Jewellery Containing Hedgehog Quills (or Spines)

Did you know that the hedgehog quills are made from a protein called Keratin, the same protein that can be found in your nails, skin and hair? An adult hedgehog has 5-7 thousand quills over its body, and the hedgehog sheds the quills over time, with new quills growing back to replace them...just like your hair!

In 2015 I made my first resin pendant containing hedgehog quills (or sometimes known as spines). The lady had sadly recently lost her pet African pygmy hedgehog called Orinoco and sent me the quills so that I could form them into some remembrance jewellery for her. I received the quills and set them within a resin heart shaped pendant (after handling the quills very carefully). I set the quills fanning out from the centre of the heart shaped pendant and included silver lettering for the name of the hedgehog across the centre of the pendant.

Hedgehog Quill Pendant

Since making this pendant I have been asked many times to make similar pendants for people (I did not realise how many people kept pet pygmy hedgehogs, with the UK African Pygmy Hedgehog Facebook Group having over fifteen thousand members at the time of writing this). The following example resin pendant was made for the owner of a pygmy hedgehog called Milky. Fewer quills were sent to me this time however as you can see the effect is just as lovely.

Hedgehog Spine Necklace

And finally, a sterling silver circular pendant containing a small selection of hedgehog quills; even though very few quills were incorporated into this sterling silver pendant, they create a wonderful effect.

Silver Necklace with Hedgehog Quills

Many thanks for reading about my jewellery incorporating hedgehog quills. Quick question, do you refer to them as Quills or Spines?

Mick

Setting white hair in resin jewellery

Some customers mention to me that they have received advise that white hair or fur does not work within resin jewellery. This simply is not true. Depending upon the texture (and whiteness) of the hair, sometimes it may become less visible within the jewellery, however this is not always the case. White hair or fur can be just as visible as coloured hair within the resin jewellery, which is why I always ask people who want me to preserve white hair within resin to email me a photo of the hair so that I can advise further.

Where two colour tones of hair are required to be preserved within resin jewellery, where one of the colours is white (i.e., white/brown hair or white/black hair), there is sufficient contrast in hair colours that the white hair or fur will be visible. Here is an example of white pet fur being displayed against the brown fur within a resin pendant. As you can see, the white fur is clearly visible due to the contrast in colours when set against the brown fur.

White and brown fur resin pendant

When there is no contrast in hair colour available, for example if the hair is only pure white, the resin behind the hair can be coloured to any contrasting colour to allow the white hair to become more visible. Here is an example of quite fine white fur being displayed within a resin pendant that has had a black colour applied to the resin behind the fur.

Coloured resin pendant with white hair

Similarly, white horse hair will be visible within resin jewellery if the pendant is coloured to a contrasting colour, here is an example of white horse hair set within resin pendants or charms that have been coloured blue behind the hair. Any suitable contrasting colour can be used to create this effect.

Coloured resin pendants for white horse hair

Setting the white hair within a sterling silver pendant bezel can also improve the visibility of the white hair. here is an example of white (or cream) hair set within a sterling silver backed pendant. As you can see, the sterling silver backing of the pendant provides sufficient contrast to allow the hair to be visible.

Silver backed pendant for white hair

And lastly, here is an example of three hair colours (cream, black and white) from a brindle-coloured pet, set within a sterling silver and resin pendant.

Resin pendant with brindle coloured hair

Many thanks for reading about my methods of setting white hair within resin jewellery and I hope that it gives you confidence that it can be achieved.

Mick

Horse Tooth Paperweight

I recently blogged about the items that I made in the past for preserving teeth (both human and animal) within resin keepsake jewellery and paperweights. Since writing about this subject, I have recently been asked to preserve a horse tooth within a resin paperweight, so I thought I would show it off.

I was contacted by Janet who had a horse tooth that she wanted preserved within a resin paperweight. Sadly, she had lost her darling horse at the grand age of 30 (which is approximately 85 in human years), and the tooth had fallen out just prior to him passing. As you can imagine, the horse tooth was incredibly special to Janet, and she looked forward to having it displayed on her desk.

Horse tooth paperweight

Horse teeth is not something that I have worked with before (it is the most unusual equine object that I have made), and I was quite amazed at the size of the tooth once I received it. To give you an idea of scale, the resin paperweight containing the tooth measures approximately 1.25 inches high and 3.0 inches in diameter; and the tooth almost fills the entire paperweight!

Equine paperweight containing a horse tooth

Many thanks for reading about my horse tooth paperweight, if you would like to read more about the types of jewellery and paperweights I have made with teeth, please visit my resin keepsake jewellery for teeth blog.

Mick

Keepsake Jewellery for Bird Feathers

I last blogged an article about resin jewellery made with bird feathers almost 10 years ago to the day. So, I thought I would show you some recent examples of jewellery made with preserved bird feathers.

