Masks are required while in classes for your own health and safety.
Tag: #jewelenvy
1 Day Earring Workshop Sunday June 11, 2023
Masks are required while in classes for your own health and safety.
8 Week Introductory and Intermediate Casting Thursday June 8th, 2023
Masks are mandatory during classes for your own health and safety!
8 Week Gemsetting Class Monday May 29th, 2023
To enroll in this class you must have completed at least one 8 week jewellery making class or the equivalent through weekend workshops.
This class comes with a kit that consists of a set of 6 cast pieces in sterling silver, calibrated gems and setting burs for the projects, materials to make 2 setting tools to use in your work. The kit has a fee of $200 that must be paid at or before the session begins.
1 Day Stacking Ring Workshop Sunday April 30th, 2023
*Masks are required while attending classes at Jewel Envy.
1 Day Band Ring Workshop Sunday April 23rd, 2023
*Masks are required while attending classes at Jewel Envy.
Winner winner jewellery dinner!
Ok so it’s not quite appropriate to eat for dinner but jewellery can certainly be worn during dinner or really any other time you feel the need to add some sparkle on your body.
December 2021 marked our 15 year anniversary as a boutique retail and working studio space. We started off a lot smaller on Spadina Ave but have made Roncesvalles our home for the last 9 years. If the times were different we would have had a big celebration but alas it was not to be last year so we got creative and asked you our amazing customers to share a special memory about the shop or a piece of jewellery from here and as a thank you we did a random draw for a little shopping spree in the store on us.
We deeply appreciated everyone who wrote in. All names were entered into an excel spreadsheet and we used a random number generator to pick the winner. There were far to many lovely notes to share in just one blog post so I have chosen the winner and one more.
Yesterday our lucky winner had the opportunity to come and shop in person and you can read her entry as well as see a selection of her jewellery from here below.
How can I show my love for Jewel Envy and all the talented, creative artists? Buy their jewelry, of course! Over the years my collection has grown, many of these pieces are near and dear to my heart as they were made for me, while partnering with the artists.
I absolutely love every one of these jewels and will definitely be adding more from Jewel Envy to my collection.
Your social media page is one of my favourites as I get to see a glimpses of beautiful, sparkly, unique creations.
Janet k.
From the many other entries I chose this one because it truly highlights the sentiment of jewellery and what we do here. Please enjoy the touching story by a customer we started working with just before the pandemic began.
This is about memories and what you’ve done to enrich them.
My mother died and left behind dozens of pieces. There was a blind auction for the four heirs. In English, it meant that no one got every item they wanted. Horse trading was allowed – and that helped. That said, most of the settings were dated. I found out about you guys totally by accident – from a woman working across the street from you.
We have relied on you to reinvent pieces that retain our memories of the stones, my mother’s love of baubles and my father’s love of buying gems for our mother.
I’ll share one backstory. My father never smoked cigarettes. But his 5 sisters sent him cigarettes during WWII that he could use for barter. He bought diamonds. I wear the largest engagement ring diamond as a pendant every day. And think of everyone involved in getting it from Holland to around my neck. And you – Jewel Envy – is a part of that story.
Carla C.
Have it your way…
I love watching custom design reality shows. I like watching the team pull various talents together, the resourcefulness, and I like to watch an idea become reality. But, I really, really, like the look into what it’s like to pull thoughts from a client’s mind, to shape those thoughts with hints of what they enjoy, to fuse everything with what will actually work, and, hopefully, create something fantastic. This is really what custom is supposed to be about – adventure. Like most adventures you embark on with a stranger, the first custom project with a new client or artist is exciting, full of possibilities and hidden expectations.
Once we are in general agreement about a concept, and I have an idea of the preferred budget, it’s time to lay out some sketches for approval. These are like mapped out suggestions for where we should go, and what we should do. The thing to remember here, is that the budget and preferred timeline are like mileage. You can go clear across Canada with enough time and money, but if it needs to be done quickly and you only have so much gas, you may have to adjust your plans to a really fun day trip.
When the design is set and the deposit has been paid, it’s time to relax. I mean it, relax! Especially if you are the client. Designers/Makers may check in if an issue pops up, or an opportunity to improve the piece, but generally, this is a waiting game until the piece get its finishing touches.
Eventually, we get to the big reveal – the breathtaking view. It is my aim for you to be blown away, where you cannot wait to tell the story of your wonderful journey to your beautiful piece. That is the goal of any custom goldsmith anywhere.
What would you like to have made?
Brooches are cool!
I know it doesn’t seem like it today with this amazing post (or almost post!) summer weather we’re having, but autumn is approaching, and with autumn, my mind starts to remember all my……brooches! I think they’re often an overlooked adornment, and they can be sooooo useful too, and not just in a “dress up your outfit” kind of way!
This is the first brooch I ever purchased for myself, I love the whimsical blend of tech and more conventional jewellery components. Made by hand, I purchased this about 25 years ago at the Cabbagetown Fall Fair, made by a duo of women who called themselves JADS.
You can use them to jazz up a plain-ish shirt, or to pin a scarf in place as the weather gets a bit cooler, but my favourite, it to wear them on one of my many jackets (I do have alot of them!).
They can be fun and whimsical (like the ones below), or more substantial. Also, you know, once you have one, people start giving them to you!
A friend of mine gave me this one-it’s enamel on brass, I think it probably came from Fair November in Guelph.
the two on the bottom (the cat and origami) were stocking stuffers, and the tweedy one was a leaving present when I left Scotland last year (very appropos!)
This one is pretty cool, it’s silver wire and beads, with twirled paper, and I think it’s made from Architectural Digest pages–It’s a lot of fun! And orange, which I don’t wear much of, but I love!
There are lots of cool forms you can get, especially in metal. And I like them because although I don’t necessarily want huge jewellery, I do like a nice substantial metal brooch.
This is a multi-layer enamel panel that I made some years ago, it’s about 2 inches by 1.5 inches, and it’s fairly heavy, so I sent it in a sterling frame, making it very wearable as a decorative brooch.
This is a copper brooch made with the Repousse and chasing technique.
A couple of examples of whimsical animals. the one on the bottom left is a little wren (although I like to think it’s a robin :), made for me by my good friend Morag Hickman, in the UK.
Although I have to admit, my all time favourite is this one:
I bought this in an auction as part of Ready, Steady Jewel, a number of years ago, which was pretty cool (and not just because I love this brooch!). A UK goldsmith called Deme Wolfe-Power made it, it’s sterling silver , cubic zirconia and leatherette. All told it’s about 3in by 4in, and it really makes a statement!
So, hopefully I’ve encouraged you to think about brooches! Come into the studio and check out our selection from our resident goldsmiths, including Helena, Vera, and Fiona. Can’t see quite what you’re looking for, but like the style of something in the studio in particular–that’s okay, we do that too!
Have a great Saturday, and I hope to see you soon!
-Robin (House of Cassady)
Watermelon Tourmaline
Sneak peek at some design ideas Alexis Kostuk of glaciale goldsmith is brewing up to set these beautiful watermelon tourmaline into some earrings designs.