Mercury Symbol

First of all, I only design for books I adore and as you may know, Rachel Caine is the author of the fantastic Morganville Vampire Series – which I more than adore. This series is for the younger YA crowd and I continue to marvel at the universe that Rachel creates in Morganville. Since I live in a very private community here in Connecticut, I now believe more than ever that vampires are running this town. Myrnin is the mad professor/alchemist and mentor to Claire, the other genius in this series. Can I say that I love having female protagonists being genii! Anyway, while I was designing the symbol for Myrnin,  I thought that the above symbol didn’t represent his mercurial personality, i.e. it didn’t truly capture his madness-genius-bunny slipper wearing side. [And if you want to know if I’m going to make bunny slipper jewelry, the answer is NO.] So I re-designed this symbol that captured genius + jester and posted it on my Facebook page.

Myrnin Symbol Re-Designed

Everyone liked it, but when it came out of the oven, I didn’t. It was too small and too dull for him, so made it a bit larger and I came up with the below. I thought it was more whimsical. For those who know alchemy and astrology, you will recognize the sign of Mercury on both sides of the “M”. What do you think?

Myrnin Symbol Prototype

I NEED YOUR HELP!! Before I make it available to you, I can’t make up my mind. Do you want it suspended as a necklace from both sides so it hangs symmetrical like the above or do you want it as a charm hanging from only one side so it dangles? My immediate feeling is to dangle it and have a dark purple ribbon as the necklace. Please leave me a comment and let me know if you like it and what I should do!!! Thank you.

P.S. This is our accidental rooster. We thought it was a hen, but he’s crowing like fool now.

Vial Prototype

This is her book trailer