Back to School

A few months ago, I decided to go back to school to learn some new skills. I signed myself up to Gem Setting Class to further develop my jewellery line. I’m someone who needs to be hands on with learning. Reading a textbook and having demonstrations are helpful, but the real test is when you apply those skills. I find myself being too quick with the processes and trying to get things done quickly, but the real art of gem setting (and metalsmithing), seems to be in taking your time; slow and with patient intention. In this case, it's not the bunny that wins the race, it's the slow moving turtle.

It’s almost counter intuitive for me to be doing things with such patience, but it’s such a welcoming way to work. Turning off my hyper brain to tell myself to slow down. Filing and sanding down sterling silver to smooth the edges with repetitious motion is pretty time consuming, but also meditative and hypnotizing.

On the third class, as we were making gypsy settings, (which are gems that are set flush inside the metal), I realize you need to be quite strong to move and push even micro millimeters of metal to firmly hold the gems. At the end of class, my right arm was pretty sore and it felt like I had been doing one-arm push-ups all day.

Embarking on a new path or learning something new is always a bit nerve racking. Will I do it right? Will I fail? Sometimes just taking that step in expanding yourself is just what you need.

via pinterest

Design and Development: Sourcing the Finest Crystals

Lessons in Sourcing

When I worked for my last fashion design job, most of our trims and embellishments were brought to us on trim cards, all neatly laid with lists of color options. We would call our own in-house trim department to bring us several options of any trim we had our heart set on and in a weeks time, we would get an abundance of trims to choose from; from photos to real trims brought to us.
  
It was just as simple as a phone call or an email.

Having my own company presents its own set of challenges in sourcing as I don't have my own trim department and not everything is brought to me on a color card. Instead, I do my own shopping, locally and at trade shows, finding the right companies to work with that have the best quality and selection.

It's fun to pick out my own crystals and inspect them myself as each crystal is truly unique and one of a kind. It's like picking out a diamond, you're looking for cut, clarity and carat. For me designing and creating a product is about the process, always striving to continually perfect my craft. 
And because of this, I find I am very attached to most of my work because I know the story of how I bought each crystal and where it came from.

Crystal Obsession

So lately I've been obsessing over gemstones and crystal quartz stones. I've been experimenting with these two elements for a raw and refined look.

These crystals originate from all over the world in mining caves from Morocco, Mexico, Tibet and China. I've hand picked each of these gems for their shape, color and clarity so each one is one of a kind. My favorite is the Tibetan crystal quartz with the irregular points on each end, I'll be sad to let this one go.

Gemstones

Inspiring me this week, faceted and unrefined treasures from the earth.

From top left to bottom right:
1. Nallik necklace 2. Raw Quartz and Amethyst Stones 3. Pamela Love Bangle 4. Soap Rocks