Star and Crossbones is a quirky, pirate-hearted fiber arts and jewelry studio started in 2005 by a coast-cruising Florida native named Crystal. (Her parents must have known she’d have a thing for treasure.)
Our mission is to create fun, funky, expressive, and eminently usable everyday art objects with spunky, silly pirate spirit (arr!), while pursuing and promoting sustainability. We use recycled, repurposed, and cruelty-free materials and packaging whenever possible.
About Crystal, a.k.a. the Captain
Half pirate, half ninja, all adventurer! An eternal anthropologist and a lover of stories, whether written in words, silk strands, or sparkly gemstones. I learn voraciously, craft eccentrically, and am always seeking inspiration.
A Star Pirate Story: The Name and the Quest
Star and Crossbones started, way back when, with a rebellion. It was a rebellion against always putting responsibility first and dreams second. Why shouldn’t we give them equal energy? Even the thought felt subversive. Taking a chance, birthing a business from the desire to share a creative vision with the world — surely that would be an act of defiance. And a symbolic act deserves a strong name, inspired by the wildest and most fantastic shapes of freedom. “Bring me the horizon,” said a pirate of a certain fame, and I wanted to one-up that idea. Bring me the galactic horizon!
And so Star and Crossbones was born.
It’s meant to be a vessel for what inspires me, for independence, for exploration, and for conveying tangible creativity into the wide, wide world. Sometimes I play with things that sparkle, and other times with things that bring warm fuzzies. My overstuffed, labyrinthine craft room tells a tale of many interests and many more sleepless nights … but in every medium, I try to remember to bring heart, soul, and humanity along for the creative voyage.
I’m inspired by rhythms of nature, by space opera and seafarers, by dangerous beauty; by the old ways of doing things and the cutting edge, by story and song, by wind and wave, by sun-bathed leaf and rain-wet rock. To me there is meaning in the quiet shadows of glittering starlit nights, and in all things that flow and change and grow, minute or massive, bright or dark. I am enchanted by unabashed style and swashbucklingly singular self-expression, and so I hope you can see at least a tiny piece of that story in everything I offer here. Whether it’s handspun yarn or jewelry or quirky costume pieces, each and every object I create reflects some part of my personal journey — my dream-fueled, white-water, endlessly horizon-expanding adventure of discovery.
To all those who choose to sail with me on the adventure, I extend a sincere welcome aboard and my truest heartfelt thanks.
Now … That horizon is calling.
—Crystal
