All About Stone Maven Jewelry
Thank you for visiting Stone Maven Handcrafted Jewelry!
I started making wire-wrapped pendants at first from the natural tumbled stones from a collection given to me by my grandmother. She used to have dozens on display in her home in Dell Rapids, South Dakota, and every time we visited when I was a girl, I'd spend part of my time admiring them for their unique and beautiful details. She'd tell me a little about some of them, although she was no expert. She, too, loved them for their natural beauty and enjoyed just looking and examining them from time-to-time.
For my jewelry, I only use natural stones (no resin or human-made "stones") and mostly use naturally-shaped pieces, although you'll also see some heart-shaped and other perfectly-shaped stones here and there. I mostly enjoy working with the odd shaped rocks, however; I think I'd get bored just working with predictable shapes and straight edges.
Even if it's not mentioned in the listing description, many of my pendants can be worn with either the front or back showing. Sometimes it may be difficult to tell which side I intended to be the "front," although back sides will invariably be more plain or more "messy," since the back is where I tuck, hide or wrap the ends of the wires.
Speaking of wires, right now I'm only using copper wire except for custom orders. I buy only 99.9% pure, untreated/uncoated copper wire from companies in the United States. It's easy to work with and is naturally lovely, in my opinion, even after it has oxidized and turned a darker, matte color. In fact, that is what we expect from untreated copper. It's predictable.
Depending on the amount of time between when I photograph a piece and when you receive it, you should expect the color of the copper to be less shiny, more brownish, and to be naturally oxidizing.
Custom Orders
I'm always happy to take special requests for certain types of stones. I generally let the stones dictate the design, but if there is a particular style or design that you like, I'll do my best to adapt it to the stone of your choice.
Unless otherwise requested, all custom orders will be created with my standard untreated 99.9% copper wire. If you want a different type of wire, please allow for the time I'll need to obtain some. I'll always buy the best quality of wire that I can find.
To begin the process for a custom order, just send me a request through the contact page or to my email address, for which there is a direct link at the bottom of this page.
Let me know what type of stone you want, or, if you don't know exactly what kind of stone to ask for, tell me what color you want and we can go from there.
Depending on whether I need to find and purchase a particular type of stone for you, please allow for up to four weeks for custom orders. If I already have a stone you want, or if it's easily obtained, most custom orders shouldn't take more than two weeks to receive.
Other Important Stuff
All measurements are approximate, but I do my best to be accurate.
I also do my best to describe and photograph the items accurately, but please keep in mind that I work with natural stones that will vary in shape, color and size. Colors may appear differently to you than they did on your computer or mobile device screen. I take photographs outside in the natural sun and shade--no flash--to try to show you what each stone accurately looks like as much as possible on a two- dimensional screen.
No two pieces of jewelry will ever be exactly the same, although the bird's nests and owls will all be very similar to each other. Please allow for, and appreciate them, for all their uniqueness, including odd shapes, cracks, dents, bumps and occlusions.
Every pendant comes with a silky-satin black fiber cord that attaches with lead- and nickel-free metal. Each cord also has a 2-inch extension chain. Every listing will allow you to choose from an 18 or 24 inch necklace cord.