Metamorphosis 37: Redo - Charm Earrings

Gold hoops with interchangeable charms

Ella’s hematite ring was metamorphosis 17! Since then, styles have changed and it was time to turn that ring into something else!

She mentioned she wanted some earrings and this idea immediately popped into my head. I used the small hematites from her ring and the silver to make the settings. I decided to add some moonstone charms as well so she could change them for a day/night look! As for the gold earrings, I traded her silver for what the gold earrings cost me. I don’t make this style hoop in small sizes as they are a lot of work and much cheaper to buy pre-made (because they’re usually machine-made).

As I mentioned in my earlier post, the point of Metamorphosis Redo is to show people that I don’t mind melting down things I’ve made in the past. Sometimes people are nervous to ask me to melt things that are outdated. Please don’t ever be nervous! Styles change and I am always happy to melt things down!

Metamorphosis 35: White gold, moonstone, and mother of pearl ring

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!

Metamorphosis 34: Yellow gold and diamond cluster ring

This Metamorphosis found it’s way to Greece for my sister-in-law Vicki! She left me all of her old jewellery (see photo below) that last time she came to Vancouver and told me to surprise her with a ring. She sent me several photos of styles she liked and I picked a style I hadn’t quite made yet!

To make this ring, I started by taking out all of the stones from her old jewellery and melting down the gold. I traded most of her white gold for yellow gold, which I then turned into a 4mm band. Once the band was shaped, I use the leftover gold strip to melt “blobs” all over the top of the ring. Then I created seats on the blobs and soldered the settings to those seats. After that, stones were set, ring was polished, and voila! From Vancouver to Greece with love!

METAMORPHOSIS NEWS

The draw to metamorphosis has always been that someone can get a custom piece of jewellery for a reduced price. Over the years I’ve had to raise the price to cover the cost of tools and specialists I work with (casting/stone setting). The reality is, that the more I have to raise the price, the more people lose interest. Metamorphosis is a creative outlet for me and I’d like to keep doing it which means I have to rethink the project in general and how I can make it better for everyone.

That being said, instead of offering 6 spots for the year, I have decided to change my metamorphosis offerings: I will have three types of metamorphosis available to you!

First, there will be two FREE metamorphosis. Details below.

Second, I will still offer metamorphosis for people who want to turn their old jewellery into something new. Details below.

Third, one of the first things people say when interested in metamorphosis is “I don’t have enough materials”. This got me to thinking, how can I include people who don’t hoard old jewellery? I decided I would offer a version of metamorphosis where I supply the materials! Details below.

Metamorphosis offerings:

1. Metamorphosis - FREE and your materials (must be a referral - application process) - Click here for more info.

2. Metamorphosis 100 - $100 fee and your materials (must be a referral) - Click here for more info.

3. Metamorphosis: Sterling Silver - $150 fee and my materials (anyone can sign up) - Click here for more info.

Here are the basic details for all:

1. There is an initial interview where we discuss your likes and dislikes.

2. It takes 6 to 8 weeks to make jewellery

3. Your jewellery will be posted on social media

Questions? Don’t hesitate to ask!

METAMORPHOSIS 33: Silver, rose quartz, and diamond necklace

I had seen a similar necklace months ago and kept the photo because I knew I wanted to make something similar for someone one day. Verity was that someone! As I was rifling through my stones to find something she would like (she likes pastel colours), I stumbled upon a purply rose quartz. I set it aside while I looked at other stones, but I kept going back to the rose quartz. I decided that it was a sign that the stone was meant for her!

To make the necklace: I made the vessel for the stone which consisted of melting silver and rolling out a piece wide enough to be the walls around the stone and a flat piece for the bottom big enough for the stone and vessel walls, then soldering it together, cleaning it up, soldering the jump rings to it and the 4-claw setting for the cubic (which was from another earring she had), soldering the chain to the jump rings, polishing the whole thing, setting the stones, and lastly polishing everything again.

Really happy that I finally got to make this necklace!

METAMORPHOSIS 31: Stering silver and pearl brooch

Pearl Brooch

I spent a long time figuring out what to make for Metamorphosis 30! Lizette had these opals that I really wanted to use but I just couldn’t figure out how to incorporate their asymmetrical shapes into any designs that would suit her. She also had a few pearls and it made me think of all the lonely pearls we all have but don’t know what to with! How many of you have a bag of random pearls (mostly single earrings because you lost the partner)? Exactly!

