About…

Hi friends! I’m Alizah Naomi Olivas, designer/creator of ANO Jewelry.
(aka: Alizah’s Jewelry)

My jewelry journey began in the early 2000’s when I took a French beaded flower class with my sister. After spending a few hours manipulating wire, I figured, why not translate this into earrings? I made a pair, wore them, and was hooked (no pun intended, ha!). I then took wire wrapping & various beading classes at a local bead store (shout out to fusionbeads.com! Only online now, but it was the best.) I learned what I liked as well as what I would never try again…seed bead woven bracelets anyone? (truth be told, I did like the peyote stitch seed bead bracelets…they were very therapeutic during an ambitious remodel, but they take forever and not worth it to me).

Turns out the class that taught me how to fuse fine 99.9% silver was the most inspirational. Fusing can only happen if the metal is pure enough to have the same melting point…the ends join or bond together. No chemicals other than a butane flame was needed. Mind blowing! I could make big silver hoops in my living room! And I liked working with the silver…I liked that it was cold, liked bending it, hammering it, linking it…design possibilities were popping into my head. I started selling my earrings/necklaces/bracelets at my house, and eventually my style evolved into the hoops, links, and various gemstone dangles I’ve been selling for the last 10 years at Capers in West Seattle. (An awesome local store if anyone is interested. You can find them on Instagram @capershome.)

After years of this, I felt like I was up against a wall. I still liked what I made, but I was getting a little bored and felt limited. In 2018, an acquaintance encouraged me to take a silversmith class at my local art institute (Pratt). What a game changer that was! Since I prefer the dynamics of a classroom (vs. online learning)…the hands-on, the meeting of new people and all the questions you can ask…this was exactly what I needed. Making rings and learning to set stones was always a dream, but with a full time day job, etc, it just seemed out of reach…(we all do that to ourselves, don’t we?). I was given a push to evolve and I will forever be grateful.

In conclusion, this website has been a loooooong time coming. I think I’m finally allowing myself to be proud of what I make and have the confidence to share it publicly…for real. My friends and family have graciously supported me over the years with encouragement, feedback and genuinely liking my stuff. Thank you for all of the love and evolving with me!

All jewelry is made by me in my home studio with the endless support from my husband Paul and yellow labs Gracie & Jones. Without them, this would not be as fun. Thank you Gracie for spending many many hours napping in my studio…keeping me company and patiently waiting for something for fun to happen.