Rachel Betty Case is sculptor and jewelry artisan. But her chosen medium is human ivory which is basically fingernail and toe nails.  She defines her style as "humorous and shocking, yet refined and sophisticated." And highly unusual. She is probably the only fingernail and toenail clipping artisan in the world!

In this interview, she described people's reactions to her art form : "When people found out I made art out of nail clippings and belly button lint some would scream, some would gag, some would stare blankly. Some would laugh and one even told me I was "the most disgusting person on Earth." Every reaction is different and I treasure all of them."

She is a true artist - she's not afraid of doing what she finds fun and fascinating. On her Etsy store, she acknowledges fingernail and toe nails are not bones. I'd like to point out ivory from elephant tusks is not bone either but teeth which is made from different materials.

However, our fingernail and toenails are intrinsically part of our skeletal structure as they are connected to our finger and toe bones. Sue also makes skeletal structures out of them as you can see from this skeletal hand pendant.


She sells her jewelry in other places too, notably the Mutter Museum (located in Philadelphia at the College of Physicians) which has the oldest collection of human anatomical oddities. BTW you can send Rachel YOUR clippings for custom work.


Her most favorite creation?  Her tampon dress which I thought was really good!
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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips