Ashley Weber Design

An update update:

Yesterday was a hot freaking mess, full stop. I have no idea what actually happened, but I have heard from others that use the same host as I do that they’ve also been seeing issues.

That aside, holy s**t. Somehow you all found a way... when I couldn’t even see the shop myself... you showed up. And thank the freaking Beard for finding out that the link from my email still somehow took people to the shop. It took an hour to kind of* remedy the situation.

Amazing sales aside, you all showed up for me emotionally. It was nothing short of amazing to have messages pouring in. Messages filled with so much love and compassion and support. That’s how I really saw this little business yesterday- I saw it for who my customers are, who my “followers” are, who supports me day in and day out both here on this platform, on facebook, and through my email list. It filled my entire cup, I have no other words... I am so proud of who this space attracts. I am so grateful.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for showing up for me*, the human, not the jewelry (but also the jewelry too)!

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This loop in loop bracelet was fully made by hand from wire. It’s a technique that’s about 5,000 years old and honestly, I was hesitant to include it yesterday, I wasn’t sure if anyone truly understood the labor and love that goes into making a chain like this one, all of the experimenting beforehand to get it right, the amount it wrecks your fingertips... it found a home so quickly it made my heart sing.

All in all, all of this to say... Thank you for seeing me so fully, for loving my work, and for understanding what it all takes. xx

The tab is back for shopping. This has been a complete mess. I am so sorry. This is a nightmare and I cannot resend an email for another 24hrs.

Update: Thank you all for being so kind and supportive. Yesterday was quite the mess. On my end, I had no shop page, and there was no link on my actual website, but apparently, from the link in the email, people were still able to shop.
It took me an hour to get things restored but then the items in the shop had no organization and were left completely scattered, I still haven’t solved that issue.

To avoid any other issues, I left the shop open, unable to send out another email for 24 hours due to the plan that I have. That new email will go out today with what’s available. What a mess!
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POSTPONED! I am so sorry. I’m honestly just beside myself right now. The shop was ready to go and I clicked one button and it fully disappeared - I’m having serious technical difficulties.

Yay! See you all tomorrow for the second round of my curiosity cabinet!

We will have dangle earrings and post earrings, stones and succulents galore, ammonite and green tourmaline in quartz and garnet in schist, and pinned floating coral! I absolutely love picking these beauties out, seeking the highest of quality, interesting cuts, knowing that something has waited millions of years for me to create with, and just showing off the natural beauty of this world! It’s seriously such a gift.

So yeah, tomorrow, 11AM Mountain time (Colorado)

And again, after the update, if you don’t see something that you loved in your size or it sells out from underneath you, shoot me a DM or email- a lot of things are the only of their kind that I have, but I will do my very best to see what we can do!
You all are the best! xx ash
Yay jewelry! Wahoo handmade!

I’ve always loved beaded things. They add such a cool, effortless thing, look so amazing layered, add color...some kind of chill vibe.

And of course cast succulents, of course. Little bobs hanging from the ends of things have also always made me happy. They do so much for a simple piece.

I’ve made up some medium size-ish strands with medium size-ish charms and some smaller with smaller charms. I did however make one very ridiculous mistake (for someone who has been doing this for a very long time). I sized the bracelets and finished them by their length, not by their fit size. While I was creating listings for this week’s update, I realized that they were all much much smaller than I intended for them to be.
(Listings will have the fit size as the size listed not the actual length. You will want to have a wrist at least slightly smaller than the size listed).

Yay for the smaller wristed humans! Boo for everyone else. They aren’t all itty bitty though, so make sure to come check!

Because of this mistake, I will most likely be offering custom strung pieces for anyone who was hoping to snag one, but did not find their size- note: there are beads that I do not have more of, unfortunately.

In any way, here are some bracelets for the chill folk, the ones that want a little extra color, that believe in that good ol’ earth magic that stones provide, who like a dash of happy in their wardrobe. These will hit the digital shelves this week! Announcement on that time and date coming soon.

Yay jewelry! Yay handmade! Treat yo’ self!

