Edinburgh jeweller

December is always a time for me to look forward to the coming year and start making plans. But I’ve realised that I’m always looking to the next thing and forget to celebrate what I’ve already achieved. So here are some of the things I’m proud of achieving this year. What achievements are you proud of this year? Let me know in the comments below January 2016 Filming for Jewellery School Online I filmed a tutorial for Jewellery School Online, demonstrating three stone setting in metal clay projects . February 2016 The LJS blog that I am a contributor to, was named in the top 25 jewellery design blogs in the world May 2016 Sharing a central London jewellery studio In May I started sharing a studio with jeweller Penny Akester. I participated in the open studios at Craft Central June 2016 I had a big commission to make 9 pieces of jewellery for a wedding party June 2016 I was asked to be a part of the Metal Cla...

I'm really excited to have been asked to teach at the You Can Make It 2017 metal clay residential conference in Dorset in March next year. When? 24-26th March 2017 Where? Springfield Country Hotel Leisure Club and Spa , Grange Road, Wareham, Dorset, BH20 5AL, England What? YCMI is a residential metal clay conference held in a spa hotel in Dorset. There is a selection of full day masterclasses , hands on sessions , demos and talks to choose from taking place over the weekend. There are so many techniques and projects you can learn over the course of the weekend - check out the website for all the information . There is also the chance to get to know other metal clayers, take part in a charm swap (where you make a number of metal clay charms and swap with others to build up your own unique bracelet) and the ‘Your favourite make’ competition, visit the Make it Market and more. The event is sponsored and subsidised to make it as affordable as possible. Check out the ...

Last week I taught a diploma class at the London Jewellery School which covers three different ways to add gold to silver clay. Gold is an expensive commodity ( 3g of gold clay costs £259.95! Yikes!) but there are other ways to get the look of gold at a more affordable cost. 1. Keum boo Keum boo is adding gold leaf to silver. This is done after the piece is made and polished. The metal needs to be heated (I use my jewellers torch), the gold leaf added to the hot metal and burnished on. (Example of this in the photo above is the heart at the right of the image) 2. Gold paste Gold paste can be painted onto fired silver. I find it is best to do a few layers and I torch fire the piece between layers, burnishing the metal to ensure the gold is well adhered (Example of this in the photo above is the christmas tree at the bottom of the photo) 3. Gold nugget Adding a small piece of gold can enhance the silver clay design. The gold is embedded in the clay when it is wet and...