They may no longer be able to make music, but a used guitar string can still be something of beauty. Michelle Dall’acqua from Edmonton, Alberta made her way to Sunflower this year to sell her hand-made, recycled guitar string jewelry.
The first Heartstring was a Christmas gift to her husband, and Dall’aqua decided to expand that to a full business. She also wanted to keep strings out of the landfill, so Heartstrings also became a means to recycle previously played guitar strings that would otherwise be dumped into landfills.
The venture has taken off, and now there are five repair shops in Edmonton that donate their unusable strings to Dall’aqua.
In one string, there is usually a steel core that is wound with either nickel for electric guitar strings or bronze for acoustic guitar strings. Due to the mixed metals, they cannot be melted down to be reused, and end up being discarded.
Dall’aqua weaves the strings together to become wearable. Incorporating classical strings with silk cores into her work, she is able to achieve weaves, knots, Celtic knots, tighter twists and ball end jewelry.
The process for putting these strings together is more difficult, since guitar strings are unyielding, unlike sterling silver wire used for regular jewelry.
“They’re very sharp, I use a lot of Band-aids,” Dall’aqua jokes, “I shop at a hardware shop for my tools, not at a jewelry supply place.”
Dall’aqua is selling her jewelry for the first time, and chose Yorkton and Sunflower to make her debut as she is formerly a resident of the city. The next step is taking her jewelry to music events, as she believes that audience is a natural fit for what she creates.
