How I Discovered My Signature Overlay Style

This Galactic Priestess Shield Necklace found its forever home over the weekend.

My artist friends out there know how hard it can be sometimes to let a special piece go, but I'm so happy with where this one landed. It couldn't have gone to a more perfect person. It felt like it was made for her all along.

But I wanted to tell you the story behind this piece. Not just this handmade statement necklace, but the whole overlay jewelry technique it comes from, because this style has become one of my signatures, and it all started years ago in a small workshop in Idlewild.

Learning the Overlay Technique from a Hopi Master Jeweler

I spent a week learning from a Hopi Native American jeweler, Roy Talahaftewa, who has a lifetime of expertise in traditional silversmithing. Everyone should stop here and go follow him and buy from his incredible pieces. He taught me the overlay technique, a painstaking process where you saw intricate cutouts into one layer of sterling silver and solder it over a solid base layer to create depth, dimension, and shadow.

It's meticulous work. Every line has to be thought out. Every cutout deliberate. But when it's done right, the piece comes alive.

I made my first overlay piece in his workshop, and I fell in love with it. I knew immediately I wanted to make more.

Making It My Own: Medieval-Inspired Statement Jewelry

But I didn't want to make traditional Hopi designs. I wanted to take this ancient technique and turn it into something that felt like me, something more feminine and mystical.

So I started drawing inspiration from medieval tile motifs. The geometric patterns, the stars, the crescents, the intricate cutouts that looked like they belonged in an ancient cathedral or a queen's chamber.

I wanted bold collar necklaces that sat powerfully on the neck. I wanted them to feel regal, elegant, protective, like something a priestess or a queen would wear.

And that's how my signature overlay style was born.

The Galactic Priestess Shield: A Statement Piece for the Modern Mystic

This piece is the latest evolution of that technique. A massive 4.5" x 2" triangle-shaped collar necklace with intricate medieval-inspired cutouts layered over a solid sterling silver base.

At its center: A stunning deep blue flashing labradorite, known for transformation, protection, and accessing the unseen.

Flanked by two ethereal moonstones, for intuition, emotional balance, and connection to the divine feminine.

It's bold. It's powerful. It's intricate, artful, regal.

It's meant for a magical priestess or a queen.

And now it's found her.

The Evolution of My Overlay Jewelry Style

This overlay technique has become part of my visual language as a silversmith. I've created pieces like this featuring prehnite, ametrine, Brazilian blue topaz, moonstone, labradorite, garnet, and more, each one unique, each one carrying that same old-world, mystical energy.

Every piece in this style is:

• Hand-fabricated in sterling silver
• One-of-a-kind or made in extremely small batches
• Inspired by the powerful women of old, medieval tile motifs and ancient craftsmanship
• Designed for the woman who wants jewelry that feels fiercely feminine, mystical, and deeply personal

If you see one of these statement necklaces and it speaks to you, trust that. Because when they find their person, it always feels like it was meant to be.