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This year my Metamorphosis focus is on redo’s of old metamorphosis!
I have two non-redo metamorphosis planned for this year but the rest will be redo’s and I’m really excited about it!
A lot of people are scared to ask me to melt things down that I’ve made them in the past. Never feel bad! Styles change!
I decided to use metamorphosis as a platform to show people that it’s ok to melt down jewellery I’ve made them. So stay tuned…the first redo will be coming soon!
Kat came all the way from Seattle to be part of this project! She left me her old grad ring that she never wore and trusted me to turn it into something new!
Kat was super organized in regards to sending me information of what she liked and didn’t like. I always love when people have visual references of their preferences because sometimes things get lost in translation or my idea of something is different than theirs!'
To make Kat’s ring, I melted down her white gold ring (see photo of it below) and made a plain band. I picked moonstone and mother of pearl for her ring because they are alternate birthstones to hers (pearl/alexandrite). Her grad ring had an alexandrite but I didn’t want to repurpose it. I made the settings for the stone and then soldered them to the band. After the ring was cleaned up and polished, I set the stones with the middle piece still between the settings. Cutting it out before I set the stones would make the stones harder to set since the band would be weaker once cut. After the middle piece was cut out, I gave the ring one more polish and voila!
Gold and Diamond Family Ring
Boy did I stress about this one! Monica had a Pinterest board full of jewellery ideas, which was awesome, but I couldn't pinpoint a specific style. I also didn't want to make another ring but that is the only design that kept coming to mind. (Good thing too because that's what she really wanted and she was convinced I was going to make her bangle! Ha!)
In the end, the ring has three elements: she likes two-toned jewellery, she seemed to like wrap rings, and she likes sentimental pieces. In regards to the latter: the three diamonds represent her husband and sons, and she's the wrap ring, hugging them!
I had to get my dad to help me quite a bit with the yellow gold part of this ring. Instead of making a wax model which would have made my life a lot easier, I decided to make the ring by hand. However, I'm not strong enough to bend gold by hand that's thick enough to contour. After the yellow gold wrap ring was done, I melted the white gold and made a bar that was soldered to the middle of the yellow wrap ring. Then I soldered the white gold settings so the white bar, set the stones, and polished the ring.
After I finished making the ring, I started panicking that I totally missed the mark and that she would hate what I made her. I even called a mutual friend for moral support. I know people sign up for this project expecting a 50% chance that they might hate what I make them, but I would obviously like to aim for 100% satisfaction.
Thankfully, despite my panic, she loved it!
I've spent the last month thinking about my business goals for 2017 and I've decided that next year I will not be offering the monthly metamorphosis project. I will however, offer Metamorphosis $100.
This year I've had the pleasure of making 3 Metamorphosis $100's (photos below). Here are the details:
Interested? Email me at alicia@aagoldsmith.com
Lastly, if you would rather design your own jewellery, I'd be happy to meet with you and quote you on my labour!
Charm Necklace
I really had no idea what I was going to make Cassie up until a week ago. I just couldn't figure it out. I asked her to send me some photos of jewellery she likes and had decided to make a bracelet based on one of the photos she sent me. Then I started overthinking the bracelet idea and decided to make a charm necklace. I think I took her jewellery out every day for two weeks and nothing came to me until finally one day I realized I could turn some of her rings into charms.
I made the honeycomb by hand. I melted gold, rolled it out, cut out some hexagons and filed down their edges. The yellow gold "C" charm and the diamond setting were from two different rings she had. I took the rings apart, re-engraved the faded "C", retipped the claws on the diamond setting, added some jump rings to both, and voila!
In case you're wondering about the honeycomb, Cassie's family owns the Honeybee Centre and she is basically my honey-dealer. And yes it would have made more sense for the honeycomb to be in yellow gold, but the "C" charm was yellow so I needed to create more balance. Plus, she mostly wears white metals.
This month's metamorphosis wasn't labour intensive but it sure did take awhile to come up with the idea. And sometimes less really is more: this month's metamorphosis really represents the project as a whole. The goal of metamorphosis is to try and repurpose what people have in the form it's already in. A lot of times I end up melting everything but it's cool when I can find ways to give something old, new life, without totally changing it.
This is the last metamorphosis of 2016! Next year I won't be doing monthly metamorphosis' but I will continue to do the project as people sign up for it. Stay-tuned! Interested? Details here.
Volunteer: Cassie G.
Likes: neutrals, organic shapes, simple, silver or white gold, sturdier bracelets, short necklaces, hammered metal, studs or earrings that don't dangle too much
This is my last Metamorphosis of 2016 and I have no idea what I'm going to make....NO IDEA. To make matters worse, I want to have it done by mid-month to avoid the Christmas hustle and bustle. Let's all nervously laugh together!
Mini ear-climbers
As I mentioned in my intro, I knew what I wanted to make Alice from the very beginning. My biggest issue was picking stones. It took awhile to find small stones in a combination that worked. I originally wanted all of the stones to be the same colour but different shapes, but given the timeline, that wasn't going to work (I would have had to order stones online because my suppliers didn't have the shapes/stones I needed). It took me awhile to find a combination that worked size-wise. I ended up using round faceted hematites, round cabochon emeralds, and pear cabochon moonstones.
