Spring is almost here and brings gemstones and more with it!

We are more than prepared to say goodbye to the winter and welcome a warmer season full of plants and animals, but that's not all for us here at the studio; Spring is bringing us new Goldsmiths, new awesome gemstone events (more on that will be addressed on the monthly email) and new classes.

New jewelers will be joining our family soon, and  we cant wait to have their work available on the store for you.


There are also plenty of events to come, but those will be unveiled when the time is right, so I will not ruin the surprise. 
Last but not least, our gemstone setting course is running and personally has me excited, after months and months of planning, sketching, writing and thinking, the course has a starting date and will be running, if you ever wanted to learn about gem setting, this is your opportunity. The course will require previous experience with jewellery, but good news, you can take fabrication courses here at the studio and be ready to take the course. go to https://jewelenvy.ca or give us a call at the studio to learn more about the courses.

That is it for now,

Mauricio

Lapidary equipment

Holy bananas batman, we have been bringing in some exciting equipment to add to our repertoire at Jewel Envy. I couldn't hold back my excitement for our latest addition:

Lapidary equipment!!!

  
We can now play around with gem cutting. Instead of jumping back into completing work I had on my docket I decided to scrounge up some amethysts and smokey quartz crystals to play around with.

All the amethysts are sitting upright on the flat surface I created and I am holding the smokey quartz crystal to show the grinded flat surface along with a hole I drilled into the crystal.

I love the of natural crystals and cannot wait to play around with a few more in my stash to make adjustments so I can more easily set them into jewellery pieces. The reason I am so excited to have this equipment to grind and polish gems into unique shapes that will make any custom piece of jewellery that I create even more unique! - Alexis

Toronto Outdoor Art Fair

Hello our lovely readers,

I cannot believe it is already the end of June! Is everyone ready for the long weekend? Well today, I have an exciting event to share with you to prepare you for July!

The annual Toronto Outdoor Art Fair is happening on July 6th - 8th! It is Canada’s largest and longest-running contemporary outdoor art fair. This free public event showcases works by over 340 contemporary visual artists and makers, ranging in medium from painting, photography, and mixed media to jewellery and ceramics, and attracts 115,000 visitors each year to Nathan Phillips Square.

I will also be showcasing my jewellery works for the first time at the TOAF. Please come by and check out my works!

@ Nathan Phillips Square

Friday July 6  10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday July 7 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Sunday July 8  10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

I will be located at Booth A23 in Zone A! Hope to see you all there! Here are some of my works below.

Thank you for reading and I hope everyone will have a fantastic long weekend! Happy Canada Day!

Hoi Yi

Harem Royal

I just came across a jewellery design house called Harem Royal, and wanted to share some of their work with you. The richness of the colours is so amazing, and softens the sharp lines and somewhat mechanical nature of the pieces. The style makes me think of steampunk insects, beautiful yet dangerous. What inspiring work! It is so refreshing to come across artists whose style is so vastly different from my own - it reminds me that this world is filled with so many talented people, and so many beautiful things. 

Happy Sunday everybody!

(all images via http://athousandfacets.tumblr.com/ and www.haremroyal.com)

Hello Patrick!

It's a very happy SUNday indeed!🌝 Everyone is in need of that good vitamin D, hope you are likewise out there getting a whole long winter's worth!

Here's something else to make you smile - a small selection of the amazing work by Patrick Missodey of Bijoux Missodey.

Such beautiful details and quality in each and every piece - lots of pattern, and texture, and depth with gemstones for that perfect pop of colour - some of my favourite things:)

 

The artist himself, hard at work in the studio. 

 

 Dangling teardrop filigree earrings with little flowers in sterling silver - $320/pair

 Three delicate filigree rings in sterling silver - $350 each

 Textured bangle bracelet in sterling silver - $730

 Filigree necklace with large centre ruby and black diamond accents, hanging on a handmade rattail chain - $3,000

Here's a closeup because, come on it's stunning.

Patrick has more work on display here at Jewel Envy - I highly encourage you to come and see his work in person, you will not be disappointed!

SHOP SATURDAY

Saturday has come and brought the sunshine. What a lovely day out there!

