Hey goddesses! My name is Susan Burde but you can call me Suzy and I'm the face behind Magick Alchemy. Born in Odessa, Ukraine my family came to the Unites States in March of 1996 as refugees. I was raised in Brooklyn, NY and in my adolescence Staten Island, NY where I still remain today! 

 I just wanted to take the time first to thank every single one of you for all the love and support in my little business so far. Whether you've made a purchase, shared/liked a post, or just left a comment it truly means the world to me. 

I wanted to share a little bit about my journey so far and how I got here. My first go at making jewelry was back in 2009 when I was 16 years old, I was making polymer clay jewelry and sculpting cute little pendants for fun. At 18 years old I started learning wire-wrapping. I had saved up $100 and used that to purchase 2 strands of crystals, some wire, and pliers. I opened up my Etsy shop officially but had not made a single sale. All my friends and family got some wire wrapped necklaces that year. (: 

When I was 19-20 I decided to expand my skills and learned how to electro-form (a really cool chemical process of transferring raw copper from sheet to clay sculptures with thick plating over 1-2 days!) This is when I started getting asked if I sold my jewelry. I never thought anyone would want to pay for it but as I was in college and my stash my creations was starting to overflow I decided to revamp my previously unsuccessful Etsy shop. Over the next 2-3 years, I had sold over 200 items on Etsy and countless more in local markets! I was ecstatic and this definitely motivated me to keep going! I would work full-time then on the weekend I would set up a table at whatever market accepted me.

After graduating from FIT I pursued the fashion industry for a while until I realized I absolutely hated it. I then started looking for jewelry jobs and on my second interview was hired at a company that would forever change my future. I was trained and hired as a production manager in NYC, helping many independent designers manufacture their fine jewelry. I had met so many incredible and supportive people that inspired me to create some of my own designs. I even helped design a jewelry line for SAKS! I was always sketching designs at home, and dreaming of manifesting my own creations. This is when I realized I wanted to go back to FIT to take night classes to learn gold-smithing. I had learned CAD (3D modeling), wax carving, metal-smithing, stone setting, and various other skills to start creating. I slowly saved up for a jewelry bench and all the tools I needed from my markets. Gold was expensive but I would make a little bit at a time. 

After a tiring year, I realized I wouldn't be able to really give this dream 100% unless I worked part-time or quit entirely. I decided it was now or never, so I quit my amazing dream job in August of 2018. My first 6 months was completely unsuccessful, I wasn't selling anything and I was starting to lose motivation. I had started looking for jobs again, feeling defeated and disappointed in myself. I wasn't able to find a job easily so I gave myself another last month to give it my all. Using the last of my dried up savings for more gold, I designed the Luna Wedding set for a friend looking to propose. To my surprise, it got so much love on Instagram and I got a few more orders for it. This was the little push I needed to boost my motivation and put some more money in the bank to expand my design portfolio. I just kept designing and posting on Instagram. The next few months started to look up as I would get a sale here and there and I was finally feeling more optimistic about my wild decisions. I wasn't making nearly enough compared to my past salary, so my first goal was to at least match that.

The next 18 months I grew very slowly but made just enough to be able to get by and put money back into new designs. Every design was an expensive gamble due to the rising cost of gold, diamonds, and gemstones. Then I designed the Asteria Wedding set for another friend looking to propose, and it took off a few months later after posting it a few times online. I now have so many gemstone variations of both designs!

Another custom design became another ring that would quickly steal the hearts of many viewers and it was the Ophelia Fire Quartz Ring. I would make sure to budget just enough to visit the Tucson Gem Convention in Arizona every winter, so that I could shop for gems in person. After visiting countless vendors for weeks, I came across a hidden tray of a gemstone I would soon learn to be Fire Quartz. I was told this was an old mine in India that had since closed after mining out all the material.This man had these stones since the 90s!! I knew I probably shouldn't have spent that much, but I left with a very satisfying bag of quartz with dancing little fires in them. I was so happy when people fell in love with this rare gemstone like I did.

As you all know, in 2020 Covid happened, and just as I had started growing momentum I had to shut down for half a year. At this point I wasn't producing anything, and I wasn't going anywhere at all. I felt too guilty to make something that seemed so unessential when people were losing their lives. I got depressed after not creating for a while, and eventually as things were starting to open up I began production again. I didn't expect the sudden demand and all of a sudden I was overwhelmed with orders and of so many people proposing and getting married. Since then, I've kept growing and I'm so grateful to say that 2022 has been my best earning year yet. I really feel like I've achieved my dream, and for that I am so thankful for all the incredible people that have cheered me on. Thank you for a successful year, and thank you for believing in me and my designs. I'm really looking forward to seeing where I can take this company in 2023, hopefully I will have some time to design more. I hope my journey can inspire some of you to go after your dreams, to never gave up, and to fight for the life you see for yourselves.

XOXO Suzy