Maryland Cufflinks and hindged shell box

Maryland Cufflinks and hinged shell box.  Silver, turquoise, found shell, silk fabric.  2013

Hinged shell box.  2.75"x2.5"x1.5".  found shell (Cape Cod), silver tubing and wire.  2013

Hinged shell box.  back view

Maryland cufflinks:
blue crab & striped bass links (1"x0.75").  Silver.
Set turquoise links.  (0.75"x0.5").  Turquoise and silver.

I wanted to make Chris something special as a wedding gift.  After many failed attempts at a special ring (not a wedding ring), I decided on cufflinks.  Chris is from Maryland and is where we currently live.  Some of the most special experiences I've shared with him here involve adventures on the Chesapeake Bay: crabbing and fishing for striped bass.  Exploits of the water, whether lake or bay, have always been a part of our life together and so I thought the two creatures fitting for a special pair of cufflinks.
Turquoise is a stone that I associate with Chris, as he wears a lot of turquoise-laden item, so it seemed only fitting to include turquoise somehow.  I joined a lapidary guild in order to learn to cut and shape the turquoise.  (Of course I would want to start out learning lapidary skills with an incredibly soft and hard to work with stone!).  

I decided to make a plethora of special items in time for my wedding, including my wedding dress, wedding shoes, gifts for my sister and brother (who stood up with me), and a late birthday gift for my mom.  I near went insane trying to finish all these projects.  I finished these cufflinks the day of the wedding; while my sister drove me to my hair appointment, I was busy trying to set the turquoise stones in their settings.  I was in such a rush that my burnishing tool slipped and I chipped a piece of turquoise off one of the stones.  Ah!
I gifted the cufflinks to Chris before the wedding in hopes that he would wear them.  Unfortunately my design was flawed; the original cufflinks consisted of a single post with the creature one side and the turquoise on the other.  They were too big and wouldn't go through his buttons holes!  I later cut the post in half and fashioned a hook system that has, so far, worked.  I also used epoxy to glue the chip of turquoise back to its mother stone.

Elvish "sister" bracelet

Elvish "sister" bracelet. Silver and moonstone.  2.5" x 2" x 1.5" (ish). 2013

bottom view

end view; can see moonstone iridescence

This is a bracelet that I made for my sister as a gift in thanks for her standing up with me at my wedding.  

My sister and I took a "mini course" in Sindarin (a fictional Elven language created by JRR Tolkien) years ago; it was a nerdy thing to do, yes, but fun!  We both like fantasy (my whole family does, actually), so the mini-course was right up our alley.  I did not retain any of the things I learned from the course (pronunciation, ability to read Sindarin writing without help), but I do still have all the study guides that came with the class, and I get them out every now and then to take a look and admire the written language, which is quite beautiful.

Anyway, I thought an elven-style bracelet would a special and fitting gift for my tall and elegant sister (seriously, all she needs are pointy ears and she could be a LOTR elf).  As you might have guessed, the three symbols on the top of the bracelet spell out the word "sister" in Sindarin.

This project was not my first go as a silversmith, but it was once of my first go as a lapidarist (stone-cutter).  Of course I would choose a difficult stone like moonstone (ha!), which needs to be cut at just the right angle (along the right plane) in order for the iridescence of the moonstone to be visible.  (The other stone I decided to learn lapidary skills on was turquoise, another difficult stone to work with as it is so soft and is easily ruined.)