But if you prefer to stay indoors and look at pretty things online, here are a few things for you😙

These are from a collection by Judith Noldin, of IN Jewellery. Her pieces are bold and eclectic, and the unique stones and accent colours she uses in her work definitely stand out from the crowd.

Here are some of my favourites:

Each stone is so unique, and the irregular shapes and colours really catch the eye. These pieces are stunning on their own, but they also look so great together - not too matchy matchy, but not not matching, you know??

 These three rings contain stones found along Lake Ontario, and are set in sterling silver with either 14k or 18k gold accents. Left to right: $410 - $380 - $410

This pendant is set in sterling silver on a long snake chain. The stone is opalized wood with a small dangling citrine $540

Stop by shop this weekend and take a look at the rest of Judith's collection on display. She is happy to do custom work as well!

Zef Radi of Radi Brothers

Happy Sunday! It's a beautiful day out there, hopefully you are out and about and getting 

some much needed Vitamin D🌞

Some of us are inside though, working hard in the studio. Here is one of our worker bees, 

getting busy at the polishing lathe↓

It's Zef Radi, of the Radi Brothers. He makes wonderfully delicate and detailed pieces, with 

mixed metals, lacy filigree, and vibrant stones.

 Here is a sneak peek of some of the pieces he has here at the studio:

 Sterling silver ring, with 18k/24k details $520

Sterling silver pendant, with 18/24k details and blue apatite $540

 Sterling silver dangling earrings, with 18k/24k details and pink sapphires $790

Drop by during store hours to see the rest of his collection in person. 

See you soon!

WE 💗💛💓💜💕💙💖💚💘

(We love love love love etc...)

So you may have noticed that it's coming up on Valentine's Day💝 And as you may imagine, it's pretty difficult to blog from a jewellery store without posting at least a few images of lovely love-inspired pieces... it just can't be helped!

In my esteemed opinion, hearts are good any time of the year, but especially relevant in the first few weeks of February. So here are just a few suggestions, from my heart to yours:

This is a dainty art deco bracelet by Jewelust (Amanda Henderson), but if you ask me it looks like two intertwined hearts. Sterling silver on chain $145

This ring by Urban Metal (Jerell Reichert) is solid sterling silver, and super substantial. It strikes the perfect balance between rough and smooth, and hand to heart you will love wearing this $110

Pale dusty pink is the perfect colour for Valentine's Day (or any day really), and this rose quartz stunner is pretty hard to miss. It is quite the statement stone, perched atop a podium of intricate lacy sterling silver. By HPL Jewellery Design (Helena Perez Lafaurie) $380

 Obviously these two hummingbirds are in love, and they flutter around sharing this lovely chalcedony bead, while staring into each other's gleaming sapphire eyes. How romantic! By Pash Jewellery (Gillian Batcher) $195

 These stunning pendants are actually lockets - the daggers slide out to reveal super romantic treasures within (*treasures not included). Accented with 14k yellow gold, these are the perfect pieces to wear close to your heart. By Glaciale Goldsmith (Alexis Kostuk) $880 top; $1470 bottom

 

What a lovely roundup, if I must say so myself! But by no means do you have to wait for someone to bring a heart to your door - go out and get your own! And by that I mean, come here and get your own, or anything else you feel like gifting yourself, because you're worth it! xx

💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗

Warm Weekends

Like any good Canadian, I love the wintertime. Fresh snow, rosy cheeks, and wool toques are just a part of life up here, and sweater weather is always an exciting time of year. But also, like any normal person, I am SO DELIRIOUSLY HAPPY when the weather pokes its head above zero, even if for just a brief respite. This weekend has brought a bit of rain, but it also brought milder temperatures that already has me daydreaming of springtime.

So I thought I would share a few pieces that brighten my day and make me think of sunshine, warm breezes, and flowers in full bloom.

 Butterfly brooch by HPL Jewellery Design (Helena Perez Lafaurie)

Sterling silver with bright pink CZ $380

 Flower pendants by Radi Brothers (Zef Radi)

Top: Sterling silver with 18k and 24k gold details $400

Bottom: Sterling silver with 18k and 24k gold details, and moonstone $660

You are my Sunshine by Glaciale Goldsmith (Alexis Kostuk)

14k yellow gold, 14k palladium white gold, yellow and orange sapphires $3,680

Radi Brothers by Zef Radi

Happy Sunday everyone!

