METAMORPHOSIS 19: INTRO

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!

METAMORPHOSIS 18: REVEAL

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!

METAMORPHOSIS 18: INTRO

Volunteer: Kelsey A.

Profession: Teacher

Likes: neutrals, something that symbolizes her daughters, classic designs, mix of yellow and white gold, liked Metamorphosis 8 and 16

I have an idea! Kelsey sent me some photos of things she likes and as I was typing up her likes, an idea popped into my head. It's an idea that can be done two ways so I'm going to play around with some designs and see what happens!

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 17: REVEAL

Cocktail Ring

I was inspired to make Ella this Victorian-styled cocktail ring after I saw a ring she already had (see the circled ring in images below). Also, she had a pendant that I was able to turn into the base of the ring setting. Furthermore, she seemed to gravitate toward other multi-stone Metamorphosis', so a multi-stone cocktail ring seemed like the right idea!

I chose hematite because I thought it would pair easily with most outfits when she dresses up. She also said she wears a lot of gray so I figured it was a safe colour!

METAMORPHOSIS 17: INTRO

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?

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: MAGDA

In light of Metamorphosis' popularity, I started offering it as an anytime service for $100. I still do my monthly metamorphosis jewellery, but now I also offer it to those who didn't get one of those monthly spots. Interested? Read more about it here.

Magda was the first person to take me up on my Metamorphosis $100 offer. Thank you for trusting me Magda!

She asked if I could make something for her and her best friend. The first piece of jewellery she showed me to use in the project was a beautiful hand-engraved aboriginal cuff from her best friend. This cuff was special to Madga, but it was broken. Not only did I not want to melt it because the engraving was beautiful, I knew it was special to her and I thought it would be cool if I could repurpose it.

I envisioned making them leather bracelets with plates from the original cuff. As I started planning, I took another jewellery order that left me with two extra strands of leather: meant to be?!

I was worried that Magda would be underwhelmed with what I made her. It wasn't anywhere near as fancy as Metamorphosis 15, although I knew that wasn't her style anyways. I thought about using the engraved cuff to make rings but I was drawn back to the leather bracelet idea, especially since she said she likes organic materials.

I'm so glad I was able to keep another artist's work in tact while salvaging the sentimental aspect the cuff represented to Magda. That is what Metamorphosis is about!

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!

METAMORPHOSIS 15: REVEAL

Multi-gem cuff

I knew I wanted to make Aleksandra a cuff from the moment she left my office. I had originally wanted to make a reptile-esque pattern on the cuff but in order to successfully do that, I would have needed to make a wax model which I didn't have time for. I tried carving that pattern into the metal but it looked terrible so I had to start the cuff over. I opted for a simpler pattern which actually highlights the stones better.

I'm always stressed about metamorphosis jewellery but this one was extra stressful. Once it was done, I couldn't decide if it was actually vintage-looking/vogue-ish. Also, she prefers white gold but I was drawn to making this cuff in yellow. Lastly, combining stones can be a personal thing so I hoped she would be into the purple and blue combination. Thankfully, it was a success and she liked it!

METAMORPHOSIS 15: INTRO

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...

METAMORPHOSIS 14: REVEAL

Stackable Knuckle Rings

Based on what Alyson told me she liked, I came up with a theme for her metamorphosis:  The Secret Garden.

She also said she liked knuckle rings. I realize that they have nothing to do with The Secret Garden, but I wanted to find a way to make it work. I set aside everything from her jewellery that fit my theme and got to it.

Originally I had planned to make three rings but then decided to only make the top two in the photo. A few days before the reveal, I decided to make the third one, which ended up being a huge pain in the ass. Long story short: my dad had to help me fix a part that I had ruined while trying to fix another part that I had ruined, five minutes before Alyson showed up for the reveal.

Despite the stress and mad rush, they got done! I love them and and I hope she does too!

1. I used this entire ring as the top of the gold knuckle ring (middle in photo above).

2. I used the diamonds from this ring for the top of the bottom silver ring above.

3. I used the vessel from the rose quartz pendant as the top of the second silver ring (top in photo above).

METAMORPHOSIS 14: INTRO

Volunteer: Alyson G.

