I have to say, I kind of can't believe how cool my cicada stick pin turned out. 🥹 To be fair, though, it was a journey. The wings alone took several tries, and I was pretty discouraged at first. For the initial go-round, I went with my original design, which involved riveting the underwings to the body, right below the top wings. Which is, more or less, anatomically correct. Nature is perfect and beyond genius, though, so when I tried doing that, the wings just got caught up on each other too much and it was too awkward. So I tried jettisoning the underwings altogether. Nope. Not special enough. But the next day, I tried something else: riveting the underwings directly to the underside of the top wings... et voilà!
Added bonus, this stickpin now has a secret; the second set of wings is hidden away & only the wearer knows it's even there 🤫 Watch my video below to see it in action!
This little lady (and it's definitely female — I even carved an ovipositor on her abdomen!) is now available in the shop. I know she's a little pricier than most of my other pieces, but she has FIVE separately cast components and a good bit of silver in her PLUS she's got A LOT of assembly required to keep me busy, but I wanted to create something really special and I feel like I nailed it! 🥹
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, fellow bug jewelry lover! I'll try to keep these coming...
Take care & 🐝 well!
— 🐜 Johanna