The Snow Moon .𖥔 ݁ ˖

Welcome. Tonight is the night of the full moon, the second full moon of 2025, also known as the ‘Snow Moon”…

During tonights ‘Snow Moon’, I will be sharing a newfound poem with you, a new necklace I recently designed & released onto the shop, an official ‘Artist Statement’ and lastly, a few life updates.

But before we begin, I want to first thank you so very much for being here. Thank you for allowing me to continue to share my life with you; all of my interests and my artwork. You making the choice to be here with me tonight means more than you know. ❦

Let’s begin!

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Bird Soul ✶

The ‘Elysium’ Wax Seal Necklace

Last month, I stumbled upon some of the most precious little wax seal charms I have ever seen. If you’ve ordered from my shop in the past, or know me in the slightest bit, you know how much I adore a wax seal. So upon finding this wax seal ~charm~, wow, I was immediately inspired to create a new piece of jewelry.

During the beginning stages of the design process, I ultimately knew I wanted to use ivory pearls for this piece, the ivory pearls would serve as a stark contrast to the antique bronze wax seal charm. I also wanted this piece to be very femme and delicate, so I opted for these beautiful ornate spacer beads, a Tierracast® toggle clasp and a satin ribbon closure.

Soon enough, the ‘Elysium’ Wax Seal Necklace was born…

I decided to name the final piece ‘Elysium’, after a book I own on the visual history of angelology. I first discovered this book whilst browsing the aisles of one of my favorite bookstores here in the city, after I spotted this gorgeous cover, I just knew I needed to take this book home with me. As soon as I got home, I wrote down the title, ‘Elysium’ in my design journal, knowing I would one day use this name for a future piece.

The ‘Elysium’ Wax Seal Necklace is a double layered pearl necklace featuring an ornate wax seal charm, round freshwater pearls & an adjustable satin ribbon closure… 𝜗𝜚

Full Moon Sale ✶

Artist Statement

I was recently messaged by someone on Twitter who asked me a very introspective question, “What inspires you to make your jewelry?”. This person also wanted to know if I had ever shared an ‘Artist Statement’, or if my monthly newsletter served as one.

The short answer to both of these questions, in consecutive order are: no and yes. No, I’ve never released an official artist statement and yes, I guess this newsletter does serve as my artist statement. I use this monthly newsletter to share all of the art I create and consume, everything I’ve ever been inspired by. But one thing I have never shared on here before is where it all began, my very first reason for creating jewelry, my first inspiration.

So tonight I would like to go ahead and share that story with you, and I’d also like to say thank you to Ava, the person who sent in the question from Twitter. Thank you for being curious enough to ask me this question, it was a very sweet one for you to ask.

Let’s start from the very beginning. My name is Kiani Jade, I was born in 1999 in Orange County, California. Although I was born in California, I grew up in the state of Texas, moving there when I was around the age of 10. I moved to Texas with the members of my immediate family; my mother, step-father, sister & brother. Moving from California to Texas meant that I had to leave friends, family and the home I once knew. These first few years living in a new state were a bit lonely for me, up until the year my Grandmother moved in with us.

When my Grandmother first moved into our home, she brought with her many boxes of embroidery supplies; thread, needles, embroidery hoops and all of her completed embroidery projects. My grandmother is one of the most talented embroidery artists I have ever known. In her lifetime, she’s embroidered at least 100 different projects, all by hand, many of which were some of the most meticulously made pieces I had ever seen. My grandmother soon taught me how to hand-sew and together we would sit in her bedroom for hours, watching movies and sewing.

Along with her embroidery hobby came many trips to the craft store. Together we would go into the store to look at fabric and sewing supplies but of course being a child, I had a tendency to wander off and many times during these trips I would find myself in the jewelry making isle. I vividly remember being in complete awe at the rows upon rows of different crystals, shells, pearls and metal beads. I desperately wanted to take all of these precious supplies home with me but I lacked the knowledge on where to even begin. This eventually led me to the library, where I began to check out books on jewelry making and slowly, I began to build up my vast collection of jewelry making supplies. One of the tools I still have from those days is this single round nose plier (pictured below), this jewelry plier is at least 13 years old now, rusty and completely out of service but she served me well back then.

As the years went by, I took on many projects, I remember hand stringing what must have been thousands upon thousands of seed beads for an entire summer just to make a multi strand necklace, this was before I knew how helpful a Bead Spinner was. I also remember making a functional beaded curtain for my bedroom doorway out of plastic beads and shells, I guess I’ve always enjoyed taking on longer and immersive projects with repetitive patterns.

Year after year, I learned more and more from jewelry making books and online tutorials but I never saw this hobby as full time work until the year of 2019. Before then, I was mostly designing pieces for close friends and partners who later encouraged me to open up an online shop.

I first opened the online store, ‘Luna De Sangre’ in the year of 2020, with the newfound need to cultivate a space to showcase my art. The name ‘Luna De Sangre’ directly translates to ‘Blood Moon’ in Spanish, this is where the overall theme of my shop originates. Living in Austin, TX at the time, the first pieces of jewelry I released onto my online shop were direct reflections of my interests at the time; the music I was listening to, the books I was reading, the paintings I was consuming. I now have over 300 products on my shop, many of which are no longer in production but if you scroll all the way down you’ll begin to see how much my art has changed throughout the years of my life, a collection of many different styles of jewelry.