Profession: Social Worker

Likes: vibrant colours, feminine yet edgy, whimsical patterns, flowers, nature, family-inspired

Dislikes: neutrals, dangly earrings

I"ll be honest: I have no idea where to start! As you can see, I have lots to work with. Something will eventually come to me when I'm knee deep into breaking things apart!

METAMORPHOSIS 13

Three bangles cut from one

Lindsay mentioned that her mum and sister's birthday's were coming up in February so it would be cool if I could possibly make something for the three of them. I thought, why not?! I'm a sucker for sentimental gifts!

Lindsay describes her mum's style as classic, her sister as trendy, and herself as casual. Bangles are good for all styles. A bangle is classic, the hammered look is trendy, and the waves are casual.

I cut the bangles from the same piece of silver as you'll see in the photos below. Figuring out how they fit together is kind of like a rubik's cube. And once you figure it out, you'll notice they don't fit together perfectly. This is because as I cut and filed down sharp edges, some waves no longer fit the mother wave. At first I was annoyed by this but then a sentimental light bulb went off: Lindsay and her sister are cut from the same cloth as their mum but they aren't the same. So it actually makes sense that the bangles don't fit perfectly together.

MORE METAMORPHOSIS!

Metamorphosis 2015 is over! It was such a wonderful experience! Thank you so much to all my volunteers! I look forward to another year of surprise jewellery! Thanks in advance to everyone who signed up for 2016. And for those I couldn't squeeze in to 2016....

Due to popular demand, I have decided to offer Metamorphosis as an anytime service for $100!

During 2016, you can book the service at any time without having to wait for "your month" and the turnaround to get your jewellery will be faster.

For $100, I will convert your unwanted silver and gold jewellery into something new. I will take your likes/dislikes into consideration, but the final product will be a design of my choice.

I will not post the making of your jewellery or information about you to my journal. I will however take a before and after photo which I will post to my social media. I will only post the making of process for those who got a spot in the monthly Metamorphosis for $50.

When you drop off your jewellery, I will test it on the spot and we will discuss your likes/dislikes. I require payment upfront and up to 4 weeks to produce your jewellery.

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!

Happy New Year!

*Note: you must live in the lower mainland and be a referral.

METAMORPHOSIS: DECEMBER REVEAL

Tikka

There you have it: the last metamorphosis of 2015!

I knew Kendra wanted a tikka and I wanted to make one. It was my first tikka and I thought it would be great to end the year making something new! I hope I get to make another some time soon!

The final product is actually different than my original design. The original tikka had a sodalite as the third eye (the dangling stone). When I was polishing it, it slipped from my hand and the sodalite ricocheted off the buffing machine's wall and cracked. That was annoying. But then I found the quartz and loved it as part of the design so much more than the sodalite. I think it was meant to be!

In the photo (courtesy of Kendra), she is also wearing some hammered silver earrings I made her earlier this year.

METAMORPHOSIS: DECEMBER INTRO

Volunteer: Kendra C.

Profession: Photographer

Likes: turqouise, indigo, art, spirituality, gardening

Dislikes: pink, purple, toe rings, anklets, heavy earrings, chokers

I know what I'm making Kendra! This is the last metamorphosis for 2015 so why not end the year with a bang?! Let's hope what I have in mind works!

METAMORPHOSIS: NOVEMBER REVEAL

Steampunk Statement Necklace

The first thing that came to mind when Angela said she was a dirt bike racer and a can can dancer was steampunk.

I originally wanted to make her a brooch to wear when she dances, but then she told she doesn't like brooches. Then I decided to make her a smaller pendant on a long chain. However, the design I had in mind didn't work with a long chain. After deciding to make a shorter statement necklace, I played around with the idea of adding stones, different chains, etc.

Angela loves dirt bike racing but I was worried that maybe I took that too literally when I designed her metamorphosis jewellery. Luckily for me, she loved it!

METAMORPHOSIS 2016: TIME TO APPLY!

It's time to apply for Metamorphosis 2016!

You are eligible to participate in Metamorphosis if you live in the lower mainland, are a referral, and have silver and gold jewellery to repurpose.

If you are interested in participating, please email me at alicia@aagoldsmith.com

In your email, please tell me who referred you!

I will accept participants until all 12 spots are full and then I will start a five person waitlist.

Thank you to everyone who's interested in participating! Sorry in advance to anyone who doesn't make it in to Metamorphosis 2016.