About Jen Lesea Designs

We all have a happy place, the place where you forget your worries and your soul soars.

Maybe that is hiking the mountains on a bluebird sky day.

Or gazing at the stars on a clear evening.

Or standing at the shoreline, feeling the waves lap your feet.

Or soaking in the warmth of the sun.

Wherever your happy place is, I design sterling silver and high karat gold jewelry that connects you to your happy place, wherever you may be.

I hand-create richly textured jewelry that involves a metalsmithing process called fusing. Each piece of sterling silver is hand-cut and carefully placed with tweezers onto a sterling silver base. Then with a little magic, a little luck, intense concentration and careful torch control, the piece is heated just before it completely melts. It's at this point that the pieces fuse to the base. This creates a unique look but also provides superior durability and texture to the piece. Then, using traditional metalsmithing techniques, each piece is finished by hand in our studio in Louisville, Colorado.

It's my hope that my jewelry will connect you to your happy place, wherever you may be.

Metalsmithing process Jen Lesea Designs

About Jen

Jen Lesea-Ames, Designer, Metalsmith, and Instructor

I have always taken the road less traveled, a non-conformist of sorts. Through many twists and turns, I returned home to my inner creative.

As a little girl, I collected rocks, minerals, and seashells along the shores of the Bay Area in northern California. In school I excelled in science. With a formal education in Exercise Physiology, I took a detour from stone collecting and art and worked full time as a Personal Fitness Trainer and Triathlon Coach for 18 years. It wasn’t until November 2009 when I was inspired to pull some dusty gemstone beads out of the drawer and do something completely unrelated to work: I taught myself basic stringing and started making jewelry.

At that moment, I reconnected with a part of myself that had been dormant for many years. Wanting more of a challenge, I studied metalsmithing at the Denver School of Jewelry Arts from 2012-2016, and I fell in love with fusing sterling silver, which enables me to create one-of-a-kind textures. In 2014, I found myself at a crossroads with my career when I was diagnosed with bilateral hip dysplasia and labral tears. After two hip preservation (PAO) surgeries, I decided to retire from my fitness career and go full-time with my jewelry business.

The rest is history.