Meet the Maker
Hi, I'm Markie, the silversmith behind Silver, Slag & Stone. I'm a self taught silversmith who started learning the craft in 2018 and have slowly grown from there. I'm inspired by nature and my Northern Michigan surroundings and showcase them in my designs.
Meet the Grinder
The other half of Silver, Slag & Stone, my husband Jake. He started out just along for the ride and here to support another one of my crazy ideas. Now, he is the force behind all the stones featured in our pieces.
The story of Leland Blue
Leland Blue Stones are not actually stone, they are slag, which is a by-product of smelting iron ore. During a short period of time from 1870 to 1885, iron ore was mined in Northern Michigan, and shipped to a smelting plant in Leland, Michigan where "Fishtown" stands today. Slag is the byproduct created by the smelting process when raw ore is heated, and the desired iron ore is separated from various natural impurities. When those impurities cool, the result is the stone-like slag.
The by-product was discarded into Lake Michigan when the Leland Iron Company failed because of the high costs of production and the Leland harbor lacked transportation facilities. The wave action of the lake and the sand has polished the slag into beautiful stones. These stones wash ashore in a variety of shades of blue, green and purple. Today these pieces of history are hunted on the shores of Lake Michigan and are transformed into the pieces you see today!
Every unique stone we hunt has a little piece of Michigan’s history attached to it. We're very proud to take something from nature and make it into wearable art, something that is 100% Pure Michigan and aunthentically Leelalanau.