Edinburgh jeweller

Winter scarves and chunky knits used to mean we’d have to put statement necklaces away until spring however, a new trend for looonnnng necklaces has changed all that. The trend is really versatile and can be worn equally well over evening wear or a chunky sweater. Here are some examples for inspiration Statement geometric necklace from Sincerely Delightful Wear several long necklaces together Turquoise necklace from Bohemian Jewelry Shop Long lariat bar necklace from Laosborn A mix of chain and semi precious stones from Happy Go Lucky Jewels Antler pendant from Ava Adorn Czech glass bead and card necklace from Dittany Rose Sterling silver Botswana agate necklace from Kalicat Fabric necklace by Mandali Jewelry This blog post was originally written for and published on the London Jewellery School blog

I am pretty addicted to pinterest and love that we have so much access to inspiration as jewellers there. I have recently been drawn to unusual stone settings and I find it useful to consider how the jeweller has done it as it gives me a jumping off point for ideas. Here are a few innovative designs that I love. Turquoise necklace by Cobalt blue I love the work of  by Daphne Krinos who regularly uses stones in innovative ways. This piece is a r ound brooch on 18 carat gold Swarovski crystalactite ring from Maison Margiela Thomas Giesen - acrylic ring with amethyst ball Labradorite pendant by Anna Vosburg Glauco Cambi bracelet with magnetic closure Odyssey orbital ring earrings by Silversong jewelry Fold formed pendant by beads and tricks Quay ring with pink tourmaline by Sarah Herriot Pebble stack pendant ‘heart cairn’ by Binks Edmonds This blog post was originally written for the London Jewell...

Jewellery inspiration from the British Museum I am very fortunate to live and work in London, UK. One of the colleges I teach at is a five minute's walk from the British Museum ! So I had to nip in to see if they had any jewellery on display.  I did find some jewellery from throughout the ages and I was struck by our desire to adorn ourselves, a need that even our ancient relatives show us through their grave goods. I took a few snaps on my phone of some more recent art deco pieces which I found in the Europe galleries . Definitely worth a repeat visit with my sketchbook!

2015 is the year of the spy movie! There’s the new James Bond film Spectre , The man from U.N.C.L.E , Spooks: the greater good , (which I really enjoyed) Mission Impossible: rogue nation , the excellent comedy Spy (very funny) and no doubt many more. This got me t hinking about the gadgets that used to only be science fiction but we can now wear as jewellery. Here are a few of my favourites. The Apple Watch Apple watch I had to start with the Apple watch of course, the first Apple product that is designed to be worn. It tells the time (!), helps you stay connected and also measures your fitness. Ringly Ringly I love the design of the ringly. It connects to your phone and sends you customised notifications (you choose what you are notified of via an app) through vibration and light so you can put your phone away but never miss a call. Sun exposure bracelet June sun exposure bracelet A clever and stylish bracelet that holds a secret function; it ...

I have had a pair of my woven earrings featured in Guardian Witness . I'm planning to do more of this style for my spring/summer collection 2015 so fingers crossed that I get a feature in their Do Something issue for October. If you would take the time to click to recommend that would be lovely of you.

Getting ready to start filing my wax ring Wax carving is quite a traditional way of making jewellery. You start with a lump of wax (you can get them in different shapes including for rings as in the photo here). You use files and sanding to take away wax to reveal your design. You then take your wax pieces to a caster to be cast in metal. I'd never tried wax carving and was intrigued by it as a method so I attended the beginners wax carving class at the London Jewellery School. We started out be looking at some samples of what can be done in wax. We then did some sketching to design our pieces. I chose to make a ring as I rarely make rings! Once we had our basic design we choose our wax (they come in one ring size so you have to file it to adjust the sizing). Then we spent a LOT of time sawing and filing! My ring in wax ready for casting In fact, I hadn't finished my filing and sanding by the end of the class! I had to finish it off at home. I hollowed out the to...

Source I love learning new things and the summer break gives me more time to indulge in that! This summer I will be learning how to make polymer clay bangles make soutache jewellery make collage brooches carve with metal clay wax carve and cast The balance for me is to ensure I put my learning into practice and not just carry on to the next thing! But I have found that all of the things I've learnt feed into my design work and that can only be a good thing. 

I was asked by the press officer at the London Jewellery School to come along to an interview with a journalist from Good Housekeeping magazine. This is the feature! Click here to read the whole piece

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...

This is re-blogged from a blog post I wrote for the London Jewellery School  that was published last week In the jewellery workshop – making your own pickle Jewellers pickle is an acid used for getting rid of firescale on metal, particularly after  soldering . Many people are wary about having it in the home, especially those of us with small children or animals. I made do without having it in my home jewellery studio for quite a while because I work in professional jewellery studios where I could easily just pickle my pieces when I was there for teaching. However, I had an urgent commission recently and found I didn’t have time to get to the studio. So, what to do? I googled it (of course) and found that there are ways to make pickle from substances that you have in the home. And so I had a go at making it myself and found that it was very effective and had other benefits. So, this is how I went about it. I found this  blog post by jeweller Jo Hollingsworth ...

