How did we get here?
I’ve always enjoyed creative hobbies (I even crocheted and knitted before it was trendy and cute), and I’ve also always loved jewellery and shiny things.
l love being a stay at home mum, but without a hobby, the cycle of nappies (and reusable nappy laundry) and feeds and naps is a bit all consuming.
Needing a new creative outlet, I did some research and found the Lost Wax Method. All of my jewellery is crafted using the lost wax method, one of the oldest forms of jewellery making! A method which I taught myself while my baby was only a few months old.
This method starts off in wax form, you create your wax piece, through cutting, filing, carving, melting, building up and setting stones. This can take a long time to get everything looking the way you want, and I’m still learning something new with every piece I make! I love the versatility of this method and I really like the unique textures that you just can’t achieve with others!
Once you’re happy with the wax design, the stones usually need to be popped out for casting, and re-set later! Sometimes this is the make or break point, the stone doesn’t always just ‘pop’ out and can cause you to start all over. It’s always a bit nerve wracking popping the stones out! Some stones can be cast in place but this is a small list of stones and usually only little sized ones. I still experiment to see which stones can and can’t be cast in place, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s all learning!
I send my wax pieces off for casting, and this is a pretty cool process. An ‘investment’ is made (like a temporary mold) and the wax is melted out and replaced with either silver or gold! There are specific casting companies who specialise in this process and do it so well. They then send my castings back to me and I finish them!
They need to be cut, sanded, resized, polished and any stones re-set. This can take hours and is a real labour of love. It’s so exciting seeing your visions come to life in these final steps. I often find I can’t put it down until I’ve finished it, even in the late (or very early) hours of the day!
I am no a professional and I haven’t been doing it long, but I’ve truly found a deep love for designing and creating jewellery. I feel so honoured to help people to present themselves in the way they like, and give them a boost of confidence. I really love doing custom pieces, going through the design process with another person is so special, and bouncing ideas back and forth it’s hard not to feel like good friends by the end of it!
If you’ve gotten this far, thank you for reading. And thanks for being here in general. I appreciate you, and I hope you know that in this world, you’re unique, special and loved. Aaand you deserve a little treat every once in a while! If you have any thoughts about a custom piece get in touch with me, I don’t bite and I’d LOVE to hear your ideas!! x
