In this special Everyday Thin Places podcast episode, jewelry designer Michelle Pajak-Reynolds shares how she started making jewelry at 5 years old, her travel adventures, including mining some of the gems that will be in her future collection, the research that is inspiring her current work and much, much more. Listen here or on your favorite podcast platform.

What’s the difference between carat and karat?  These identical sounding words mean very different things and it can be confusing for those who are not used to using them every day. The key thing to remember is that one is a unit of measurement and the other is a unit of fineness. 

From concept to creation, experience the making of Michelle Pajak-Reynolds’s Voyageuse Collection

Coveted for centuries, Labradorite gemstones are full of mystery and wonder.  At first glance, they appears as a beautiful grey stones, then the light hits them and your eyes are delighted with shimmering flashes of peacock-blue, velvety green, and fiery orange.  Eskimo Inuit and Native American Innu of Labrador, Canada, where Labradorite gets its name, tell a beautiful tale about the birth of these gems.

A behind the scenes look at everything that went into creating the "Angels & Gems" editorial featuring Michelle Pajak-Reynolds jewelry.

A behind the scenes look at Nolcha Shows New York Fashion Week and the Emmy Awards Red Carpet with jewelry designer Michelle Pajak-Reynolds

I’ve designed jewelry since I was 5 years old so my work has evolved a lot over the decades. My first pieces in the early 1980’s were made with pop-beads and jelly bracelets. As I got older I spent my babysitting money on beads and jewelry supplies from craft stores and taught myself how to make the pieces I wanted to wear.

The following interview by Beth Anderson was originally published on Chic Galleria on August 1, 2016.