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Hi I’m Sandy!

Photo of Sandy wearing a red metalsmith society shirt in front of a batik wall hanging

In 2012 I fell in love with making jewellery. It was PURE LUCK! I was looking for a hobby, something to get me out of the house, but absolutely not a sport. The ‘10 week introduction to traditional goldsmithing skills’ sounded interesting, and it was close enough that I could cycle there. Perfect, I signed up.

I was in love 15 minutes into the first class when all I’d done was try to pierce a straight line!

Wax carving was just one of the techniques I learned and I didn’t have strong feelings straight away. Love happened in 2018. Jussi (my husband) and I decided to travel through Asia full time. I packed a few essential hand tools, metal, and wax in my backpack, and hoped I would figure out how to make on the road.

I did figure it out!

A collage a me working behind alternative benches.
A selection of the benches I made on the road.

And I quickly realized there’s only so much you can do in metal until it’s time to solder. I started exclusively carving wax. The more I carved, the better I got. The better I got, the braver I got. The braver I got, the more I experimented and tried new things. The more I experimented and tried new things, the better I got. I practiced, I failed, I tried again, I played, I experimented. And somewhere in that time I fell in love with wax carving!

Starting Wax Carvers was another moment of luck. ‘I think you should teach’ is something Jussi has told me throughout the years. I wasn’t sure how to go about it until one day I realized I should just focus on wax carving!

What else do I love besides jewellery?

Reading!

Sitting on the balcony in the sun to read. Lying on the couch and read. Drinking a glass of wine in a bar or at home and read. Going to bed early and read. Visiting bookshops and buying books to read. Here’s my Goodreads profile. I don’t write reviews but maybe my star ratings can help you decide on your next read. Add me as a friend!

Sandy lying in a hammock reading a book
Sometimes I get lucky and find a hammock!

Travel!

We stopped full time travel, but still do a big trip every year. A mix of nature things and city life with the occasional beach day is the ideal itinerary. I always look for something jewellery related to do as well. Here are my recommendations!

Me walking up a set of stairs on a mountain, clearly tired
Looong walk up a mountain

Creativity!

When I started that first class in 2012 I realized I’m a creative person. Who knew! In an ideal world I would be a woman of leisure who just learns and masters new crafts. In the real world I join the occasional course and learn the basics of new crafts. The best part about learning other crafts is that it gives me new ideas for pieces to make and techniques to try out with wax carving.

Me in Antigua learning backstrap weaving!
Learning backstrap weaving in Guatemala

That’s some highlights of me, Sandy the person. Want to know about me, Wax Carvers?

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