Posts, but make them WAY more fun!

These have been a staple for years, thank you for loving them so much!

I’ve pinned up some black spinel, chrysoprase, turquoise, and super delicious pyrite for ya.

I spent the weekend in the garden mostly. Digging, planting, picking grubs and then running to a local nursery to speak to a human about aforementioned grubs because I was sure it was something awful, but it turned out to be fine, planting more, moving plants, digging more and washing dirt out from under my nails 312+ times.

It was good. It was hot. It made me introspective. Why did we ever decide making life harder than this was a good idea?

I thought about my possible return to art markets, but with pottery. I drank a fresh, mint-from-the-garden gin with lime and I read in the hammock.
Xx

When I started this business, I was working for another jeweler. My job was all things assembly and soldering. Piles and piles and piles of soldering. I was the only one with that job there, and even though some days I absolutely hated it, mostly just the fact that I was in a garage in the Arizona summer, (the job was actually really amazing, my boss was incredibly fair, and I was paid very well) I truly believe that it set me up to be a really great fabricator.

While at that job, one of my coworkers told me about a local jewelry studio and that’s when I signed up for casting. I loved that class so much, I took it for years and then I ended up teaching it at that same art center years later. I tested so many things, but nothing ever held me for as long as casting succulents did. I became infatuated to the point that I had trays of succulents propagating in my backyard year round so that I could cast them at just the right size that I wanted them.
I have literal hundreds in my collection.

Those little bits, combined with my love for fabrication, are what really helped my business take off. I loved that I could combine both worlds- my love of plants and my love for all things metal and jewelry. My voice as a jeweler really grew once I found those two things.

These earrings feel like a little visit with my younger, excited self. I wonder if she’d believe that she’d still be here, 22 years later, still bending metal and playing with fire every single day and turning plants into solid sterling.

I made a bracelet like this for my customer, John, years ago and just recently, he reached out and asked if I would be willing to make him a matching necklace. For the past X number of years, he had been wearing a gold chain, but was starting to feel like he wanted to update his style. I was hesitant, if I’m being honest, I made his bracelet years ago and it took me days of experimenting to find out the correct gauge size and ring size that worked together to create this loop in loop chain. (Fun fact: this technique is somewhere around 5000 years old.) On top of that, it’s just an incredibly labor intensive process. I really wasn’t sure I was up to the task.

Continued in comments…

I was going to write a Tuesday Truth only to find out that it’s actually Wednesday.

Here’s the long and the short of it- I massively struggle to show up in this space on “the grid.” I can show up to stories all day long, but leaving any kind of a bread crumb trail of a life here otherwise sometimes feels like too much work, and I know... but this is “my work.” Yeah, that’s not lost on me.

I wrote a very very very long post, but here I am again, choosing to pull back. To delete it. I don’t know what it is anymore... I am deeply grateful for what this space has given me, what it continues to give me... thank you for hanging in there with me and my business and for putting so much trust in it as I struggle to give these cubes time out of my very precious life. I think that’s all it is, I treasure my time so much, it’s hard to give pieces of it away anymore than I feel like I already do and have. Xx love you all!

I’ve been working on my joy. On my response when the roller coaster is pointing downward and I know I’ll have that zero gravity gut feeling that usually leaves me feeling scrambled. Feeling like it’s happening a lot more lately? Yeah, me too. But here’s what’s been working for me, and in a way that has been shockingly good...

1. The minute I start to feel that yucky dark feeling and I’m looking ebb right in the eyes, I shoot off a text or make a phone call. I make it something super positive. I’ll make a list of good things and send them off to the beard. I’ll bring up an old and happy memory and send it off to a friend with, “remember that time....” And it works. I instantly start smiling or laughing or they’ll shoot back another joyous thing or extension of that happy memory. Sometimes I just say, “Hey, miss your face, we should plan something,” or “wanna grab a bagel and coffee?” Your people are your lifelines and everyone wants to feel good. It’s funny how easy it is to bounce back when you have someone in your corner to remind you that you have a great life.

Continued in comments...