Loading... Please wait...
Blog
Kidneys and transplant gifts
Posted by Mark on 15th Oct 2017
In this post I want to highlight Myra Schwartz from
Chicago and her business offering kidney and other organ transplant gifts. I met Myra 5 years ago online on eBay as she was perusing my listings for anything resembling kidneys. While we talked I learned that Myra was a kidney donor recipient. She explained to me that this gift of life often develops into a strong bond of friendship between donees and their donors. Myra wanted to express her gratitude to her donor with a gift but she couldn't find something special. And from that realization a business was born.
Soon we were talking about her ideas for custom designs and of course we were happy to work with her to bring them to fruition. Over the years we have collaborated on many of her designs. Below is an example of a piece based on her sketches that I am particularly proud of as it applies traditional Balinese scrollwork to a beautiful kidney inspired design.
The collage below shows elements of the design process from various concepts to a finished piece.
Myra just opened her new online store. I invite you to visit her website TransplantGifts.com. There you can read her story and view and shop her creative and unique designs. You can also follow her on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TransplantGifts
Druzy wire wrapping art
For some time now we have been offering titanium druzy. Titanium druzies are very special stones. Typically, they are agate mineral stones which are crystalized into druzy formation. Although beautiful in their natural form, these stones become quite special once you perform a little trick called Chemical Vapor Deposition.It's a mouth-full but basically what is means [...]
'Is this real sterling silver?'
It is a question I get all the time! And for good reason, there is so much cheating going on. Ebay is rampant with listings for sterling silver jewelry that are priced below even the world market price for silver. Unless these vendors have a private silver mine in their backyard, it is a dead [...]
Necklace blanks for Art From Above
Recently we were asked by the folks at Art From Above to make collar necklace blanks for their engraving art. We got the specs, went to work and after some iterations, here is the result:The blanks are hand wrought using traditional silver smith crafting techniques. Art From Above uses these necklace blanks as the canvas for [...]
Gorgeous charoite cabs from Russia
I am so excited about these charoite cabs, I just had to show them off. Charoite is a mineral only found in Siberia, Russia. Good quality charoite is quite rare, which is why I am so excited about these. They each are over 2 1/2" long, with gorgeous shades of lavendar and rich with feathering and chatoyancy. The [...]
This made our day!
Every so often I receive a request for a custom piece. Sometimes our customer likes a style she found in our collection but would prefer a different stone, or other times we get a request for something completely new. I especially enjoy the challenge in creating a style we have never done before.My dear customer [...]
Open for business!
What a thrill, we are finally opening the doors to our very own website! For years we have been offering our sterling silver and bead-worked jewelry successfully at the big commercial online selling venues like eBay and Etsy but that doesn't compare to the feeling of having a website we can call our own.It's been [...]
Our newsletter
Recent Updates
-
Kidneys and transplant gifts
In this post I want to highlight Myra Schwartz from Chicago and her …
-
Druzy wire wrapping art
For some time now we have been offering titanium druzy. Titanium druzies are …
-
'Is this real sterling silver?'
It is a question I get all the time! And for good reason, there is so much …