This piece was inspired by the end of autumn season. In October and November, when everything seems to become more dull, the contrast of the last bright yellow leaves and the dark, almost black tree-trunks is very refreshing. It's like the last touch of bright colours before winter.

This pendant was made by hand of silver and two yellow cubic zirconias. It is oxidized and partially polished.

Imagine one of those cold nights, when the sky is clear and you can perfectly see the moon and all the major star constellations. The wind is blowing and it moves the branches quite intensively. The leaves are rustling, some of them come off and fly with the wind. Maybe you are in the forest, or perhaps you just sat under a lonely tree to watch this spectacle of leaves dancing in the moonlight... 

I tried to reflect the beauty of those sceneries and the feeling of solitude and freedom in this openwork pendant. Its crescent-shape base is adorned with branches, leaves and two cubic zirconias. It was totally hand formed out of fine and sterling silver, oxidized and partially polished.

It's been a long time since I last wrote here- I was too busy with my studies and personal life to find a moment for this blog :) I wasn't completely inactive with jewellery-making though- I made some silicone molds for future designs, finally put all of my tools in order, read some advices on photography, got many new inspirations, and bought a lot of beautiful stones- olivines, citrines, garnets, sapphires, moonstones, and last but not least- this wonderful, Finnish spectrolite:

I love its intensive colour and labradorescence so much that I really feel I must use it for something special.

Also, I'm changing layout here- I just think it's time for autumn-cleaning ;) I ordered Melonarium logo and watermark from a very talented friend of mine and really hope to make things look more professional some time soon. 

And the last news from my little workshop- yesterday I finished another cat pendant, made specially for my friend. It's hand formed of fine and sterling silver, lightly oxidized and polished. Hope she'll like it!

This rather unexpected inspiration came from those pictures I made some time ago:

The pendant is made of fine and sterling silver and is adorned with tiny garnets. It is oxidized on very unusual, sandy brown color, and partially polished.

Small openwork pendant showing two pleached mallorn trees. Made by hand of fine silver, sterling silver and golden labradorite.

Lothlórien - the Golden Wood - has always been my favourite elven realm and this is certainly not the last piece inspired by this wonderful, dreamy place :)

This piece was inspired by the beauty of nature as well as by J.R.R. Tolkien's prose. I wanted it to have an elven feel, and to show the atmosphere of the forest glad (or path?) lighted by moonlight.

The pendant was made totally by hand of fine silver, sterling silver and moonstone. It's oxidized and polished. And I'm quite proud I managed to make a small triquetra symbol out of the trees' roots ;)

Finally, I tried to do something more "advanced" :) This pendant was inspired by the stone- wonderful labradorite that flashes green, blue and lightly red colors. I saw the two opposite elements in it- water and fire- and I wanted to create a piece with simple, but not too literal symbols of both of them. I decided to make a tear-shape, two-layered and a bit open work base and to adorn it with three swirls on each side. Depends on the color which dominates at the moment, it can be seen as a water drop with waves/seaweed, or as the candle flame with smoke.

Well, I just love cats ;) I also wanted to try engraving bark texture on a small branch before I'll make my first tree, so I spontaneously drew this simple project and decided to make it real. The greatest challenge was this small stone setting :) The moon is made of little blue labradorite. The pendant is oxidized and has a matte finish.

And finally something new- my first attempt at making Celtic knotwork pendant :) This is a triquetra, which was known in Celtic as well as Germanic traditions and later- like many other pagan symbols- has been adapted into Christianity. Triquetra has many meanings, both religious (depends on beliefs- the Blessed Trinity, the three stages of the Triple Goddess- Maiden, Mother, and Crone, and many others) and non-religious ones. As a knot without beginning or end, it represents infinity, eternity and interconnectedness of all things. Triquetra can also be seen as a promise of love, honour and protection, and therefore it is commonly engraved on the engagement or wedding rings in Ireland.

My pendant is not perfectly symmetrical, but still I think this is technically the best piece of jewellery I made so far- the knot wasn't cracking while I was working on it and the leaves are more detailed and look much better than in my previous projects. I oxidized and polished it to better expose the symbol. And I can already see tons of possibilities of using knotwork designs in the future- so exciting! :)

Filonek Bezogonek is a Polish name for Pelle Svanslös (Peter-No-Tail). This cat was actually my second project, but he lost his tail during polishing and had to wait few months for recovering. I made this pendant when I was pretty sure I have no limitations with the materials I use and when I was no aware of how fragile fine silver is. Well, I quickly learnt this lesson ;)

Hand carved fine silver, oxidized (with a little difficulty- the moon covered with oxide immediately, but the cat didn't want to turn black at all ;)) and then partially polished to let the moon shine :)

Here are two of my old, quite simple in form projects. The flowery pendant is far from perfect- it's a bit crooked and irregular, but I know how I can improve next time. :)

Welcome! I've just decided to write a blog about my newest passion- jewellery-making. Although I've always loved to express myself in, let's say, "artistic" ways such as photography or dance, I never really though seriously about metalworking. It all began as a result of few coincidences: firstly, I found Laurelindorenan made by Anna Mazon one of the most beautiful, inspiring and "mine" pendants I've ever seen. I also read a bit about techniques Anna work with (and, of course, I admired other pieces made by her. Such a wonderful artist!). Secondly, my friend, Emilka Romanowska, after years of making beaded jewellery started her own business- Inesse. Thoughts like "oh, maybe I could try to make something myself? Maybe- I know, it's incredibly optimistic thought, but hey, just maybe, after some time I could create all these things I always wanted to?" began to pop up in my mind. Finally, the exam session came, and this is always the best time to start learning something totally new... ;)

So this was my first work- unfinished and totally not my style. I just wanted to do something simple for the beginning. Fortunately, the next ones turned out slightly better ;)




I appreciate little things in life and I find my inspiration in them. Nature, music, literature, other people, ancient and present cultures fill my head with plenty of ideas, some of which my hands can't keep up with yet ;) I work mainly with Art Clay Silver (combined sometimes with more traditional metalworking techniques) and natural stones. In the future- near or far- I would love to use also other metals and materials such as gold, bronze, copper, wood, enamel, UV resin, polymer clay and others. So many things to try! :)

Melonarium is supposed to be a little place to share my ups and downs at learning jewelry-making skills. By documenting my work, I hope to see some progress with time. I decided to write in English, so this blog will be also kind of language lesson for me. Unfortunately I still don't feel confident with my language skills, so please feel free to correct my blunders ;)

Once again, welcome to Melonarium!