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

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 ...

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...

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

It's been on my list to go to the Unexpected Pleasures exhibition at the Design Museum , London for a while and I finally went this week (it's final week!). I got the train into London and walked across Tower Bridge to the south side of the river which is something I rarely do and enjoyed (although the wind was a little bracing!). The exhibition was very interesting, prompting lots of thoughts and inspirations to run through my head and some scratching away in my notebook. I plan to give some time to the ideas that germinated while I was there. I've created a pinterest board of pieces I found particularly interesting so do have a look at the photos there.

 I have been teaching at the London Jewellery School for a few months now and have recently been asked to teach some beading classes. This week I taught the chandelier earring taster class . It runs from 6.30pm until 9pm and one student commented that it was a lovely way to spend an evening after work. I helped the students make two different types of chandelier earring, one with chain and one with memory wire. It's a great beginners class and I really enjoyed it. Thankfully the students did too! And they also made some fantastic pieces I'm sure you'll agree. Hard to believe they were beginners.

I launched my spring collection on  Etsy  after a photo shoot for my jewellery with  Gary  from  Crafty Websites . I am really pleased with the way the photos came out, I particularly like the paperchase frame that I bought to display the silver jewellery. The photos were taken in a light box to minimise the amount of shadow and reflection you can get with silver jewellery. The silver pieces are all handmade of 999 fine silver, the chains are sterling silver. All of the pieces are currently available in my Etsy store .

I feel like I haven't posted on the blog for a while - sorry about that! I have been really busy with some very exciting commissions. First of all, I was commissioned to make a pendant for a British TV and film actress! I shall discretely not name names! I made this bee pendant which was thankfully very well received. It was made using silver clay. I made a silicone mould of a bee using a bead that I had. I textured the back and front of the pendant with netting to make it look like a honeycomb. The bee is a symbol of achieving the impossible and I will be adding this to my Etsy shop soon I was then also commissioned to make some cufflinks for another famous person! I was specifically asked to write 'Crazy Arnold' on them. I used a photopolmer plate to create a mould of the letters and set them in silver clay. After kiln firing I soldered on the cufflink backs. I found this article from Art Clay Guild UK chairman Nicola Callow really helpful when soldering onto silve...

Hatton Garden festival 2011 It was London Jewellery week last week. I've not been before but I thought I would go this year. I was nearly put off by the heavy showers and the tube engineering works but I'm glad I persevered! There was a lot going on in different locations. I went to Hatton Garden first. It was pretty busy considering the weather. The main street was filled with stalls selling jewellery, food, drink, beads - lots of interesting things. I really loved the town crier who was ringing his bell and shouting (probably crying is the correct term!) next to the latest demonstration. A really helpful touch. There were some things for kids to do - a big pirate ship to climb on which looked fun. There were also some tables where you could try things out. I liked that idea. I then went on to the main event - Treasure which was at Victoria House near Holborn. This was an amazing exhibition of so many artists. I absolutely loved floating around looking at all the beau...

Vintage owl brooch - I'm not feeling so wise today! I had planned to go down to four days a week in my 'main job' in the next academic year. However, as the only earner in my household it's difficult to lose the steady income, even if it's only a fifth of it. Also, as I work in the UK university sector where funding is under threat, it's a gamble to give up well paid work. But right now I have two jobs, a full time one and four hours of evening class teaching. It doesn't leave a lot of time and head space for jewellery designing. So, I am in this quandary. And I'm not a good decision maker! I don't believe in star signs but I'm such a Libra! Anyway. After much thought I have put forward to teach half the Psychology that I'm currently teaching but I have added some jewellery making classes and a class called 'Social Media for artists and crafters'. The Mary Ward centre currently doesn't offer Silver Clay classes even though the...

This week I have been focussing on my social media. I currently work in technology but I am aware that many artists and crafters don't have the confidence or the know-how to use the internet to help to promote and sell their work. I am looking at putting together a course in social media specifically for artists and crafters. So, I decided to make sure I was up to scratch on everything before trying to tell other people what to do! In the wonderful world of the internet - this week I have Re-listed some items on Etsy Joined some teams on Etsy Set up my lightboat twitter account (I already use twitter but I wanted an account specifically for the jewellery). Search for light_boat to follow me Added my twitter feed to my blog (I do love a widget!) Joined network blogs. Now I'm following some fantabulous inspiring blogs (you can follow me by clicking on the button - scroll down a bit, it's on the right of the screen!) Started a facebook fan page for Light boat Jewellery Added a...