All About
Schwa Dee Dah Designs
Schwa Dee Dah Designs offers uniquely handcrafted jewelry, custom creations, and minor repairs.
Items are handmade by Amanda Zahm in Lancaster, PA. We also offer consultations on custom pieces. See our FAQ page for answers to your questions. Contact us to place an order or receive a consultation.
What's with the name and logo?
Gather ‘round friends, and we will tell you a complicated tale...
Bees. Amanda loves bees and thinks they are really important to modern agriculture and our survival. It is her dream to use this business towards raising enough sales of a “Bee Line” of jewelry to donate to local bee farmers.
Schwa Dee Dah. Not just a jewelry artist, Amanda is also a chronically over scheduled middle school English teacher. She has a BSE in Secondary English Education with a dual concentration in Linguistics and English as a Second Language. She also has a M.Ed. in Language and Literacy with a concentration in English as a Second Language. The “schwa,” or upside down e, is the unstressed syllable in the international phonetic alphabet. A play on words from a language nerd, it also symbolizes how creating jewelry art makes Amanda less stressed.
Words are her thing, but jewelry is her peace.
So if it is Amanda's business, what's with all this "WE" stuff?
Schwa Dee Dah Designs occasionally commissions pieces from very talented local artists, including Marvel Zahm, Amanda’s mother.
Marvel, a retired nurse and silversmith, inspired creativity and entrepreneurship in Amanda at an early age and taught her many of her jewelry crafting and customer service skills. Together, they teach Amanda’s nieces some of the same special skills.
Amanda thanks her mother for her continued support.
Amanda at her favorite bookstore, Sundial Books, in Chincoteague, VA.
Amanda also thanks The Beadworks and The Gem Den in Downtown Lancaster, PA for their support and for being the source of many of the beautiful gemstones and findings used in her pieces. A showcase of Amanda's work is available for purchase at The Beadworks.