Erstwilder Australiana Brooches

I've always loved Australia's weird and wonderful wildlife, so when Aussie jewellery brand Erstwilder released a new Australiana brooch collection, a couple of weeks ago, I was instantly smitten with the whole collection.

The Australiana collection is made up of nine resin brooches of Australia's native flora and fauna, and like all Erstwilder jewellery, have been designed by skilled artists in Melbourne and handmade from layered resin.

So far, I've collected four of them. In the space of a week. After initially intending to purchase just one. Don't look at me like that; I couldn't help myself; the designs were just too cute!

Today, I thought I'd give you a little peek at the Australiana brooches (and a few others I've collected this year) because I know many of you love novelty jewellery and Erstwilder brooches as much as I do.

First up is Spiney Seedling, an adorable brown marbled echidna poking his head out of a purple marbled flower pot that's been sweetly decorated with a glittery flower and leaves. Isn't it cute? Echidnas are one of my favourite Aussie animals, so I just couldn't resist him. I mean, how often do you see an echidna brooch? Even in Australia, that must be a rarity. The flower pot is giving off garden vibes, so I think he'll look great worn with florals for spring. (Ground-breaking).

Nifty Numbat, surprisingly, has turned out to be my favourite of the four I purchased- surprising as I was drawn more to the echidna and antechnius mouse online. It's the cutest little critter, made from magenta, pearl, and beige textured resin, and hand-painted little details. He's a little smaller than the others, but what he lacks in size, he makes up for in character and uniqueness. It's a hot pink numbat, for fuck sake! I don't know about you, but I've never seen a numbat brooch before (come to think of it, I've never seen a numbat in real life, either, but man, are they cute!), so I couldn't resist snapping him up, mostly so that I could say I have a numbat in my brooch collection.

My third purchase from the collection, was the adorable An-tea-chinus Mouse; a little brown antechinus sitting in a pastel pink rose-print tea cup. So much cuteness! I love the marbling to the little critter and the tattoo-style flowers on the cup, and the pastel colours are perfect for spring. I'll be pinning him on to all the pastel outfits I can this season. I'd never even heard of an antechinus before I saw this brooch (a rare moment for this animal lover, I can tell you!); but I now know it's a small marsupial that resembles a mouse, and it's adorable. Especially when they're sitting in pastel pink tea cups in brooch form.

I was so pleased with my first three Erstwilder Australiana brooches, that I tracked down the sold out Royal Reeler kingfisher brooch soon after their arrival from UK stockist Kitty Kat Accessories. (They've now sold out, so I've linked to The Midget Gem). I've always loved kingfishers, and I just had to have the beautiful Royal Reeler in my collection. He has the most stunning azure-blue marbled head and body, with marbled grey wing feathers, a matte orange breast, a textured silver beak, and iridescent markings on his face. He's a beauty. I think he'll go with just about everything in my summer wardrobe, and will be perfect for walks down by the river in the summer. I have to admit, I've never seen a kingfisher in real life, and I didn't realise Australia actually have kingfishers (besides kookaburras) like we do in the UK, so Erstwilder have even taught me a thing or two with this collection.

The Australiana collection also features five other brooches, including a wombat, bat, kookaburra, frilled lizard, and a kangaroo paw plant, and they're available from Erstwilder now. You can also buy them from UK stockists Daisy Park, Glitterally, Kitty Kat Accessories, Lottie & Lu, and The Midget Gem which should save you a few pennies on shipping and tax charges if you're in the UK.

I only discovered the UK stockists a couple of months ago, so while I've lusted after Erstwilder jewellery for years, my collection is still very small as I could never justify the shipping charges from Australia. My collection only began in March, when I picked up four of their Christmas brooches on sale, and I thought I'd give you a peek at them today, too. I wanted to show you them sooner, but I couldn't dedicate a post to Christmas brooches in spring without looking like a crazy woman.

I fell in love with last year's entire Erstwilder Christmas collection in December, but couldn't afford to treat myself at the time, so when I stumbled up on them on sale in March, I knew I had to snap a few up to wear during future Christmases. I've always wanted some Christmas jewellery in my life. I started with 'The Christmas Cardinal', a beautiful red cardinal resting on a sprig of holly, and 'Mary's Bells', a pair of pearlescent bells decorated with red, pink, and yellow designs and a glittery green bow, both of which I bought from Lottie & Lu for £14.95 each. I was so impressed with them, I wasted no time in buying 'To Be Jolly', a glittery green and white snow-draped Christmas tree decorated with a rainbow of baubles which was £15.00 from Daisy Park, along with a second for my Mum who fell in love with mine on delivery. A couples of weeks later, I then tracked down 'Kiss Me Kindly', a big sprig of holly wrapped with a glittery white bow, from Glitterally for £24.95, which had to be my favourite from last Christmas' collection. It's gorgeous and so festive. I paid full price for it, but I love it so much it was worth every penny. I know I'll be accessorising all of my festive outfits with them for many Christmases to come. I love them even more than the Australiana collection, and can't wait to wear them all this December- only seven more months to go before I can break them out!

So, that is my little Erstwilder collection, and what I fear is the beginning of a very large Erstwilder collection in the making... I say that as I've already added a few more to it this morning from the amazing new South American Socialites range that came out today. I couldn't resist! You're just going to have to wait and see which pieces I picked up, but I will say one of them is a tapir (my favourite animal, OMG!!), and the South American critters look even cuter than their friends down under. Keep an eye on my Instagram over the next week, as I'll likely share photos of them on my Insta stories as soon as they arrive, before I get them on the blog. In the mean time, you guys need to go check that new collection out! Trust me, you're going to love them!

Which brooch is your favourite? Do you have any Erstwilder jewellery in your collection or your eye on any pieces at the moment?

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