Here’s the coles notes on how I met Michele: she was referred to my dad by some friends of hers. She came in to discuss jewellery with him…and I basically poached her. Sorry dad! And now Michele and I chat about business ideas and she’s a constant source of inspiration (she’s so great - check out her website here).

Michele has great style! Every time I see her, I feel inspired to wear something other than workout gear. And she loves really unique jewellery which is fun because we get to be extra creative!

I originally wanted to make Michele a silver bangle with a splash of gold running through it. The only reason I didn’t end up making it was because I’ve never done it before and I didn’t want to ruin her materials. I would have to play around soldering her silver and gold together and if I screwed it up, her materials would need to be refined to be salvaged. At the time I didn’t have time to play around with my own materials as a test so instead I opted for something I knew would still meet some of the things she said she liked.

To make her metamorphosis, I made five thin bangles and two small and wide gold ones. The process goes as follows: melt silver, pull wire, anneal silver and quench, pull wire, get wire stick in draw plate, have dad pull stuck wire through draw plate because he’s stronger, anneal and quench silver, make bangles, solder them together, polish them, then…melt gold, roll out, anneal and quench, roll out to desired size, make rings, polish them, join them to silver bangles, solder them closed, polish everything.

The best part is that the day of the Metamorphosis reveal, Michele showed up in the cutest outfit that actually looked like she planned her outfit around the bracelet she hadn’t even seen! So great!

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!