TURNING LIFE INTO ART
Amid the busy chaos of her Pāpāmoa home, talented mum of three Ashley De Grey is creating wearable art made with DNA.
WORDS HAYLEY BARNETT / PHOTOS DEBORAH DE GRAAF
Pāpāmoa local Ashley De Grey is turning everything from breast milk and embryos to ashes and teeth into personal keepsakes and now, her once small home business is being recognised on the international stage. And it’s not nearly as strange as it sounds.
In fact, it’s really rather lovely. Since launching her unique business back in 2018, Ashley has just been awarded the 2025 Memories & Keepsake Product of the Year by the Pet Innovation Awards.
It all began, somewhat unexpectedly, with a spam email. While breastfeeding her daughter one night, Ashley noticed a message about breastmilk jewellery.
“It was an American site but it got me thinking about whether or not there might be a market for it here,” she explains.
It turns out, there was. Coincidentally, Ashley had spent years working in a jewellery store in her hometown of Taranaki and, with a design degree under her belt, she was perfectly placed to start something of her own. Her journey began with just one product.
“I started with beads,” Ashley recalls. “I found a manufacturer to do the welding and taught myself to build a website that was easy to use. I wanted mums to be able to order something quickly and easily, even in the middle of the night while breastfeeding.”
Back then, she would take orders through Instagram, jot them down by hand, print the details and craft each piece herself. Starting with breast milk, she soon realised there was also a deep need to commemorate loved ones who had passed. She began offering jewellery containing ashes, and even dehydrated embryos, for families completing their IVF journeys.
“Many people don’t know what to do with leftover embryos,” Ashley explains. “Some donate them, some destroy them, but others want to keep them close.”
The process involves carefully dehydrating the embryo material from vials of liquid, then embedding it into the jewellery. But embryos are just one of many unusual materials Ashley works with. She’s preserved snow collected from mountaintops, turning it into powder, and has incorporated sand, soil, baby blankets and fabric. One special project involved a grocery list written by a client’s late father.
“We scanned the note and used the letters to spell ‘Dad’ in his handwriting, both in English and Portuguese,” says Ashley. “It meant so much to the family.”
As she branched into pet keepsakes, incorporating fur and ashes, Ashley’s business really took off. “I’ve made jewellery out of baby puppy teeth for the puppy’s godparents before,” laughs Ashley. “People really get creative.”
Winning a prestigious award has been both validation and motivation. “It feels amazing to be recognised,” she says. “It shows that what I’m doing matters beyond just my little corner of the world.”
Since starting, Ashley has created over 3000 pieces for more than 2000 clients, each one telling a story of love or loss. Her advice for anyone dreaming of starting their own business is to just begin.
“Even if it’s cringe and even if it’s not perfect, just do one thing a day. Post something, reply to an email, look up a supplier. And if it feels like you’re not getting anywhere, just keep showing up.”
She credits much of her success to knowing her audience. “At one point, I started adding bracelets and necklaces just to have more products, but they didn’t sell, because that’s not what people came to me for. So I pulled it back to what I do best.”
And what she does best is turn emotion into something tangible. Perhaps most inspiring of all, Ashley has shown her daughters what it looks like to build something from scratch and to believe in your vision, even when it feels impossible.
“They know that Mum works hard,” she says. “And they know that whatever they dream up, they can do it too.”
