A little stud earring to go with your Rock empowerment necklace

As mentioned here in the making and inspiration of, and here in the debut of the rock necklace - I walked 900 miles to get over a fear of rocks until I turned them into a symbol of strength, and eventually - jewelry. 

Inside the rock are little flowers. A handcarved wax bloom I made and had cast in silver and gold to symbolize our secret talents and inner beauty. 

But every necklace needs earrings too, right?! 

I carved additional tiny treasures to go with this necklace. Symbols of how our perseverance leads to growth and prosperity. 

The pieces start as a large block of solid wax. First step is to saw out a smaller part to work from. 

Then I rough out a shape with a hand file, carve with burs in the flex shaft (similar to a flexible hand held drill), and finish by delicately hand carving the details with dental tools.

When my hands start to cramp up from the detailed carving process, I amuse myself by taking selfies in my optivisor - the magnification I now rely on heavily to see tiny parts (thanks aging process!). 

Once I have the finished wax (master part), I bring it to the caster who has a shop up the hill from my studio here in Seattle.

Casting is a specialized process that involves a lot of tools and time I can't quite fit into my studio practice. It includes making molds from my master parts, transforming that wax into metal through the lost wax casting process, and often grinding off excess sprues and sanding/polishing to get the finished piece in silver or gold. 

For these super tiny parts, I get them back from the caster with 4 little flowers attached to one sprue. I then need to cut them apart, sand down and polish the excess silver before soldering on the post, turning them into functional earrings. 

and Voila! 

The finished earrings are tiny and precious and charming and easy to wear all day. 

I've made them in solid precious metals (no plating or fill) so even sensitive ears will love them.

They are available in: sterling silver, darkened sterling silver, or 14k solid yellow gold. 

Purchase your very own pair

and check out the Rock Necklace