Now, in my adulthood, I live in New York City. Thankfully, I live in a city with an endless supply of inspiration. I’m still actively learning more and more about the art of jewelry making, I still turn to books when I need to learn a new skill or master a new technique. This constant state of learning is what makes this hobby, now career, so engaging for me, there is always something new to learn, always something I can improve on and bring into my future jewelry designs.

So to answer your question Ava, I am deeply inspired by the media I consume; the books I read, the movies I watch, the music I listen to & the paintings I come across. I’m inspired every time I learn something new and I am forever inspired by my grandmother, the woman who first taught me the importance of creating art.

My New Tattoo

I’ve been adorning my body with tattoos since I was the age of 18, the very same day I was legally allowed to get a tattoo, I did just that. I walked into a random tattoo shop and got my very first tattoo on my upper left arm. My collection has grown quite a lot since then, I now have over 50 tattoos scattered around my body, all of which came with their own levels of pain, but the one spot I vowed to never get tattooed, at least not in my 20’s, was my spine. Having heard so many stories throughout my life on how painful this spot can be, even for heavily tattooed people, I was terrified of having to lay face down on a tattoo bench for hours on end and tough out the pain. At least this was how I felt until I came across a new piece of art.

Last Fall, my partner and I decided to go antiquing for the weekend and we came across a woman with an extensive Italian Renaissance art collection. One of the pieces she had on display was this Italian sconce (pictured below), this sconce quickly became one of my favorite pieces of decor I have in my home today. Ever since that day, I knew I wanted to keep this sconce with me forever and ever, luckily my partner agreed to draw it out for me and permanently adorn it onto my back to complete this dream. Although this back tattoo hurt more than I’d like to admit, I am so glad I toughed it out, it’s always been important to me to proudly display my love for art onto this body of mine.

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Before I say Goodbye…

Before I say goodbye, I would like to pivot into a more serious note. I would like to briefly discuss the political atmosphere we currently find ourselves in here in the United States. Although this newsletter mostly serves as a space for sharing art, I believe everyone should be using their platform, no matter how small, to speak on this topic.

As I’m sure you already know, America’s democracy is currently under threat. During these unprecedented and rather unsettling times, I’ve found myself researching and compiling sources of information I believe to be of importance, all of which I would like to share with you below.

Reading Material

‘On Tyranny, Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century’ ✶ by Timothy Snyder

“The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience.

On Tyranny is a call to arms and a guide to resistance, with invaluable ideas for how we can preserve our freedoms in the uncertain years to come.”

‘Elite Capture, How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else)’ ✶ by Olufemi O. Taiwo

“Presents a searing indictment of the ways elites have co-opted radical critiques of racial capitalism to serve their own ends, and offers a powerful vision for a constructive alternative rooted in the politics of solidarity.”

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How to Locate & Contact Your Local Elected Officials

5calls.org is a website that allows you to type in your zip code to find a list of your local congress representatives along with the many ways you can directly contact them to voice your concerns, whether that be in person, phone call or email. This website will then provide you with a comprehensive list of issues to choose from along with a script to read if you need one.

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Online Creators to Follow

“Democracy Now! is a viewer-supported independent, global weekday news hour anchored by award-winning journalist Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.”

“If you’re looking for hype, fake outrage, and groupthink, kindly keep moving. Our mission at What A Day is simple: to be your guide to what truly matters each morning (and the fun stuff you might have missed) in just 20 minutes. Host Joan Coaston brings you in-depth reporting and substantive analysis on the big stories shaping today and the creeping trends shaping tomorrow-and when she doesn’t know the answers, she asks someone even smarter to fill us all in. Radical, right?”

“Simple, digestible explanations of all things American Politics because it’s easier to reengage when you know what’s going on.”

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Newsletter to Subscribe To

“In 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked: what kind of government have you created? He answered, "a republic — if you can keep it." From Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group working to prevent authoritarianism”

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Online List of Actions You Can Take

The website protectdemocracy.org provides a list of 29 concrete actions you can take right now to protect democracy including investing in local news, spotting disinformation, building community and many other helpful tips.

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I know all of this can be stress inducing, especially if you live in America, but I can’t stress how important it is that you are actively making the decision to be on the right side of history. The time to take action is now, whether the action is big or small, what you choose to do from here on out matters. Educate yourself and others as often as you can, build community, stand up for and support others anytime you have the ability to do so, believe that you and your words hold power and never ever lose hope. Fights for equality have been, and will continue to be, won. Look towards the resistances of the past whenever your hope begins to falter and please give yourself breaks from social media and news outlets, you can’t resist if you feel overwhelmed and powerless so be kind to yourself.

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Click here to log into the ‘Luna De Sangre’ Newsletter Archives to view past articles or share your thoughts & recommendations with me, I’d love to hear from you…

Dedication: This ‘Luna De Sangre’ Newsletter Issue #8 is dedicated to you, never lose hope, every action you take from this time forward matters, your voice and attention matters.