This article is written by Joanne Varney who holds a BA (Hons) in Jewellery and Silversmithing and is part of the Cooksongold team.

Traditionally used with dress shirts which have no buttons at the cuffs, (French cuffs), cufflinks have been used through the ages to add a decorative element to a man’s attire. Although most men won’t use them every day, nearly all will certainly own a pair of cufflinks to use on special occasions, namely weddings. Consequently the range available is huge and enormously varied in price and design.

As with most jewellery, cufflinks consist of a functional element and a purely decorative element both of which are essential for a successful piece.  A range of fittings are available, but easily the most popular and the most practical are those which have a swivelling arm which snaps into place, using a spring mechanism that stops at ninety degrees. This effectively forms the ‘stopper’ which prevents the cufflink from sliding back through the button hole and in turn this secures the cuff. The arm, which is available in a round or square section is held between a ‘u’ shaped fitting or an ‘s’shaped fitting which is the piece which is then connected to the decorative element. This can be done using solder or glue. Special care must be used when soldering near any sprung mechanism as too much heat will cause the spring to relax, effectively rendering the fitting useless. It is preferable to use medium or easy solder for this task.

If you fancy trying an alternative fitting to the swivel arm, you could opt for a simple cufflink chain. A little more traditional in style, these heavy chains (usually 5 links) provide the connecting element between the decorative plate and the ‘stopper’. The advantage  with using these chains is that you are free to add whatever style of ‘stopper’ you choose. It could be a bullet shape or a large sphere, anything really as long as it is of sufficient weight and size not to be pulled easily through the buttonhole. This way the functionality becomes integral to the design which is always good!

The last main cufflink fitting readily available is the Bar Bell design. As the name suggests, this consists of a curved bar with usually balls on both ends or one end, much like the Banana Bars used in body piercing. The scope for adding a design element to these is somewhat limited but interest can be added by using different surface finishes or by the addition of stones. A word of caution though, these fittings won’t  necessarily suit all shirt types as the ball ‘stopper’ may not be large enough to be truly secure. It’s probably best to do a little market research before using them for any commission work.

Once you have decided on the cufflink fitting, you can start work on the fun part, the decorative element. The basis of most is a shaped plate or blank which are available in a range of shapes and gauges. This is attached to the ‘u’ or ‘s’ arm, chain or bar bell and completes the cufflink. This blank should sit flush against the shirt cuff with the design facing outwards and is the part that most customers are interested in. Traditionally designs were very understated and used initials or simple enamelling but increasingly designs now reflect the individuality of the wearer and can be as quirky and witty as the imagination allows! So get creative and take advantage of this lucrative gents market by developing a cufflink range, I’m sure the results will prove very rewarding.

This book has been reviewed by Joanna Varney.  She holds a BA (Hons) in Jewellery and Silversmithing and is part of the Cooksongold team.

My initial thoughts when first opening this book were:

 
1. It’s based on the American market

 
2. It is focusing on Bead Jewellery rather than Fine Jewellery

 
DON’T LET THIS PUT YOU OFF!!!!!

 
My rather naive idea that this would not be relevant to me was quickly dispelled as I got stuck into Chapter one – First Steps. I can’t stress enough how good this first chapter is. It is packed with fantastic, down to earth advice which I feel every person considering starting their own creative business would benefit from reading! In fact there are questions posed that the self employed craftsperson needs to be reminded of again and again to ensure a successful business.

For example:  ‘The Lifestyle – Are you cut out for it?’
‘Defining your style of Jewellery’
‘Who is your Customer?’

These are vital, practical questions which need to be addressed before embarking on any new venture. They help to take you away from the emotional side of a creative business (which can sometimes be difficult) to focus on the aspects which can sometimes be overlooked. For instance, the fact that you will spend more time marketing, promoting, selling, accounting etc etc your jewellery, than you will actually spend making and designing it! This was something I did not fully appreciate until I was actually doing it! It’s rather a disheartening prospect but it is reality and you have to be prepared for it.

Lareau then moves on to discuss, ‘Building Your Portfolio’ which is perhaps a more obvious starting point for most people as it is a seemingly ‘nice’ task. She stresses the importance of creating a style and theme which will appeal to your ‘target customer’. Again great advice, and again something which many would not appreciate when first starting out. It’s far too easy to design a logo or motif which looks nice, but would be completely unrelated to your ‘target customer’.

As I read through each chapter I found I was picking up invaluable tips left, right and centre. In fact I’ve come across a few business mantras that will, without doubt be going up on the workshop wall!

The guide to pricing work is again extremely practical. Despite some of the terminology being aimed at the US market, it is still entirely suitable for the UK and gives a much more realistic approach than I was given at University. Lareau also explains clearly the difference between wholesale and retail pricing which again, is vital to get right if you are to look professional.

Throughout this book, Lareau pulls her readers sharply back into reality, providing focus and direction in bite sized chunks. The chapters are short and easy to absorb, written in plain English (American) and are easily transferable between different types of creative industries. I would say that this book is a vital read for anyone considering starting their own creative business.  I would also recommend it to anyone whose existing business has perhaps lost a little focus. The chapters will help you to reassess and evaluate your market position, take stock of your situation and strip things back to basics which we all need to do from time to time. All in all, a great read.

Click here to purchase your copy!

