CUSTOM JEWELLERY
At Bushprints we will be happy to quote you for a custom jewellery design. To date we have made personal pet's paws from a client's photograph, extra large or specially shaped pieces, and one-off footprints of specified animals not included in the current range. Contact us and let you know what you're interested in, and we'll get right back to you with a quote. Many one-off requests have eventually lead to additions to our range!
African Elephant Charm
Another animal lover recently travelled to Africa, saw the African elephant in it's natural enviroment and commisioned a charm to commemorate the experience. She wanted to include the trunk, specifically the 'fingers' at the end of the trunk - projecting out a bit, as well as the footprint.
In the end, we agreed that this was what she was envisaging - the trunk, coiled around the footprint, with the tip of the trunk and its fingers, pointed outward and slightly raised from the rest of the piece.
African elephants have two fingers at the tip of their trunk that allow for fine dexterity, fine enough to pick up a single blade of grass.
There is conjecture about the number of toes elephants have, whether this is different between the front and back feet, - and indeed, what constitutes a toe at all and what is actually cartilage. The general consensus seems to be that the African elephant has 4 toes on the front foot while the Asian elephant has 5.
Turtle Track Ring
This ring request was from a person who liked the custom ring showcasing 4 Australian animals - shown below - and wanted to do something similar with the Green Turtle track running around the whole ring. I love this idea, and the piece worked well although with a lot of drilling and fine piercing! Here are a few images showing the process and the finished piece.
Rhino Footprint
This custom rhino print is definitely on the list to add permanently to the collection!
Custom Ring - showcasing four Australian animals
This ring request was for 4 Australian animal footprints to be displayed on a simple band ring, with the prints recessed and enamelled in black.
First I needed the ring size so I could space and size the footprints appropriately. I drew these on a flat piece of paper that would be the size of the ring once it was rounded.
In order to recess the prints, I needed to have an inner and an outer ring. Then I had to cut the shapes onto the outer ring, using my hand-drawn paper template. I could not make a flat band as the footprints would become distorted once the band was shaped into a ring.
Next step, fitting in the inner ring and soldering both rings together.
Finally, polishing the ring and enamelling the recessed footprints.
Antarctica - Whale Tail Memento
Stage 1: The design phase
This charm was requested by a recent traveller to Antarctica to commemorate seeing "the Blue, Orca, Fin, Sperm and Humpback whales….It was unbelievable".
Stage 2: The manufacture
King Penguin commission
Koala tie clip and cufflinks
The koala tie pin was designed by a woman for her fiancee and gifted along with the cufflinks as an engagement memento. The couple are both from Austria, have visited Australia and are huge koala supporters.
"Playing Card" design of much beloved pets
This request was for a memento of two pets - a cat and a dog.
Unlike cats, dogs do not have retractable claws.
So the dog's paw is in the bottom half of the piece shows the claws clearly visible, while the cat's claws are retracted. As per the drawing, the bottom segment was matted while the top was polished to a shine to differentiate the two parts of the piece.