Elaine Cox - love all of her work I was happy to get the opportunity to go to the Craft Central open studios this week in London. I love nosing about peoples studios and seeing what they have been making! I particularly loved work by these artists Mandana Oskoui Rhiannon Palmer - handmade concrete jewellery

I'm really pleased to announce that my jewellery will be on sale in two places this christmas. I will continue to sell from the We Make London pop up shop in Camden Lock market, London . I will also be part of the exciting  christmas at Kew boutique market . Kew Gardens is going to be a magical place to visit this christmas, with an illuminated trail that lights a mile long walk through the gardens; santas grotto and rides as well as the market. For those not in London, my etsy shop is open 24 hours a day!

Enamelled and bejewelled chain from the Cheapside Hoard This week I was really pleased to get the chance to visit the Cheapside hoard at the Museum of London . The collection is made up of priceless jewellery from the late 16th and early 17th century. It was discovered buried in a cellar in Cheapside, City of London in 1912 and is exhibited in it's entirety for the first time. As it is worth so much the security is very high. You are not allowed bags or coats and must pass through a security gate. Once you do get through you are treated to a room full of gorgeous stones and jewellery. I particularly loved the enamelled chain (pictured here) which I stared at for a very long time! No one knows why it was buried which lends to the mystery surrounding this beautiful collection. I recommend you see it if you can.

Some beads ready for a demo! I was fortunate to work for a day at the Knit and Stitch show at Alexandra Palace this month. Although it wasn't for jewellery makers specifically most people there were interested in a lot of different crafts. I hadn't been before and had a good browse around (and, OK yes, a little bit of buying!). I was demonstrating jewellery making for the London Jewellery School , showing some of the techniques that you can learn on our classes. It was the first day of the show and a week day but was still pretty busy so we had plently of people to talk to! I really enjoyed the day.

Me on the knightbus! Last week I really enjoyed a birthday trip to the Harry Potter Studio tour in London with my Dad. I love the Harry Potter books and films. I worked in a bookshop when the first few books came out and remember the children's book buyer telling me 'you must read this book'! I have since read the whole series more than once! When the final book came out I was travelling in the US and bought a copy as soon as I could, reading it in the back of the car between cities! I do also love the films which were very well made and true to the feel of the books. I loved going to the cinema to see them (and I have them all on DVD at home now!). So when I heard about the studio tour I really wanted to go. Luckily my Dad was happy to come with me and so we went for my birthday! I loved the tour, it's well worth going. I also recommend paying extra for the audio guide which also includes video clips from the film and interviews with the crew. It made a very in...

I really enjoy teaching the Fashion Jewellery day class at the London Jewellery School . During the class we talk about where to get inspiration, create mood boards and then the students let loose with beads, chain, fabric, ribbon, cords, feathers, buttons - whatever they feel like! They tend to make two pieces, usually a neck piece and earrings. It's often a process of trial and error, seeing what works and what doesn't but then that is what jewellery designing is about! And I'm there to give advice individually to the students about how to make their design a reality.  Here are some images of work in progress from the class that I ran this week. And have a look at our pinterest fashion jewellery board for inspiration.

Photo by Alexander James I'm really happy to announce that my jewellery will be sold in the We Make London pop up shop in Camden Lock market, London . My pieces will be on sale from 2nd September until 14th October (and for longer if sales are good). I'll take some pictures of my jewellery when it's on sale to share on the blog. We Make London is a fantastic organisation that promotes UK based designer-makers. I've sold at their handmade markets before, last christmas ( here's my blog post about it ). I've also sold at Camden Lock market a couple of times but the pop up shop is fantastic for me as my jewellery will be available seven days a week and I won't need to be there! Market day is fun but it's a looooong day! So, I've been busy making more stock. I've got a few different pieces in the works at the moment too so I will get some pictures of them done soon!

'Do what you can with what you have where you are' is one of my favourite sayings. I don't always live it though! I often think, oh I need some more supplies to work on that jewellery project so I'll have to wait. So I won't be creative that day. But when I do take the time to look at what I have and play around with it I find that I make something different, have a new idea.  I was very inspired by  Phil Hansen 's TED talk which you can view below. He is an artist who developed a tremor in his hand while in art school. He was devastated and felt that this meant that he couldn't become an artist. After a long time coming to terms with this he decided to 'embrace the shake' and focus on what he could do. And the art that he continues to create  by giving himself limits is just amazing.  The talk is just ten minutes long and could give you a new perspective on creativity so have a look. 

Last night I attended the first London Jewellery meetup in a pub near Hatton Garden. The inaugural speaker was the fantastic Shaun Leane whose talk was entitled 'From workbench to worldwide'. He was very generous with his knowledge, advice and experience and answered all our questions honestly. The London Jewellery meetup group is free to join and has been created to help new and existing jewellers network and collaborate. The plan is for a monthly meetup with a different speaker each time. Do sign up (it's free to join and attend!) and get notification of future events. 

I have written a blog post for the London Jewellery School blog entitled Your January jewellery business to do list See the full post here