 Miranda Scott of Good Bones Jewelry has always felt connected to creating and personalizing jewelry, going back to when she was a young teenager. "I think I was maybe twelve or thirteen when I started ripping apart necklaces I owned to rearrange [them] or add beads," she said with a smile. "I remember using tiny locks, keys, and hardware to make big, clunky punk necklaces I'd wear to high school as a protest against uniforms we had to wear." For Miranda, jewelry is all about conveying your personality - just like how clothing can be created, styled, and altered to express your individuality and interests. "Jewelry draws me in, it lets me be artistic in a very physical way," Miranda explained. "It keeps my mind sharp because there's always new techniques to learn and try out." Flash forward to 2026, and Miranda has now been designing and crafting jewelry as a professional goldsmith for over fifteen years. Female and disability owned, her business Good Bones Jewelry is a bespoke fine jewelry studio and workshop based right here in St. Thomas, where Miranda designs, creates, and repairs pieces, while also running and teaching jewelry making workshops. The name "Good Bones" comes partially from the age-old phrase many of us are familiar with, and partially from her outlook on life, especially after experiencing an accident that resulted in a disability. "[The phrase] implies something is made well and made to last - that's how I want people to feel about my jewelry," she explained with a smile. "It's also a cheeky dark joke about me! I broke my neck in an accident five years ago. My bones were good, except for when they suddenly weren't! It's a reflection of how I believe one should treat the rough times in life - with humour." All jokes aside, Miranda's jewelry truly has "Good Bones". She works primarily in sterling silver and gold, but is starting to branch into bronze and gold fill now that sterling silver and gold have become so expensive. "I really want to keep my pricing as accessible as possible," she explained. "The gold and silver I use is recycled from within the jewelry industry, and I'm also able to re-use gold from family heirloom jewelry to make something new." To us, that means she is keeping those good bones going throughout generations, while also creating pieces which still speak to individual personalities and styles. Re-using gold from family heirloom jewelry isn't always cheaper since it can be very labour intensive, but Miranda is always happy to discuss custom orders and projects - as long as they are within her scope as an artist. "If you ask me to make you something that looks like it came from Birks or Tiffany's and got rolled in diamonds, I'll probably have to say no, because that's just not me!" Over time, her style and inspirations have subtly shifted. Early in her career, Miranda was heavily into textures and nature-based elements, some of which still show up in her pieces, often through beautiful gemstones with their own character and charm (like the Rhyolite teardrop necklace shown above). "I build a piece around what I feel it's telling me it wants," she said. "Now I have an aesthetic that leans a bit more architectural, with smooth clean lines, but I also love to turn little mementos into jewelry! Beach glass, shells, cool rocks you found on vacation - we can find a way to make it wearable. I've also always been interested in making reliquaries for ashes, but I haven't had anyone approach me with a project like that yet."  In addition to her professional goldsmith work, Miranda is also an avid rock climber, and has competed on the Canadian national Para climbing team for multiple years. After going to her first World Cup with Team Canada, Miranda started a small non-profit called Rise Above Adaptive Climbing for rock climbers with disabilities. "Being surrounded by a community of people that I could relate to was a powerful and validating experience," she said. "I wanted to have that back at home, but it wasn't something that existed at the time, so I decided it was up to me to create it." Her love for climbing is reflected in some of her designs and pieces, from her double figure 8 knot necklaces to geometric stone shapes and mountain range designs. Alongside creating and repairing jewelry pieces, Miranda also runs jewelry making workshops, with the greater majority taking place in her private studio here in St. Thomas, ON. "My most popular workshop by far is the wedding band workshop," she said. "I teach couples to make a set of gold wedding bands from start to finish in a private setting. It costs $400 for the workshop for two people, plus the cost of materials, which can vary quite a lot depending on specs participants choose, like ring width and gold karat." Good Bones Jewelry also offers an earring workshop, where students can learn a variety of techniques to create dangle and hoop style earrings with sterling silver. Her earring workshop costs $90, and creates 2-3 pairs of earrings depending on how economical you are with the provided materials. Through her goldsmith education at the George Brown College Jewellery Arts program, she learned technical drawing, how to do repairs, set gemstones, alloy specific karats of gold, and every other aspect of the industry. "[Goldsmithing] is a trade as much as it is an art," she said. Most of her work is hand fabricated, meaning she uses hand tools like hammers, pliers, a torch, and more to physically bend, shape, and manipulate her materials. "I also do a second process called lost wax casting," Miranda explained. "It's essentially carving a tiny model in wax, encasing it in plaster, melting the wax out in a kiln, and then pouring liquid metal into the negative space, which gives you a perfect reproduction of the wax." In terms of how long each piece takes to create, Miranda says there is never any consistent amount of time it takes to make something. "Some rings can take me half and hour to make, some multiple hours, and other things sit half-finished on my work bench for years." But goldsmithing is unfortunately becoming a dying trade, with the George Brown College Jewellery Arts program getting the axe during the big swath of college cuts last year. This means finding a skilled, professional goldsmith like Miranda is difficult, and finding quality, unique pieces like those from Good Bones Jewelry will be harder and harder to do. That's why producer-based markets like the Horton Farmers' Market are so important, not just for customers, but for business owners and communities. They serve as important and accessible spaces where makers and artisans can come to share their knowledge, display their craft, and connect with their community. They support small businesses through exposure, and connection, while fostering an environment that supports and encourages the arts and craftsmanship. They also allow community members to learn about different trades and skills, while providing a place where they can find professional and local providers, even if they are far and few between. Farmers' markets also provide customers with the unique ability to ask questions and learn about the process from the artisan themselves - creating a deeper level of understanding and respect for the work needed to craft the final product, while also potentially inspiring others to learn a skilled trade or craft. "If you do any kind of custom work at all, farmers' markets are fantastic," said Miranda. "The best way to turn someone into a customer is to let them see and touch your work, and get to know you as a person." A transplant to St. Thomas from Kingston, ON, Miranda first moved to the London area in 2018 for an ex-partner, then found herself moving to St. Thomas when she bought a home. "Initially I came here because the housing was cheaper, but over the past five years that I've been a resident, I've seen the effort the city is making to grow, and how much it supports local businesses and farmers," she explained. "My favourite thing is all the murals that have popped up in recent years - the ones near the Horton Farmers' Market and the library are gorgeous, and I've never seen a town of this size have so many." Art comes in many shapes and forms - from photography to murals and jewelry, and we are proud to be a hub where local artisans can come to connect with their community, display their pieces, and engage in thoughtful discussions with fellow vendors, customers, and community members. Artisans and small business owners like Miranda and Good Bones Jewelry bring creativity, skill, and knowledge into our market and into the heart of our city, and they encourage us to celebrate and participate in self expression, while simultaneously being part of a larger community which cares for and supports one another. Each item bought, post shared, and referral made keeps our small businesses going, draws in visitors, supports and encourages trades and arts, and keeps money in our community where we need it most. Good Bones Jewelry will be at the Horton Farmers' Market on Saturday August 29 and September 19 from 8am-12pm, but Miranda can always be reached through her Instagram, @goodbonesjewelry, or through her website, www.goodbonesjewelry.ca.
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