'I could knock something up out of ali'
...Wayne's long standing favourite saying throughout our relationship has always been 'I could knock something up out of ali' (aluminium).
Wayne's full time job is repairing and restoring cars and he has a great eye and feel for metal work. So whatever I needed making, Wayne would 'knock something up out of ali' - whether it was a suitable material for the job or not!! It became a standing joke.
Some time ago when we were browsing at a craft and vintage fair, a lovely guy was hand cutting coins to make jewellery. Wayne was fascinated and immediately came home to start cutting up coins in the garage - and this is where our silver-smithing journey began!
We soon realised that we would much prefer to design and create jewellery out of a raw material. So off Wayne went again to the garage and was soon making rings, cutting shapes and designing jewellery out of aluminium!!
We then spent every spare minute researching how to make silver jewellery. We also spent some time with a very experienced silversmith who filled in all our missing knowledge.
So today we find ourselves in a wooden workshop at the bottom of the garden. Tara tends to do most of the making, Wayne lends a hand when it gets busy.
We get asked lots about where the name ‘Ruby and Wonder’ came from. Well, I always knew I wanted something non-specific and a tad whimsical.
Ruby was the name we had chosen for our daughter born in 2007 but Kaiser Chiefs decided to bring out their famous hit 'Ruby' just before she was born so we had a quick change of name!! So instead our new (baby) business has the name Ruby. The ‘Wonder’ is my whimsical addition and Wayne’s moments of wonder with aluminium are where the business began!
Thank you so much for reading our story, we look forward to making you your very own little piece of wonder.
Tara and Wayne x
