Wood oval fix: An ironic update

Yesterday I posted a whole tirade about how hard it is to find tiger ebony oval hoops.

BUT LO, AND BEHOLD:

 

Diablo Organics Tiger Ebony oval hoops. Well don't I feel like an ass.

You win BAF, you win. I don't even feel bad for letting you take my money on this one.

Pic stolen from bodyartforms

Wood oval fix

Ok so I know I just went on a rant about originality and how bored I get of traditional shapes in organic jewelry... but sometimes I just want something simple, but bold. Like tiger ebony oval hoops (I know I'm still on this tiger ebony tip. It's not going away anytime soon. Just wait for my post about the spools I'm planning.)

But apparently it's really fucking difficult to find tiger ebony oval hoops that aren't custom made. I've been trolling bodyartforms for the better part of the morning trying to figure out if I should just get a pair of black ebony ones but the more I argue with myself about it, the more I realize that plain black ebony just ain't gonna cut it.

I have issues.

But listen! I just want to mash these two pictures together:

WHY CANT YOU DO THAT JIMMY? (he can probably do it. i just don't feel like asking and would rather get my instant fix from BAF)

oh, speaking of diablo organics and also from a plug porn perspective, how fucking cool are these:

Hand carved mammoth fossil. Makes me want to stretch to 1 1/16" just to wear these beauties.

Pics stolen from bodyartforms

Heart On Sleeve Jewelry

Let me try to put into words how impressed I am by Heart On Sleeve Jewelry.

Mark is innovative, creative, and pushing the limits on large gauge jewelry to extents that I haven't seen before.

I guess I'm trying to say... in the least creepiest way possible since I don't personally know him... I FUCKING LOVE EVERYTHING THIS MOTHERFUCKER DOES.

I'm in talks with Mark about a custom order for a pair of his signature wood captive bead rings that I posted about a few days ago. 1/2g 3.5 inch diameter hoop in bloodwood with an either holly or ivorywood bead. So excited!

But look at this other crazy shit Mark does!!!

From his blog: "40 mm strawberry quartz into a 52 mm pink ivory plug with a ring of bloodwood"

 Unbelievable. The light coming through these is INTENSE.

I am completely breath taken by these babies. The shape is made with pink ivory, and inlaid with ebony, silver, and ammonites. I have NEVER seen ammonites used like this before. Usually you see wood inlaid with these fossils or maybe wood inlaid with silver and then an ammonite. Some would say that it showcases the beauty of the spiral shape, but honestly? Every organic jewelry maker on earth does ammonite plugs the same exact way. Well... maybe not Reign... but you get what I'm trying to say.

This is exactly what I'm talking about when I say that organic companies don't push the envelope enough. Besides Heart On Sleeve, Reign, OneTribe's custom work, Diablo (but really just his carved mammoth stuff), and a handful of others I find while scouring the internet, I usually find myself frustrated and bored with most of the organics I see today. How many concave df plugs in 5 million and 1 woods can I look at? How many kind of the same shaped cabochons? Of course there's something to say about the skill it takes to work with the grain and how to inlay different materials but from a consumer's point of view... it's hard to be enthusiastic about jewelry when you see the same shit all the time.

So a big thanks goes out to Mark at Heart On Sleeve and other independent organic jewelry makers who are trying to do things a little differently.

Pics stolen from Heart On Sleeve

Captive bead rings

 

 

I WANT THESE NOW. A wooden captive ring???? FUCK YES. 3" diameter please in bloodwood with a light colored wood (sabo?) captive, kthx.

Pics stolen from Heart On Sleeve Jewelry

Keyhole Plugs

Well color me impressed. How cool are these??? I was trolling etsy and found Steamer Brand. Imagine that everyone who lived in the Victorian Period was modified. They would wear this jewelry.

Pic stolen from Steamer Brand.

Black and White Ebony Wood Heart Tunnels

These plugs are from Against The Grain Wood Studio.

I fucking LOVE tiger ebony. The striping is so bold. I also love how the plugs are kind of concave with the heart cut-out softly blended with the shape. Other heart cut-out plugs I've seen have been very sharply angled and it's nice to see a softer variation.

Pic stolen from Against The Grain Wood Studio

Fused Glass Keyhole Weights

Dear Gorilla Glass,

I love you.

Forever yours, Rachel

Pic stolen from Gorilla Glass.

Somatic Glass

Duuuudeeee. I haven't seen a lot from Somatic Glass, but what I have looks so cool!!! Interesting shapes (which for glass I'm assuming is more difficult than it looks) and LAYERED glass (never seen that before!) The guy who runs this outfit is an ex-Glasswear Studios glassblower and I must say that I like what he's doing. I can't wait for his website to be done.

Blue layer mollusks. They give me a total jewelry boner. I really hope I get to see these in-ear sometime soon because I really want to see how they hang. Apparently, the 1/2" mollusks are 3" long, which is pretty huge. This excites me very much... yes... creepy voice commencing... I'd really like to see them in grey and white.

Spiral eggs. You can't really see it that well in the picture, but the first loop of the spiral goes up a little higher so that the spirally part is centered at the bottom. I am so into the subtlety of these things. You probably wouldn't even know they were egg shaped unless you really paid attention... but that's the beauty of it I guess. I have my share of spirals in wood and glass, but I am totally up to getting another pair if they're this rad.

Pics stolen from Somatic Glass

Green Tourmaline Jadeite Swans

Honestly, Onetribe can do no wrong by me. Everything they pull out is the perfect combination of creativity and impeccable workmanship. They're also incredibly passionate about organics in general and if you ever have the pleasure to speak with anyone who works there, you'll immediately realize that they... they just give a shit. And that's awesome.

These tourmaline jadeite swans are ridiculous. LOOK AT THE DETAIL. Jadeite is a rare and very hard stone... and now combo that with a ton of tourmaline inclusions. Hand carving such a design into it must have taken FOREVER.

Pic stolen from Onetribe

The Reign Drops

I love weights. I really do. Lots of people you'll talk to will tell you that weights can thin out the bottom of your lobe... which they can, with prolonged wear. But there is just something profoundly sexy about someone with nice, healthy lobes sporting a weight that elegantly stretches the lobe down...

.........................

Sorry, I zoned out for a second thinking about boys in weights. Anyway.

I especially love these drops from Reign Custom Design. They're simple, seamless, cast from stainless steel, titanium, or pretty much any other metal you want, and are just so classy. They look almost like liquid.

You can also get these with a custom stone inlay in the bottom, but I prefer the beautiful simplicity of the drop on it's own.

Pics stolen from Reign Custom Design