Before Christmas, my favourite Aussie jewellery brand, Erstwilder, collaborated with the amazing Australian designer, illustrator, and happy art creator Pete Cromer, and released what may just be my favourite jewellery collection to date. An eighteen piece Australian animal brooch collection in Pete Cromer's colourful style, bringing his beautiful designs to life as wearable art.
I'll admit, I had never heard of Pete Cromer prior to this collection, but I instantly fell in love with the fun, colourful jewellery designs, and after Googling his artwork, I quickly fell in love with that, too. His style is so distinctive, bright, and colourful, and just my style. I particularly love his Australian animal designs, and would love to own a few of the prints to brighten up my home- although, being able to pin his art to my clothes and wear them wherever I go is 100% cooler.
I bought four pieces from the collection back in December (but put three on lay away until January), and was also given a fifth brooch and a couple of pairs of earrings for Christmas from my parents. I sadly missed out on the koala brooch I had my heart set on because it sold out before I could finish checking out thirty seconds after it went on sale, but I managed to collect some of my other favourites and I'm excited to finally show them to you today.
I'm going to start with one of my favourite pieces from the collection- a pink galah brooch called The Gabby Galah. I fell in love with this design as soon as I saw a preview of it on Instagram, and that was it; it had to be mine. Thankfully, I managed to snag one before it sold out or I probably would've cried. It's so beautiful, and easily one of my favourite Erstwilder designs ever. She's made from the most beautiful marbled pink resin that looks like swirling pink waves, along with an off-white crest (which for some reason looks pink in my photos- it isn't) freckled with pink glitter, and various shapes in shades of green, pink, and pale grey. Perfect for pairing with pastel colours. I love this design so much, I can't stop wearing it and I'd love to get an art print of it for my wall.
Another of my favourites from the collection has go to be The Kooky Kookaburra. I've always loved kooaburras and I just love the colours, shapes, and resins used to create this gorgeous little guy. His body is crafted from a stunning, swirling white pearlescent resin which gives him a fluffy, feathery appearance, and, layered on top, his plumage is decorated with a variety of marbled resin shapes in blue, teal, mint, black, white, orange-red, and light salmon. Isn't he gorgeous? I think he's a little work of art. This is another piece I've been wearing to death lately, and one I think will stay in my jewellery collection for a long time to come.
As a big animal lover with a soft spot for unusual creatures, I always find myself drawn to brooches of the world's more obscure animals that you don't see on jewellery every day, and Erstwilder indulged me once again with this collection. I was so excited to see that one of my favourite Australasian animals, the Tasmanian devil, was included in this collection, and had to have one for my brooch zoo. The Talkative Tasmanian Devil is a sweet little guy sitting on his haunches, made from beautiful black and dark grey marbled resin with a nude-pink muzzle and eye, a dusky pink inner ear and cheek, and a variety of shapes in cream, mustard yellow, and mauve-blue. It's such a cute brooch, and I think they captured the Tasmanian devil perfectly- although, fortunately, this one's a lot less fiesty than the living breathing ones, and much less likely to attack when pinned to clothes.
One brooch I just couldn't resist because of how colourful it was, was The Gracious Gouldian Finch. Seriously, look at those colours! This rainbow-coloured little bird is so vibrant and eye-catching, made from no less than ten different coloured resins ranging from red to purple, and a mixture of marbled, bubble, ripple, and glitter resins. I especially love the gorgeous red ripple resin used for its head, the glitter purple of its breast, and marbled teal on its wing. The resins are all so pretty, and the colours are an instant mood-lifter. With so many colours, it goes with just about anything, and I think it will be the perfect brooch to pair with colourful, tropical sundresses in the summer.
I was lucky enough to be given one more brooch for Christmas from my parents, bringing my Erstwilder x Pete Cromer brooch collection up to five. I was given The Sweet Sugar Glider brooch, and it's utterly adorable, just like the animals it's based on. It's a simple design compared to most of the others in the range, with it's head, body, and tail made from simple shapes in light, medium, and dark grey marbled resins, and little splashes of pink bubble resins on its face and feet, but that just proves less can be more. It's such a cute brooch, and has so much character I could happily wear it with everything.
Erstwilder and Pete Cromer also launched a range of Essentials stud earrings back in December, made from some of the resins they used to create the brooches so they can be mixed and matched together. They look just as awesome with other Erstwilder jewellery or worn on their own, too. My parents got me the purple glitter resin studs for Christmas, and they're so pretty. They're a lovely dark pink-lilac purple in colour with pink glitter flecks in the resin, and they compliment the Gouldian Finch brooch perfectly. I have a lot of pink and purple Erstwilder brooches they match well, too. I've already got so much wear out of these earrings, and like my other Erstwilder heart studs, I just can't stop wearing them.
I also received a pair of Erstwilder heart-shaped drop earrings from the 'rents for Christmas- the red heart chunky glitter resin drop earrings. These earrings aren't part of the Pete Cromer collection, but were released alongside the Christmas collection 'All Wrapped Up' back in November. They're made from a glitter resin with chunky flakes of metallic scarlet glitter on a a plain black background which peeks through between the glitter. They're more red than black, but it hasn't shown well in my photo. The hearts are quite big, but the resin is nice and light, so they don't feel heavy or hurt your ears when you've been wearing them a while, which is great. I think they're really funky, and they're great statement pieces for nights out and special occasions like Christmas and Valentine's Day. I have a red ripple resin pair from another collection, too, and I'm really impressed with the quality of their earrings- especially considering how inexpensive they are.
Most of the Pete Cromer brooch collection sold out on the day it was released, but there are a few other designs still available- mostly kangaroos and dingos- which you can shop via Erstwilder and their stockists around the world. If the earrings have caught your eye, you'll be glad to know there are lots of designs still in stock. You can find the Pete Cromer Essentials here and the Christmas Essentials here, and follow the previous link to shop the collections via their stockists.
I'm so impressed with my little collection, and couldn't recommend these collections to you more.
Did you buy anything from the Erstwilder x Pete Cromer collections?
Most of the Pete Cromer brooch collection sold out on the day it was released, but there are a few other designs still available- mostly kangaroos and dingos- which you can shop via Erstwilder and their stockists around the world. If the earrings have caught your eye, you'll be glad to know there are lots of designs still in stock. You can find the Pete Cromer Essentials here and the Christmas Essentials here, and follow the previous link to shop the collections via their stockists.
I'm so impressed with my little collection, and couldn't recommend these collections to you more.
Did you buy anything from the Erstwilder x Pete Cromer collections?
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Ah, they are so cute!!! I love them!
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