You don't have to spend money to support your local businesses these coming holidays!

I mean, yes…we all want sales! But, we get that it’s not always in everyone’s budget so I’ll tell you what I tell everyone when I want them to come visit me at the crawl:

Just pop in to say hi and tell your friends about it!

Honestly, it feels so great to see familiar faces or meet new ones who tell me their friends sent them down to see my work. And most often, no one buys anything at the time, but I know that I’m top of mind and word is spreading about my business which eventually leads to sales!

On social media, you can send your friends posts to things they might like from local businesses or share posts on your stories. You can pop into local markets just to say hello to vendors who worked their assess off to fill those tables!

And please know, there is ZERO judgement if you buy all your gifts at big box stores because those stores employ people in our local community. So it’s also a win, just a smaller one!

Ways to minimize your carbon footprint when buying jewellery?

Everyone claims their jewellery is made of recycled materials and ethically sourced stones but this is usually false advertising.

We all try in some way to reduce our carbon footprint. Or at least I know I do since most of my work revolves around using old jewellery to make new jewellery without needing to purchase anything new.

It’s nearly impossible to have a clean rap sheet and it isn’t for lack of trying. For example, you can make a chain 100% by hand using your client’s old gold because you don’t want to purchase a factory-made chain, but as soon as you add a factory-made clasp to it, it’s not longer 100% “green”. The factory where the clasp was made might be a great factory that pays fair wages and treats employees well, but it’s still a factory that leaves a carbon footprint. See what I mean?

And everyone loves to use the term “ethically-sourced stones” but more often than not, they have no idea where their stones came from! I can claim that I buy all my stones locally to support my local economy and I buy them from a reputable business that sources them ethically from people who source them ethically. BUT…they were still mined from the earth which causes damage to nature and sometimes its done in undesirable mining conditions and cut by someone who likely isn’t paid a fair wage. So…again…do you see what I mean?

So, what it comes down to is that you have to make the best decision you can when buying anything and then be ok with the fact that part of your purchase had some type of environmental impact because that’s just the reality of buying most things nowadays!

Ways to try and make environmentally responsible jewellery purchases might include:

  1. Pick a business that at least talks about trying to be “green”. Although they may exaggerate how “green” they are, they are likely still trying to reduce their environmental impact and something is better than nothing.

  2. Say no to shipping if you can pick it up in person. Extra win for the environment if you can pick it up on a day you are already running errands to minimize another day of transportation pollution.

  3. Say no to packaging. More and more of my clients don’t want any packaging because they wear their jewellery out of my studio and have a jewellery box at home.

  4. Donate your old costume jewellery that’s in good condition to a second-hand store instead of throwing it away.

  5. Consider melting down your old silver and gold jewellery to make something new!

Why handmade jewellery is better!

Listen, there is a time and place for handmade and computer models and machine made. All three forms exist in my business. I have often told people to go buy jewellery from a store (i.e. chain from Costco, earrings from Mejuri, etc.). Not because I don’t want to make their jewellery but rather because I believe in serving my customer and sometimes that means not making the sale. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you I can make the factory machine-made ring for less because I can’t. Service costs more in Canada and good service costs even more.

So how do these forms exist in my business?

Handmade: most of my jewellery is handmade!

Computer models: I often get them made because they just look sharper and save A LOT of time that I don’t have because I work part-time.

Machine made: chains are machine made! I have made chains by hand but they had large links that are easy to hold with pliers and solder. The small links on a chain have to be created by tools too small for real hands. So 99% of the time I buy chains and certain components because they can’t be made by hand (like thin chains or lobster clasps) or it’s not worth it (like butterfly backings for stud earrings).

Despite all these forms being necessary, you still need human touch. Handmade hoop earrings vs machine made earrings? Handmade will be sturdy and solid and machine-made hollow and dainty. Computer model made by someone who understands computers but not the physical art of making jewellery? Handmade will be better.

So there's a time and need for both old school handmade and modern technologies!

Commemorative jewellery using ashes

I get a lot of people asking if I can make jewellery with a loved ones ashes.

I can physically do it. But I rather not. It’s not my specialty. My specialty is making commemorative jewellery from old jewellery.

There are smiths out there that have found ingenious ways to create memorial jewellery with ashes and I would suggest using their services.

For example, Morgan from North Faun Jewellery (see her instagram here). Her process sounds beautiful and practised. From her website:

…the cremains undergo a unique journey in which they are combined with powdered diamonds, clear glass, and a few other bits of magic in a high-heat process. The cremation gem is then set beneath it's glass or natural gemstone within the setting that's been created just for you.

In the process of becoming a solid memorial stone, the ashes that you've sent will become a deeper, darker colour than when they are "dry", and the colours that appear once they are solidified into a gem have a wide range: from near-white, cream, tan, brown, grey, and black. Some may even have tiny flecks of blue, green, or other colours within them…

Read more here.

There are also a lot of glass artists who can incorporate ashes into glass jewellery, ornaments, bowls, etc.

What is the difference between a goldsmith and jeweller?

Technically, a goldsmith makes the jewellery and a jeweller sells it.

But, if the goldsmith is like myself (a one man show) then they are also a jeweller!

I often call myself a jeweller as it’s a more recognized term than goldsmith. When I say I’m a goldsmith, 50% of people ask me what that is. Yes, 50%. Today’s shopper is used to going to a store to buy jewellery from a display case where they are attended to buy a jeweller/customer service representative. Back in the day, you’d go to your local goldsmith. So the knowledge of the term and it’s use has shifted greatly over the years.

Before you found your way to me, my blog, and this article, did you know what a goldsmith was?