I woke up this morning thinking it would be grey and overcast all day, but this beautiful sunshine has proven me wrong. And I have something else to brighten your day - introducing the gorgeous and detailed work of the Radi Brothers, by Zef Radi.

Zef has brought his family-born love of jewellery to Jewel Envy, and I strongly encourage you to come by and take a look at what he makes - the craftmanship is beautiful and refined, and lets the design work really shine through. The shapes are quite simple, but the filigree, contrasting metals, and gemstones add so many layers of colour and depth. Your ears are begging to try these on!

 Teardrop earrings - $1,175

Sterling silver with 24k gold, 18k gold accents, and moonstones

 Petal earrings - $1,400

Sterling silver with 24k details and 18k gold earwires

Round earrings - $1,130

Sterling silver with 18k gold details and amethysts

 Square earrings - $335

Sterling silver with 14k gold and rubies

Burst earrings - $1,575

24k gold, sterling silver filigree, amethysts and moonstones

 

I didn't put these earrings in order of preference, because I'm having a hard time choosing a favourite pair. But if I HAD to choose... actually the first pair would be my favourites after all. I really like the shape of the Petal earrings, but I really love the colour of the gemstones so I'm going with the Teardrop earrings as my personal faves.What about you???

Drop by the studio to drool over these beauties in person, and maybe you'll be lucky enough to meet the goldsmith himself:)

sunday in the studio

Here's a little something for your weekend visual enjoyment. Earrings by Caroline Deacon that make me really happy, and that will make you really happy too. That's just the amazing effect that beautiful things have on people like us:)

textured studs, save at $65 a pair

 attention to detail: handmade backs!!!!

drops with opal cabochons. a bit of a splurge at $275 for the pair, 

but come one! these are just the best

Sunday Funday in the studio

It's Amnesty Day today! The studio hosts this day a couple times a year, for students to get some extra (and free!) benchtime outside of regular class hours.

Lots of fun and creative projects are taking form before my eyes. Here are some images of our amazing students hard at work:

  Using the flexshaft and a ring clamp like a pro

Soldering an earring with a bit of third-arm help

 Forming some very special bezels for some very gorgeous stones

We teach a variety of one-day and 8-week workshops here at Jewel Envy. Whether you are looking to build a foundation of goldsmithing skills, or walk away with a handmade piece of jewellery (or both!), we can help you out. Take a look at our calendar of upcoming classes and get in touch!

WHAT DO YOU SEE??!

Happy Shop Saturday all!

It's kind of a dreary wet day out there, which is kind of too bad, but also kind of perfect for staying inside, reading blogs, and thinking about future jewellery purchases😉

Today I would like to introduce you to the Rorschach line of jewellery, designed and handcrafted by Micheline Roi of Atelier J. Inspired by - surprise! - the famous Rorschach inkblot tests, this line includes brooches and earrings at a variety of pricepoints.

The lasercut brooches are $30 apiece, in either mirrored acrylic or baltic birch.

 These earrings are copper, and then plated with a black nano-ceramic coating. Save on the small pair at $65, or splurge just a bit more on the large pair at $95.

 The small sterling pair are $75, and the large pair are $125.

 These are gold-plated sterling silver. The small pair are $80, and the large pair are $150.

A Rorschach collage.

Personally, I would be interested in seeing these earrings in 14k yellow gold because, well, gold. If that is also your choice, good for you and your great taste, get in touch for pricing!

SHOP SATURDAY - IN THE BOX

Hello friends!

It's shop saturday again, so it's time for another edition of save or splurge. This one is one features work by Judith Noldin, a resident goldsmith here at Jewel Envy.

 

The box is a pretty fabulous splurge - the top and bottom are domed, textured copper, and the rims and hinge are a perfectly contrasting sterling. This is a $420 splurge.

Inside, for your saving pleasure, is a sterling silver lapel pin. It's a bumblebee, because save the bees, literally! This baby will set you back $80.

Judith has more pieces in her bee collection, and she also has another box (this one is completely sterling silver) on display. I highly recommend you come in to take a look yourself:)

Enjoy your weekend everybody!