Meet Lynda Chadbourne: Gemstone & Leather Jewelry Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lynda Chadbourne and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lynda, what’s something about your industry that outsiders are probably unaware of?
How much time goes into each piece. Even a small bracelet can take a week or more to finish. I can’t speak for all jewelers but I do everything by hand. That means every little detail you see on the metal I did in my studio. It can be really tedious and frustrating, especially when you make a mistake and you have to start over, but it’s worth it to create that amazingly unique end product.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I started making jewelry a few years ago after attending a few metalsmithing classes. I really enjoyed the entire process and how much creative freedom something like metalsmithing would give me. I definitely wouldn’t say it was easy though. Just like any skill you need to constantly refine and practice to improve. There are always new techniques I am trying to master and implement with my work. Some are more challenging than others, but I love it! The biggest thing in overcoming challenges is loving the journey. It makes it a lot easier to handle when things go wrong if you are enjoying the process. Bad things look more like little bumps than roadblocks if that’s the state of mind you are in. That, and patience. I’ve learned that to do what I do takes a lot of patience and dedication. Great things take a long time to develop and there really aren’t any shortcuts. Sometimes it’s discouraging when things aren’t going my way or I have a bad month, but then I feel quickly better when something good happens. It’s a constant reminder to myself that this type of journey is always going to have ups and downs, so it’s best to enjoy it all! Bourne Jewelry is about feeling empowered. It’s about being able to wear whatever you want with the utmost confidence. I think some people are nervous about standing out from others and I want my jewelry to give them an opportunity to do so while also feeling good about themselves. Life is too short to always do what everyone else is doing.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I absolutely love Hugo’s. That would definitely be a restaurant I would take them to. B&B is a really good steakhouse as well. To hang out, it really depends on what your friend wants to do. Rice Village is a beautiful area to go shopping and walk around. The university itself is really beautiful too. Probably The Heights as well. I’m biased because that’s where I’m from but there’s tons of unique places to go visit in that area. Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My grandmother was the biggest artistic inspiration in my life. She always pushed me to pursue my dreams and told me that anything was possible. She placed a lot of emphasis on women empowerment, which is now something that I try to embody in the jewelry I make. It’s about standing out from the crowd and not being afraid to be your true self, regardless of what that means.

Website: https://www.bournejewelry.com

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Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bourne-jewelry-houston-2