Once Upon A Time ~
The old stories tell of changelings: otherworldly children slipped into cradles, replacing mortal babies that have been spirited away in the night. These children could be exceptionally clever and impossibly beautiful, but they were also wild and uncanny, and many superstitions sprung up around them. In some tales, the exchange might eventually be reversed – but even then, both the human child and the inhuman one would be forever unusual, belonging to two worlds at once, but never fully belonging in either one.
Changeling Jewelry is designed in the spirit of that duality, bridging the gap with pieces that blend the magic of nature with the nature of magic. Take a stroll through the world and wander off the path; step into a faery ring, or around it - choose your own adventure, or let it choose you.
Be wild, be witchy, be weird, be wonderful.
Original models are shaped using wax blocks, rods, and sheets, of various gauges and hardnesses. Changeling Jewelry pieces use malleable rods more than anything else.
About Lost-Wax Casting
Changeling pieces are carved and sculpted in wax, and then transformed into bronze and silver using the lost wax process. This is an ancient method of casting, known to go back at least six thousand years!
After a sculpture is finished, wax rods called sprues are attached to it, usually connecting several smaller pieces to one central “tree.” The whole shebang is then encased in liquid plaster, with sprues extruding at multiple points to create vents. Once the plaster sets, it is heated, allowing the wax to melt and be poured out of those vents, and leaving a (hopefully!) perfect impression of the original piece behind in the plaster. Molten metal is then poured into that cavity and left to set. After it cools, the plaster mold is shattered, the sprues clipped, and the jewelry pieces sandblasted to remove all of the plaster residue.
That’s not the end! The places where the sprues were attached must next be filed down to remove rough edges and casting marks, and then the entire item is buffed to a proper shine. Gemstone components may be added after this, and chains, cords, or other fittings come as the final step.
The nature of this process does come with some risk: the wax original is completely destroyed, and so is the plaster mold, so if anything goes wrong when the metal is poured – for example, if it fails to fill up the mold cavity – then the piece is completely lost, and must be made again from the beginning. This doesn’t happen often, but it does happen! Head over to the Gallery of “Lost” Waxes to see some pieces that were claimed by the foundry gods.
Something Rich and Strange
Changeling Jewelry is a tiny operation, born out of the broader creative endeavor previously known as DreamCaravan Designs. It’s all the work of a woman who would almost certainly have been called a changeling herself, if born a few centuries earlier!
I’m Anastasia, and that woman is me. I was purchased at a renaissance faire in New York at the start of the 1990s, and since then have floated between two worlds of my own, belonging to both and neither. I’m the one and only artist behind Changeling Jewelry: every piece comes from my hands, and it’s all done the slow way, with hand tools and patience.
My inspirations come largely from the pre-existing condition that is my own hedgewitchery, blending natural wonders, folk and faery lore, ancient artifacts, modern magic, and whatever sparkling bits of flotsam have washed up on shore. It keeps things interesting.
Visit my journal to keep up with what’s new with me, as well as with Changeling!
And above all watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.
Roald Dahl