I already knew how to cast going into the GIA class on casting but I certainly didn’t know everything. Cast is the process of basically turning your idea into a metal piece you can wear. In the jewelry industry this usually starts with a wax. The wax is an exact model of what your piece will look and feel like. Jewelers use waxes because they are inexpensive and because you can change a wax by adding and subtracting until it looks exactly how you want it to look–it is much easier to change a wax than a piece of metal. Once you have a perfect wax, you pour a type of plaster around it and then melt the wax out leaving a hole in the plaster in the exact shape and size of the wax. You then shoot molten metal into that cavity.

At GIA, we learned how to do that process and we got to practice a lot. In order to get that practice we cast from waxes we had carved in a previous class and from waxes we got from molds. In those hundreds of molds were these really fun animals that I just had to cast! They were super cute and with all of the detail they were difficult waxes to perfect and then turn into metal! Check them out!

I think my favorite one is the turtle; what yours?

The other really fun thing we did was make a mold of an actual silver dollar that we got from the beach. We then made a wax from the mold and cast the wax into silver.

What a cool way to keep something that is very fragile in a way that is much less breakable!

If you could, what you would you cast into a silver charm to keep forever?

All of the animal charms are for sale for $19.95 and the silver dollar is for sale for $29.95. Contact me at leah@leahashley.com if you are interested!

He had seen the circle design pendents on my website and wanted something like one of these but he wanted 4 stones around the outside to represent their 4 children.

Like most people at Christmas, he had a limited budget so we decided to go with silver rather than gold since he wife likes white metal and created sapphires rather than diamonds. We used created blue sapphires for the 2 stones inside the circle that would represent them (the parents) and 4 created while sapphires for the 4 smaller stones to represent their children. The silver piece we had decided to use was pre-fabricated and it had an extra loop so we decided to use it for a charm that was kind of like the infinity symbol since their family will be together forever.

The piece turned out really beautiful and she loved it!

In the jewelry business Valentine’s Day is generally a very last minute holiday as far as shopping goes but if you want something custom you need to start NOW!! Custom jewelry (as least through me) takes about 3 weeks to manufacture if there are no problems but the design process can take anywhere from one day to months depending on the piece and how many changes have to be made. Make sure to allow for design time and not just manufacturing time!

Usually Valentine’s Day jewelry is inexpensive with hearts or pink, red, or purple stones. In recent years when gold has been so expensive, silver has been huge for Valentine’s Day because it allows for lower prices. If you want something simple, you can still hit lower price points with a unique custom piece that the receiver will wear for more than a few weeks.

Here are a few tips for buying custom even with a budget:
1. Don’t be TOO picky.
You should obviously be able to get something that you and the person you are giving to will truly love. The key is allowing for a little bit of lee-way from the picture in your head. If a piece can be made from existing pieces, this reduces cost by a lot.
2. Think simple.
The more stones, the more expensive the piece. Jewelers pay for setting by the stone so the more stones, the higher the price of the finished piece.
3. Use Silver.
Silver is a much less expensive option than gold or platinum. The problem with silver is how soft it is. Especially in rings, the softness of the metal can lead to a lot of scratching and loss of stones. I personally like to bezel set (where the metal goes all the way around the stone) stones in silver to prevent stone loss because of prongs that are too soft and get bent too easily.

Keep in mind that just because it is Valentine’s day, you don’t have to get something heart shaped or pink. If there is something else your significant other has been eying in the jewelry store, take advantage of this holiday where there isn’t a lot of other costs involved to get him or her what they really want!

My friend and his wife had gone to Hawaii I think and she had bought some black pearls that he wanted to set for her in earrings that should could wear. He knew he wanted white metal but other than he didn’t have a lot of direction. He sent me the pearls in the mail so I could see how big they were and maybe get some ideas.

I decided that silver would fit this project really well since he kind of wanted something dangle-y and I can buy a lot of fun silver pieces that are pre-made and put them together which keeps the cost down a little and makes for really fun pieces.

I came up with a few ideas like these.

and from those designs, we tweaked the idea on the left a little and came up with these.

I actually liked the idea so much and I made a pair with white pearls for my dad to give my mom for her birthday.

The textured silver ring and the plain silver rings and the pearls make a really fun earring that swings and is fun but is classy and could be worn out also!

Today I designed a cute snowman. If I were to manufacture this I would probably make it in silver with created stones but it could be really beautiful with real stones and in gold for someone who is serious about Christmas jewelry! This design could be either a pendant or a brooch or maybe earrings if you like really big earrings. Enjoy!

Stay tuned for the next few days to see what else I can come up with!