Edinburgh jeweller

I started the  Make a Ring a Month 2019 challenge at new year (there's still time to join in, you can find the group here > ). We have members at all levels of experience in jewellery making so I thought I'd write this blog post sharing some online ring making classes for those that are beginners, those that want to make more advanced designs or those that fancy trying a new technique. I am only covering classes I can personally recommend here (with the exception of Hattie Sanderson I know all the teachers listed below). I have no doubt that there are loads of resources out there but this will hopefully give a start to those that are interested. If something catches your eye then do click on the link to find out more. (Just to be clear, I do work for Jewellers Academy but have not been asked to promote their courses and these are not affiliate links). For beginners in making silver rings Make a silver ring with Rosie Sanders -  £45 Jewellers Academy link ...

I spent this weekend with Tracey Spurgin at Craftworx , a jewellery studio in Beverley, Yorkshire. The studio is on a farm and I love going up there, such a lovely environment to work in. The weekend class was a private tuition on stone setting. I have done stone setting previously but I wanted to learn more techniques and really get some one to one support with it to feel like I could master it. I really feel I am in a position to practice this myself now which is exactly what I wanted. I highly recommend taking classes with Tracey. She is an excellent tutor, very clear with lots of excellent ideas for ways of doing things that I hadn't thought of.

Today I have been on a course at Craftworx , a jewellery studio in Yorkshire, being taught by Tracey Spurgin. She is running a two day ring making course using silver clay. Today is day one and we have made two different types of rings, one with a dichroic glass cabochon (you can see that in the right hand photo, mine is the bottom left ring) and another with a D profile ring band and a flower on top. We have been concentrating hard and our pieces are now in the kiln to fire. I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out!

This blog post was first published for the London Jewellery School blog . I have made a few slight changes here. I met my first serious boyfriend at university when I did my undergraduate degree. Among other things he called me a ‘paper chaser’, someone who loves the validation of a certificate. We split up years ago when I had one degree. I do now have five so maybe he had a point. As a tutor at the London Jewellery School , teaching beginners and intermediate classes, I am rather obsessed with continual betterment (I suspect you didn’t need to live with me for six years to work that one out). I am one of ten people in the world (so far) to achieve the higher diploma in metal clay at the Mid Cornwall School of Jewellery. I also have qualifications in both of the main metal clay brands, Art Clay and PMC. While it’s true that I do like a certificate, it’s mostly because it is proof of attainment of a certain level of skill. More important to me than the piece of paper is to ...

Last week I attended a two day wire wrapping class with Lisa Barth. She is an American metal clay and jewellery artist. I have attended a class with her before and really love her wire work style. The masterclass was hosted by Tracey Spurgin of Craftworx in her excellent teaching studio. On the first day we learnt how to do the wire wrap stitch and we made earrings. The trick with this is to make two the same! Not easy. Wire wrapped earrings On the second day we used the skills we'd learnt to make a wire wrapped pendant. I chose to use a boulder opal that my friend Kate had brought from her stone stash. You can't really see in the photo but it has some lovely neon flecks of blue. I also decided to stretch myself and add seed beads to the wire wrap. Wire wrapped boulder opal pendant It was difficult to get the wire to fit just right around the stone but Lisa was on hand to help and tell me what small adjustments were needed. I'm really pleased with the fin...

I was very fortunate to be able to attend Lisa Barth 's masterclass in making a leather silver clay cuff this week at Craftworx studio , Yorkshire. I am vegetarian so didn't want to use leather but I am very interested in the technique so I brought a faux leather along to try out. Lisa is an inspiring teacher who focuses on design decisions and I really enjoyed talking with her. I was staying in the same B&B as her and enjoyed our discussions at breakfast. I was also lucky enough to be shown the stone set pieces she brought along and have now bought her book 'Designing from the Stone' (which is available from Amazon). I found the class very inspiring. I was disappointed with the faux leather I had brought along as it looked very plasticky compared to the beautiful pieces being created by my fellow students. However, I really enjoyed learning the techniques and got a lot out of the class. I have already sourced some more authentic faux leather and s...

Wow! There are so many excellent silver clay and jewellery making masterclasses being run in the UK this year! Here are the ones that I have found. Please do add a comment below if there are any that I have forgotten. It's definitely worth regularly checking the Metal Clay Academy events page as this is a great source of information for all things metal clay. Lisa Barth Copyright Lisa Barth Lisa Barth is visiting Tracy Spurgin's excellent workshop, Craftworx in Yorkshire. I spent three blissful days there last year at Terry Kovalcik 's masterclass. Lisa Barth will be doing two masterclasses Leather cuff 3rd-4th April Designing from the stone 5th-7th April Anna Mazon Copyright Anna Mazon Anna Mazon is visiting Lynne Glazzard this year. Herbarium open pendant 11th-12th May Patrik Kusek Copyright Patrik Kusek Patrik Kusek is visiting the Mid Cornwall School of Jewellery and teaching a number of masterclasses as well as the Rio Rewards cert...

It looks like 2012 is shaping up to be a great year for metal clay masterclasses in the UK. Here are those that I know of. Please do comment on this post if you know of any others that I have missed as I may want to book on myself! Joy Funnell Joy Funnell specialises in metal clay and enamelled pieces. I have been fortunate enough to have a one to one class with Joy and I would highly recommend all of her masterclasses. This year she's going from one end of the country to the other! Discoidal rings copyright Joy Funnell Discoidal rings with enamelled accents by Joy Funnell 19th - 20th March Mid Cornwall School of Jewellery Copyright Joy Funnell Joyful jewellery with enamelled accents 21st - 22nd March Mid Cornwall School of Jewellery Copyright Joy Funnell Feathered friends with enamelled accents and keum boo 11th - 12th August Craftworx Jewellery Workshop, East Yorkshire Terry Kovalcik Terry Kovalcik is coming over from the US to ...