Moon Raven Designs

I love Etsy. I love the concept of Etsy, I love the community of Etsy. I love that when you buy from Etsy you are supporting that community. I have purchased lots of things from lots of sellers. I have even made repeat purchases from some, but nothing rivals the love affair I have with Moon Raven Designs.

Moon Raven Designs is handmade in Canada by Michael R Doyle (aka mrd74). He specializes in corvidae* skull jewelry, which as you know, I have a serious weakness for. No animals are ever harmed in the making of Moon Raven Designs jewelry. All of the original molds are made from animals that died of natural causes. The first thing I bought from Moon Raven Designs was a pair of tiny bronze raven skull earrings.


(Photo from Moon Raven Designs at Etsy)

I’ve worn the skulls a couple ways since then, as a necklace, and now as an earring on a different ear wire…



I was so impressed with the quality of the piece and the care that went into creating it, I started stalking the store for my next purchase, which as it turns out, was this adorable bat skull pendant.


(Photo from Moon Raven Designs at Etsy)

I know “cute” may not be the first thing to come to mind when you think about skulls or even bats, but there is no denying this little baby is adorable. I now have it paired on a chain with a bullet, and it remains one of my favorite pieces. The detail to the piece is almost impossible to capture in a photo. And I love that the little jaw is fully articulated, opening and closing, and I play with it all day.

Next, I purchased these raven claw earrings.


(Photo from Moon Raven Designs at Etsy)

I added a bit of chain and put them on a lever back earring, but they were lovely just as they are.



I tend to change the chain or earring on just about everything I buy, and with my Moon Raven Designs pieces, the real art is in the cast pieces, which to me, are tiny wearable pieces of art.

One of my most recent purchases is this tiny raven skull necklace, which I admire for its dainty size and delicate nature...


(Photo from Moon Raven Designs at Etsy)

I love how the bronze gives the appearance of gold at a much friendlier price point.



I even put mine on gold chain.

But my absolute all time favorite piece from Moon Raven Designs is this:


(Photo from Moon Raven Designs at Etsy)

The Bronze Raven Claw Ring. It is just stunning. I saved for it for quite a while, and debated between this bronze version and the sterling silver one. In the end, I just really preferred the look of the bronze, and Mike assured me he had never heard of the bronze version turning anyone’s finger green (and it hasn’t!).



The detail of the ring wraps all the way around the finger,



And is visible both inside and out. It is bold, and striking and incredibly well made. The workmanship is amazing. And the bronze gives the look of 18K gold, which I just love.

Moon Raven Designs has many, many other things I’ve got my eye on. They offer great customer service, you can ask a question about anything and they always get right back to you. In my experience, everything ships within 1 business day and they do their best to make that happen for every order. I have to wait a little while because it comes to me from Canada, but the wait is always worth it. I can’t recommended them enough and I hope you will hop on over and find a favorite piece for yourself.

* Corvidae is the Latin name for the family of birds that includes the Crow, Raven, Jay and Magpie.

P.S. This post was written out of love, it is not a sponsored post and I was not solicited to write it, Moon Raven Designs just happens to be the love of my Etsy life, and I wanted to tell you all about it.