Making Things to Get Through Things

Ward & Wander didn’t start with a business plan. It started with me needing somewhere to put my hands and my attention.

It’s been a hard stretch for me and I won’t pretend otherwise. What I can tell you is that making things has helped me get through it. When your head is loud, a project with a clear next step is a kind of relief. You pick up the tools, you do the next thing and for a while that’s all there is.

I’ve been at it for months now and the collection grew. And grew. Eventually Daryl started wondering what I was going to do with all this jewellery. Fair question. There’s only so much one person can wear, and I’d run out of drawers. So Ward & Wander became the answer: a home for everything I’d been making, and a way to share it with people who might love it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Learning at the bench

I’m also learning lapidary and silversmithing every week. It’s humbling in the best way. I’m a beginner again, I’m slow, and things don’t always turn out the way I picture them. But I love it. Shaping a stone and working metal teaches patience, and it asks you to be fully present. You can’t scroll your phone and polish a cabochon at the same time.

What I learn at the bench will show up in Ward & Wander pieces over time. I’m not rushing it. I want to do it properly.

Chainmaille, the obsession

Then there’s chainmaille. I wasn’t prepared for how much I’d love it.

It’s repetition and pattern: open a ring, close a ring, weave, repeat. It keeps my brain busy for hours, in a good way. I’ll sit down for a quick session and look up to find the whole afternoon has gone. There’s something calming about a pattern that reveals itself one ring at a time, and something deeply satisfying about a finished piece that moves and drapes like fabric but is made entirely of metal.

And yes, beading

Beading, because who doesn’t love a good beaded necklace? It’s colour, texture and play, and it’s the part of the process that feels the most like fun. A strand of beads laid out on the mat, shuffled and restrung until it feels right, is one of my favourite ways to spend an evening.

What Ward & Wander means to me now

I wanted it to be about the quiet, handmade side of things: pieces made slowly by one person who cares. Right now it’s also a reason to keep showing up, keep learning and keep making, and it has done more for me than I expected.

Every piece is made by hand with that in mind. Thank you for being part of it.

Vanessa
Founder, Ward & Wander