My Story
What is La Donna Jewelry?
La Donna Jewelry is the unique jewelry line featuring high quality stones, hand soldered sterling silver & individually woven glass seed beads by Ashley Delmonico.
La Donna Jewelry is for the singular woman.
I hope you never forget what makes you unique.
My Story
Hello! My name is Ashley & I'm the one woman show behind La Donna Jewelry. I started this business with just a few tubes of beads on my kitchen table back when I lived in Colorado for the first time, fresh out of college at 22 years old. A lot of things have changed since then...
Currently, I’m operating out of my home studio here in NW Colorado. I’ve taken over our smallest bedroom & it’s totally become my little oasis where I can sneak off & create to my heart’s content…it’s a lot nicer than operating with my portable setup in the travel trailer that we used to live in, but more on that below. In the warmer seasons you can often find me out on my deck working away in the sunshine.
I had a baby in late 2024 & it has, as you can imagine, changed everything! I’ve adapted from the full time hustler who “did it all” to a slower living stay at home mom who’s learning to keep all the balls in the air, working just part time for now. I can’t say it’s been easy for someone who loves to work…but all I know for now is that babies grow up too fast & I refuse to miss any of it if I can help it. Being a mother has been the only thing I’ve ever really wanted & I’m so honored to be living this life.
My jewelry style has evolved over the years as well. From making very humble pieces with cheaper materials + cold connections to crafting heirloom pieces with only the highest grade materials, I eventually honed in my own style and the skills necessary to bring it to life via my designs. I've learned the ropes and have picked up new skills along the way, from various beading techniques both on and off loom to silver and gold smithing. I describe the style that I’ve established for La Donna Jewelry as being boho, contemporary western & always colorful. I don’t tend to create the exact same designs again and again if I can help it. I much prefer to make every new piece unique and at least slightly different than the previous ones of similar style.
The joy for me comes not in creating a large quantity of repeat designs, but in putting out highly unique, one of a kind pieces that make people stop and take a second look. I want it to be something they’ve never seen before.
Going back in the timeline….
Originally, I was born & raised in Minnesota. While attending college, I met my now husband and he convinced me to make the big move out West & we started a life in a growing little mountain community just as soon as we graduated.
After four years in Silverthorne, Colorado, we made the decision to prioritize travel for the remainder of our 20s. We quite our jobs, ended our lease & bought plane tickets to Asia for two months, setting off on what would be a non-stop adventure for the next 5 years.
We went on to live in a travel trailer for many years after returning from that first trip & parked/lived in Upstate New York; Bend, Oregon; Bozeman, Montana and finally Minnesota again for a few months while we planned our wedding & got married.
It was during that time living in our travel trailer back in 2017 that I decided to officially turn my hobby into a business. I upgraded from just bead work to add silver smithing into the mix after taking a class at the local community college in Bend, Oregon.
Besides living in all of those wonderful places, we were able to bike pack Western Europe for three months, go back to Asia for a second time, spending two months exploring some countries we missed out on the first time & finally getting ourselves down to South America for a trip that has us seriously looking forward to when we can get down there again.
For now, we have made Colorado home again, in the Northwest part of the state near Steamboat Springs, where we fixed up our house into a home. I went full time a few years ago, but am now a full time mom & part time jeweler. When I do get to dedicate time, I very much enjoy working out of my small but sunny home studio, where you can usually find me creating with a podcast playing in my headphones.
Through all of the moving & traveling, my love for working with beads, metal, my tools & all the pretty gemstones has never left me & I'm so very happy to be making these jewels for you! I've honed in a style that feels very authentic to me, creating for you always unique designs that are sure to turn heads.
If you'd like a closer look at my day to day life or newest creations, please be sure to follow my Instagram page or get on my email list! For a more in depth look into my studio & craftsmanship, you can check out The Craft page. Thank you for being on this adventure with me!
