More New Work

Drop in to take a peak at our newest addition of work by the goldsmith Carolyn Cathcart!

Carolyn'e creations are a combination of laser cut wood along with sterling silver components.

Carolyn's piece can easily be worn as casual everyday pieces or for those special nights when you want to dress up for a night on the town.

Rainy Day Jewellery 

On this lovely rainy day I walked over to the studio in my little black rubber boots splishing and splashing in the puddles. It got me to thinking what types of jewellery remind me of the rain. I pulled out a small selection of jewellery items that remind me of rain and rain drops to share with everyone reading. I hope you enjoy them.

The artists featured going clockwise from the top left:

 Fatima Tataragic, Sasha Oda, Gillian E. Batcher, Amber Thomas-Penchoff, and Alexis Kostuk.

Introducing: Carolyn Cathcart of Cathcart Designs

                    
          

Surrounded by my peers, I'm in the one in the middle.

            Well hello there. I am Carolyn Cathcart, newest goldsmith/designer/maker at Jewel Envy and I thought it was high time I introduce myself. I am a fresh graduate from the wonderfully challenging Jewellery Arts program at George Brown College, which was a life changing 3 years to say the least.

             While I was a student I really enjoyed working with alternative materials and it is a passion that has carried well into my shiny new career. The earrings below were the pieces I submitted to and subsequently won the Pat Cooney - Ontario Crafts Council Award for Production Manufacture.

                       Only in my third month at 151 Marion St and I already feel at home. Whether it is all the friendly faces or the bright blue hues of the workspace, Jewel Envy is a great place to be. Alot of owrk is on the way, including getting my nearly completed logo up on the website. Stay tuned!

-Carolyn
Cathcart Designs

Polish Festival

Thanks to everyone that came out to our free wax carving event this weekend, during the Roncesvalles' Polish Festival! We had tons of fun and can't wait to see all of your pieces cast in bronze and silver! If you'd like to see some photos, check out our Instagram page: http://instagram.com/jewelenvy

Official Launch to the Wedding Band Competition

Voting is now open for our first in house design competition. Go to the page on the right side of this blog and click on "In Studio Wedding Band Competition" to view the entries. You can then vote online or send us an email with your vote. If you are in the neighborhood stop in to vote in person. Only one vote per person please!

Enjoy the online exhibition and we welcome your comments.

Gillian

The Circle of Life

I think we can all agree that Mufasa pretty much covered the circle of life, for lions and hyenas everywhere.  If you happen to be a goldsmith, the circle of life is a little different.  Luckily, I am here to impart some wisdom.

Here is me imparting wisdom:

The circle of life, for the sterling silver in my toolbox, begins as trial and error in wax carving.  Here are some early attempts at carving balls:  

Once I have a satisfactory wax carving, I use sterling silver casting grain to cast the ball into metal.

Surprisingly enough, I am not perfect, and when trying something completely new it can take a few attempts before I am happy with the results.  Here is my ball graveyard, where bad balls go to die:

Thankfully, the trial and error period does not last forever.  Below, success!

All the old sterling silver gets recycled, because recycling is part of the process.  In this case, I raided the ol' ball graveyard.   The bad balls visited the chop shop (er, metal shears), and now have a brand new purpose in life as casting grain.

In fact I am casting tonight, and this casting grain will actually become two sets of weddings bands and a pair of earrings.  

And that, my friends, is the sterling silver circle of life, goldsmith edition.  Hakuna Matata!

Back in the Saddle

Holy tripoli, it's been a long time!
After almost 8 weeks recovering from a fractured arm bone I am back in the studio working. Just in time too! Not only is fall my favourite fashion season, there's a wedding ring competition happening in the studio to help whip me back into shape.
Even though I couldn't work this summer, I still had my fair share of adventure between cottages, weddings, family reunions, Niagara Falls, and a camping trip in Long Point Provincial Park for the last week of August. Jewellery, however, was always still in the back of my mind. While in Port Colborne I collected some fish bones that I thought might be a great jumping off point for a fall collection. Don't worry, I don't intend to use the actual bones...they're kind of smelly.

Today is not so nice outside but I still feel like there's a couple nice days left before it starts to get cold. I went for a walk through High Park and then down to the beach on Tuesday and there were people still sun bathing!
The city has drained the pools, but I'm not packing away my sandals just yet.
-Lauren