It started with a crayon drawing.

My daughter had painted an entire underwater world — fish of all shapes and sizes, swimming freely across the page, full of color and childhood wonder. Looking at it, I thought: this is too beautiful to stay on paper. I wanted to carry it with me, always.

So I brought it to our design team and asked: can we turn this into a pendant?

Two Creative Directions

Our designer studied the painting carefully and proposed two approaches:

Direction 1 — The Collection: Extract one fish shape from each school of fish in the painting, then space them evenly along a necklace chain — a curated parade of characters from her world.

Direction 2 — The Faithful Replica: Choose the most complete school of fish from the painting and recreate it at true scale, preserving every bit of its childlike charm and spontaneity.

We chose Direction 2. Because the magic was in the whole — the way the fish clustered together, the energy of the group, the innocence of her hand.

Bringing It to Life

From there, the real craft began. Here's how we refined the design:

• Bubbles as connectors: We used circular forms to mimic water bubbles, linking each fish together in a way that felt natural and fluid.
• Line vs. solid: Larger fish were rendered in open linework; smaller fish in solid form — creating a beautiful interplay of light and shadow, presence and absence.
• Movement built in: To avoid a static feel, we split the school of fish into two sections connected by a ring in the middle. When worn, the pendant sways gently — the fish actually seem to swim.
• Double-sided 3D carving: The pendant was carved in full relief on both sides, so there is no "wrong" angle. Every view is perfect.

The Result

When we held the finished piece, both my daughter and I were speechless.

We made two versions: one became a keychain she carries every day; the other was set into a shadow box frame alongside the original painting — a keepsake that captures exactly who she was at this moment in time.

This is what POMTIQUE is about. Not just jewelry — but turning the moments that matter into something you can hold, wear, and pass down.

If you have a drawing, a memory, or an idea you'd love to see transformed — we'd love to hear your story.

✨ Visit our homepage to explore more handcrafted pieces made with love.