Lizette loves brooches which made the choice of what type of jewellery to make easy. To make this brooch, I soldered a bunch of settings together and then soldered them into a hammered silver ring. Then I added the brooch pin and set the pearls. I would have liked to make it a convertible brooch to pendant but with the open back design, that wouldn’t work. (Note: the brooch pin can’t be seen when the brooch is being worn!)

METAMORPHOSIS 30: White gold and diamond stackable rings

Stackable White Gold and Diamond Rings

These rings may seem simple but let me tell you, when there are infinite possibilities in stackable ring designs, it’s hard to pick just a couple!

I started by swapping Shannon’s yellow gold for white gold since she prefers white and didn’t have enough. I was able to use one of the pre-existing settings (princess cut - square centre stone) from a pendant she had for the thinner ring. Once both bands were made and I soldered the princess setting to the thinner ring, I sent them off to the stone setter!

With all the materials Shannon had left over she actually ordered a third ring which will balance the other two rings nicely. I’ll post a photo of it when it’s done!

Before photo of Shannon’s jewellery

METAMORPHOSIS 2019

Who’s ready for year 4 of metamorphosis?! YEAR 4! I’m so flattered and happy that you guys love this project (or are crazy) enough to keep volunteering so that I can keep doing it. Thanks to all of you, I get to be creative and create custom jewellery at a fraction of the price.

Interested in participating? Here are the details:

• You MUST be a referral (friend of a friend of a friend is fine)

• $100 required upfront

• You supply the materials (unless I design something that needs something you don’t have in which I will supply the materials)

• I will take your likes/dislikes into consideration but will make something of my choice

• Turnaround is 6 to 8 weeks

• Whatever I make you and it’s details will be posted on my social media

To apply, please send me photos of the jewellery you would like to use for this project and photos of jewellery you would like to acquire.

Questions? Don’t hesitate to ask!

METAMORPHOSIS: BETH

I went into Beth's metamorphosis thinking I wanted to make something without stones. Everything I've made lately has been stone-heavy. But as I took apart her jewellery, I found myself gravitating towards something with stones. She said she likes cool colours (and she had a lot of blue/green/white stones), a combination of metal and stones, and would like to acquire a pendant on a long chain.

I wanted to keep some of the settings Beth already had but in doing that, there was a chance some of the synthetic stones would lose their color. And they did. So to balance the colours,  I had to change the colour pattern a bit.

As for the raindrop idea, I had seen a cool raindrop pendant somewhere on Pinterest ages ago. When I was playing around with Beth's stones, that pendant idea popped into my head and I knew I wanted to make a variation of it. Also, and this just happens to be a coincidence, but the two days I worked on Beth's pendant, it was raining. Is that a sign that it was meant to be? And furthermore on that note, Beth lives in Calgary. So on a cold but sunny day in Calgary, she'll have her little Vancouver raindrop to remind her of what she is/isn't missing!

METAMORPHOSIS 16: REVEAL

Cocktail Earrings

I've made Mavra quite a bit of jewellery so I knew I wanted to make her something I hadn't made her before: earrings.

She likes neutrals and said she wanted something a little fancier. She had told me she didn't care much if what I made her included stones, but then she loved last month's cuff. Based on that, I decided some multi-stone earrings in neutral colours might be a good option.

She doesn't wear brown so picking the smokey quartz was a but of a risk, but I hoped that since it's more of a light taupe, it would be soft and subtle enough for her. Plus, the hematite brings out the gray undertones of the quartz. She is petite and doesn't like big heavy earrings so I made them a bit bigger than a nickel. Fancy yet not over the top.

I quite like how these turned out! I think I'll make more!

METAMORPHOSIS 16: INTRO

Volunteer: Mavra G.

Profession: Graphic Designer/Stay at home mom

Likes: Neutrals (except brown), amethyst, greens, liked Metamorphosis 8,9, and 10

Dislikes: Amber, tribal-inspired, doesn't care too much for stones, heavy earrings

Sometimes it's the people you know that are the hardest to make jewellery for! I know Mavra's style but I have no idea what to make her. I see this being a last minute Metamorphosis. I'll procrastinate. Then last minute come up with a design, that even more last minute, I don't like anymore or that breaks.

On the plus side, she said she'd like to aquire something a little fancier than normal. So, off I go to Pinterest to do some fancy research!