Once I had the stones, I bought the settings, soldered them together and voila!
Two-toned X-Rings
A ring for Michelle and her sister!
Michelle had two rings from her parents that she said she would specifically like to use to make something for her and her sister but it didn't have to be for Metamorphosis. When she first told me this, I thought, don't use the rings...let her pick a special design. But as we started chatting about what she likes, etc, I got it into my head that I wanted to make them matching X-shape rings. I figured after a little research, I would think of something else to make her. Then, after our meeting, she sent me some photos of the jewellery she has which included some X and O earrings. It was a sign! She likes x-shapes! I had to make the rings! At the end of the day, she wasn't using her parents' rings so if she didn't like the new ones I made, then they'd go straight back to the bottom of her jewellery box.
After removing the stones and the white gold settings, I melted her gold. After making the bands and soldering them together, I sent them to the stone setter. Between the two rings, there were 18 stones but one of the stones was a tiny bit bigger than the rest so instead of 9 stones per ring, I was going to use 8. My dad suggested that 9 stones would actually look more even on he design so one of the rings would have to have the bigger stone in the middle. So that's what we did! The one with the bigger stone is Michelle's which makes sense because this was her Metamorphosis and she's the big sister!
Stackable Rings
Other than mentioning that she'd like to acquire stackable rings, Irene said she'd like something that represents her family. The amethyst (yellow gold) and peridot (white gold) rings represent her daughters and one day she has the option of giving them their respective rings. The diamond ring is for her husband since the stone is from a ring he gave her. And the twisted wire ring represents Irene: both colour metals bringing everything together!
Volunteer: Irene K.
Likes: practical jewellery, classic/vintage, family-oriented, long necklaces, stackable rings, natural/organic shapes
I have two ideas for Irene's metamorphosis and am I'm leaning towards one of them. I'd like to try and use two diamonds from rings her husband gave her that she said she would like incorporated if possible. I also think I might be going two-toned on this one. Guess I better get to it!
Amethyst Cuff
I was stumped on this one. I really didn't know what I wanted to make. Karen had said she would like either a ring or bracelet, something that incorporated the amethysts from a jewellery-set, and a piece of jewellery that represented a new start.
I sat down to brainstorm and nothing came to me. I wanted this to be special for her. Karen is going back to art school to follow her dreams so I wanted this to be something that reflected this new beginning.
Normally I hit up pinterest for inspiration but that didn't get me anywhere. I got the idea for this cuff by rummaging through my "silver to melt" bag. Karen mentioned she liked leaves and feathers and what do you know, I had two leaves in that bag. To make them work however, one had to be upside down which took away it's leaf-look. I tried thinking of different ways I could change the design so that both leaves were facing up but, short of making a new leaf, nothing came to me. It finally occured to me that the blank leaf was ok. Karen's starting a new chapter in her life, a blank slate of sorts, so it's fitting that one leaf be blank. And after that realization, it also made sense to use twisted wire: her old and new life coming together.
Thankfully I can report that she loved it!
Volunteer: Meghan B.
Profession: Officer, Philanthropy at the BCSPCA
Likes: neutrals, natural/organic stones, antiques, vintage, feminine details, necklaces
Meghan is the first friend I made in highschool. She is one of the best people I know so I'm pretty excited to make her something. That being said, I'm also terrified. I think I know her style pretty well, but that only adds pressure to this metamorphosis.
I have an idea. I think I really like it. Let's hope it works and that she likes it too!
Leaf Pendant
Kelsey had said she wanted something to represent her daughters. She had sent me some photos of necklaces she liked that featured multiple dangling gems or gems and leaves. When I saw the leaves, I knew I wanted to make a leaf for each of her daughters!
I asked Kelsey to describe her daughter's personalities. Based on what she said, I designed the patterns on the leaves accordingly.
The diamond was an after thought that I think was meant to be. It was a pendant that her husband had given her. For some reason, although I cut the bale off, I didn't take the diamond out of it's setting when I was taking all of her jewellery apart. As I picked up her bag of leftover stones, I noticed the diamond and thought, what if I add it to the pendant?! So I did and voila! Another metamorphosis complete!
Volunteer: Ella S.
Profession: Actress
Likes: long earrings over studs, casual yet feminine, wears a lot of gray, two-toned metals, geometric patterns, hammered metal, art deco, vintage
I know what I'm making! Well, I have an idea...hopefully it works out. Here's a hint Ella..I'm making a different version of something you gave me. What could it be?
Volunteer: Aleksandra T.
Profession: Teacher
Likes: Blues, greens, purples, vintage jewellery, hearts, bangles, beach-themed, flowers, liked Metamorphosis 7 & 8 (July and August)
Dislikes: geometric patterns, brooches, hammered metal, opals, alternate birthstones
According to Aleksandra, her friends call her style "old lady chic". As we were talking, I kept thinking to myself, "Vogue": which is essentially old lady chic/Anna Wintour. So, what do I make her? Everything she gave me is gold, predominantly yellow gold. She prefers white gold....but I think I might take a risk and make her something in yellow gold...