I love incorporating bird feathers into my jewellery because the resin not only enhances the natural colours of the feather but has a magnifying effect upon the barbs that make up the feather. Fun fact: Did you know that a bird's feathers are connected to muscles that are attached to the skin. This allows the bird to move their feathers independently and not just by flapping them!

Helen contacted me recently who sadly lost her Green Amazon Parrot. Helen wanted the tip of her Parrot feather set within one of my resin heart shaped pendants; this is the selection of pendants that I made for her, containing different sections of the feather that was sent to me.

Resin Parrot feather pendants

The resin really does show off the beautiful colours that make up the Parrot feather. Here is a keyring that I made containing two bird feathers, side by side.

Keyring containing bird feathers

And a similar teardrop pendant containing black and white budgie tail feathers.

Budgie tail feather pendants

And I am not just limited to preserving the feathers into items of jewellery for keepsakes. Here I have encased the feathers into a resin paperweight. 

Paperweight containing bird feathers

Finally, proving that it is not just feathers from domestic birds such as parrot, budgie or canary,  here is a feather that was sent to me from an incredibly special chicken!

Chicken feather resin pendant

Many thanks for reading about my items of jewellery containing bird feathers. If you would like to read how important my jewellery is for the owner of a bird, please read my Mangos Last Feather blog post.

Mick

Preserving Aircraft Rivets & Swarf

On two separate occasions recently, I have been asked to preserve rivets and swarf that were taken from the restoration of aircraft. I was contacted by a gentleman whose mother and father used to work on the Vulcan Bombers. He wanted me to preserve a small selection of rivets from the last flying Vulcan, serial number XH558. The Vulcan Bomber XH558 is currently in a museum and looked after by the Vulcan to the Sky Trust.

I received the rivets for preserving inside a resin paperweight and these are the labels that were displayed on the box containing the rivets. Firstly, an image of the Vulcan Bomber XH558.

Vulcan Bomber XH558

And on the reverse side of the box there are details of the rivets that were from the Vulcan Bomber XH558, including the 1965 packing date.

Vulcan XH558 Rivets Packaging

I incorporated several rivets from the Vulcan Bomber inside a resin square paperweight, along with the artwork from the box.

Vulcan Bomber Rivets Paperweight

The second item that I made recently contains original swarf from a WWII Hawker Typhoon that is being rebuilt to flying standards. The Hawker Typhoon Preservation Group are rebuilding the Hawker Typhoon. They are currently in the process of rebuilding the rear fuselage based on the original metal from the plane which crashed in April 1945. As a result of this work a member a member of the charity sent to me some original swarf and rivets for encasing inside a pendant.

And here it is, the original swarf and rivets from the Hawker Typhoon preserved within a resin ad sterling silver pendant.

Hawker Typhoon Rivets & Swarf Pendant

Many thanks for reading about how I preserved this historical aircraft metalwork inside jewellery and paperweights.

Mick

New Range of Keepsake Jewellery for Hair and Ashes

 I thought I would highlight my new range of keepsake jewellery that is suitable for both hair and ashes. These are sterling silver and resin pendants, and they are beautiful. The pendants have curved edges to them, offering protection from daily life but these edges also provide a frame to the enclosed hair or ashes from a loved one or pet.

The first example is a sterling silver circular keepsake pendant. This example pendant measures 17mm in diameter and contains both a lock of hair and a small quantity of ashes sealed within resin. The pendant would be suitable for just a lock of hair, sample of ashes or a combination of both.

Silver circular pendant for hair or ashes

The second example is a sterling silver oval keepsake pendant. This example pendant measures 26mm x 13mm (other sizes available) and can again be used to display hair, ashes, or a combination of both.

Silver oval keepsake pendant for hair or ashes

The third example is a  sterling silver heart shaped keepsake pendant. This example measures 21m m x 18mm. Other items can be added to the pendants such as small flowers, colours, and initials.

Silver heart memorial pendant for ashes or hair

This new range of sterling silver keepsake jewellery is also available in teardrop and rectangular shapes. All pendants can be used for preserving either hair, ashes, or a combination of both. With all these pendants, the settings can be left clear or coloured to any colour of your choosing.

Many thanks for reading!

Mick

My poem about the life of a train

I have been reading my previous blog posts and discovered that it has been 10 years since I last drafted a poem (back in February 2012), titled Hello Mr Snowman, a poem about our snowman that melted away.

So, I thought I should share a poem that I wrote when I was at high school. 

125 mph the train sped by
Like a hawk falling from the sky
Through the bushes, rivers, and trees
Not stopping to catch the midnight breeze.

High Speed Train (HST)

But in the future, it will start to die
No longer will it fly
It will fall from a breakers hammer
Oh boy will there be a big dilemma.

Decommissioned High Speed Train (HST)

I authored this poem about a train for a high school project about 40 years ago (I was a train spotter at the time). It is quite memorable for me because of the grade that the teacher gave me... C+ (which was quite upsetting at the time); poetry and art is so subjective, and to grade a person's personal poem is wrong, what do you think?

Mick