From my family to yours.

Hi there, friend! I'm Rhoda - a wife, mother, an architect-in-training, and small business owner. I live in beautiful Arizona with my husband, 3 adorable, fun, chaos-filled boys, and two fur-babies.

I never in my whole life thought I would be writing a blog, but here I am, and I'm ready to dive into it, lol. Evidently becoming a wife, mother, and small business owner, I feel like I have a few things to share. The intent of this blog is to be myself, so you're not going to find any Pulitzer worthy writing, lol, it will be written how it sounds in my head. Ignore the overuse of commas, parentheses, and ellipses (I love them!). There will be the occasional guest writer, stories from Liquid Goldsmith customers (I love when you share what your keepsake means to you), and just stuff I like.

So let's start things off with an introduction of how Liquid Goldsmith started...

Nursing my first baby boy, I was a low supply mom, and like any new mother, I spent most night feeds googling all things baby... what is that rash?... are his milestones on track?... but mostly, how do I make more milk? It was through all that googling that I stumbled upon breast milk jewelry and loved the idea of having a keepsake. The idea of being able to capture and remember this special yet difficult time in my life really stuck with me. I even ordered a piece of jewelry, but never sent my milk in (every precious drop was going to Baby L). Then one day the inevitable happened... I spilled some of that liquid gold. I scooped it up, let out a few tears, and stuck it in the freezer to send off for my jewelry... and there it's been ever since (the business I ordered through had a deadline for sending in milk, and I missed it).

I struggled with breastfeeding all of my boys, in very different ways, from low supply to being just barely enough. I worked with many lactation consultants, support groups, supplements, medications, endless hours of googling & researching -- you know the drill -- all so I could breastfeed my babies. But after all is said and done, I feel accomplished for being able to provide whatever I could for my babies. 

All my struggles with breastfeeding gave me a desire to help create a keepsake for other moms who have both struggled and triumphed during this special nursing time in our lives. I would hear their stories while going to support group every week.

The craft-loving side of me knew I could make this happen. I began with some trial and error (using donated milk from my oversupply friends). Once I had some stuff figured out, I made them all pieces. Then I made some for other moms. After a little while, I knew I wanted to turn this into a business (being home during covid also gave me some motivation, since I had some time on my hands, lol).

And so, Liquid Goldsmith began, and I’ve fallen in love with all the beautiful pieces that I’ve been able to create to help other moms remember their amazing breastfeeding journeys. From the milk stone to the jewelry setting, everything is carefully handcrafted here locally in Arizona. I’m hoping I can help all of you create something special too!

PS. I still have milk saved from each boy and have not made myself a keepsake yet, lol. My goal is to create a keepsake to represent all of my kids and my breastfeeding journey for years to come - I just gotta come up with my design!