My Story

I started working with metals at a young age, in my senior year of Art in high school. As an adult I rediscovered my love of working with stones by starting to make bracelets, earrings, and anklets. I created the original version of this business, Salt + Sage and I started to create more and sell my work, I decided I wanted to connect even deeper to the process and tap back into the knowledge I learned in high school. I went to Vancouver on multiple occasions and took metalsmithing courses at Mountain Gems in Burnaby.

I have spent the last 10 years under the name Salt + Sage doing farmers markets and large scale events all over BC and Alberta. This business was born in Kelowna BC where I lived for over 10 years and also had a small downtown studio. The housing market brought my partner and I back to Alberta (where we were both born) and I now work out of my home-based studio in Calgary.

My Evolution from Salt + Sage

I have contemplated for a while now what it means to be a “brand.” It feels faceless in a way, especially because it is just me (with the help of Matthew) that run and create everything ourselves. People also tend to treat you differently when they don’t connect a person to the business. 

In a World of faceless brands, I no longer resonate with being hidden behind a brand name. I am an artist first, and this feels more aligned with being an artist. My name on it all. No hiding. People often don’t understand that I am Salt + Sage. That I make every piece by hand. This name change allows for much less guesswork. I am no capitalist corporation, I don’t order in premade pieces. My hands and heart make everything. Louise is my middle name, a middle name I share with my mom and my great grandmother. It feels connected to my matriarchal lineage and ancestry and that feels like divine alignment to me.

My Process

All of our pieces are designed with intention and hand crafted with care and love using only precious metals and genuine gemstones. We take time and care when choosing the crystals we work with, ensuring they are of the highest quality.

I have spent the last 10 years working on my craft, sourcing various higher quality gemstones, moving into fine metals like sterling silver and 14k solid gold. I love the process of learning to flow with the pieces, leaning into my intuition, and tapping into the vibration of the stone and how it wants to be displayed to showcase its beauty.

I like to work intuitively to create a piece, as I believe each piece I create already has its home and I am just the vessel to create the talisman waiting for its owner to find it. I source all the metals and gems myself and relish in the process of bringing all the pieces together into a stunning finished product. I love the idea of heirloom pieces ( I have many from my mother and grandmother) and I feel my role as an artist is to create those future heirlooms.

We provide original writing about each of the crystals we use. The healing properties of the gemstones here have been compiled from various sources through personal research and our work with the crystals. Some of the stones have a deep cultural history going back thousands of years. There are also folk legends and lore surrounding many of the various stones. The metaphysical properties are based in both research and traditional uses throughout cultures worldwide. All of our writing is original unless otherwise stated.

Thanks so much for being here for the journey,

Cayla Louise xx