I have always been creative and interested in art and crafts. As a young child I could often be found hunched over a project invariably involving enormous amounts of glitter,beads and glue.

After enjoying art and design so much at school; I then studied textiles and photography at college. This allowed me to start exploring jewellery making as part of my coursework.

At first I was literally making it up as I went along, using techniques I already knew such as weaving to create interesting pieces of work. Unfortunately there wasn’t much information or support about going on to study jewellery making at my college; it didn’t even occur to me, which is something Iregret. Instead I chose to do an art foundation course, focusing mainly on photography. I didn’t take well to the course and found the unstructured way of teaching very difficult to cope with. I somehow passed the course and then got a job in a photography lab, which I loved.

I was working part time so my now husband encouraged me to do a jewellery design course that was running one day a week at a local college. I loved it so much I started making pieces for family and friends. I had officially caught the jewellery bug and my collection of tools started to grow every day!

Gradually people started to request custom items and my portfolio of designs got bigger. I decided to start a website. My brand design was really important to me and I spent a lot of time honing the look of my business. At first this was mainly to showcase the work I had done and hopefully encourage new bespoke orders. I have always loved creating a completely unique bespoke design for a customer, being able to interpret their request and make an item to be treasured is my favourite part of jewellery making.

For a while the jewellery and website took a back seat as I got married, was made redundant and found a new job. I would occasionally get bespoke orders and these would remind me that I was seriously neglecting something I loved.

Eventually everything settled down and I found myself in a wonderful little photography lab, working four days a week.This meant that I had a spare day a week to devote to my passion and enabled me to start making jewellery again.I got involved with a local Winchester craft fair called ‘Handmade’ and had my first stall at their summer event.

Although I had a woeful amount of stock the fair went well and I enjoyed it immensely. I came away with a fresh perspective and knew I had a lot of work to do. I signed up to the next event and worked on building a range of ready to wear jewellery.

Starting with a simple range of tribal style earrings; which were normally made using horn and bone. I wanted to explore the elegant shapes that can be made using one continuous piece of sterling silver wire. They have gone on to be some of my most popular items both at fairs and online. The popularity of the range encouraged me to set up a Folksy and later on an Etsy shop which allows me to directly sell online around the world.

Two years later and my husband and I have now bought a house. I am continuing to take part in craft fairsand my online shops are doing well. Christmas 2011 was my busiest ever both with commissioned work and online sales. It was a very hectic few months, but wonderful to see my business grow. I have learnt to embrace social media as a way to self-promote and connect with potential customers. I also have had a wonderful opportunity to get a project published in ‘Making Jewellery’ magazines May issue.

It is really important that every part of my jewellery is handmade by me. I give every bespoke customer a booklet containing ‘making of’ pictures as a keepsake, so they can see their design becoming a reality. Being able to show my customers this through photography ensures they know their item is truly unique. I mostly work in silver and semi-precious stones although I have recently been lucky enough to make some wedding rings in gold.

My most recent work has been based around riveting using mixed metals to create layered pieces and I have been exploring up-cycling using old solid silver cutlery to make rings. I love learning new techniques and using them to create something different. My next experimental project will involve etching, which I have never done before.

While the dream of being able to work full time on my jewellery business may not be realistic with a mortgage to pay, I hope to continue devoting as much time as possible to my jewellery,especially my bespoke work. I am incredibly lucky to have such amazing support from my husbandwho has constantly encouraged me to keep going. It is a real pleasure to be doing something I love so much.

Website: www.sophiemariesmithdesign.co.uk

Email: sophie@sophiemariesmithdesign.co.uk

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/smsdesign

Joanna Varney gives her tips on the emerging trends this Spring. She holds a BA (Hons) in Jewellery and Silversmithing and is part of the Cooksongold team.

A few months back I wrote an article detailing trends to look out for in 2012. Now that spring has sprung and the first flowers of the year are blooming, its time to take a fresh look at the emerging trends and think about elements which could be incorporated into your designs.

First and foremost, let’s deal with colour. It gives an instant nod to current trends and lets be honest it’s the quickest way to freshen up a range. Hot oranges, corals and emerald greens have come through very strongly and are everywhere in fashion on the high street. (This is quite surprising as they are not easy colours to wear) Fortunately these particular colours translate perfectly into stones. Emerald, green agate, citrine, coral, cornelian and fire opal will all hit the mark with your trend conscious customers.  Pantone have actually chosen Tangerine Tango as the colour of 2012 so we will be seeing a lot more of it as the year progresses.

Monochrome as predicted is prevalent everywhere, but has become such a classic that I feel it is ever present. Thomas Sabos ‘Special Addition ‘ range is essentially monochrome and incorporates onyx, mother of pearl, freshwater pearls and obsidian which has been used facetted and matt. (Matt stones are slowly but surely increasing in popularity. They will never take the place of their polished counterparts, but none the less they are starting to become an edgy alternative) Obsidian is being used more and more in popular jewellery collections. I even noticed Tiffany using Snowflake Obsidian towards the end of 2011 and if Tiffany is using it you can be sure many others will follow!

Yet again wrist wear seems to be where much of the innovation is focused this year. The craze of the Shamballa bracelet is showing no signs of slowing down. In fact we seem to be reaching saturation point where most high street retailers will have a ‘version’ of this item now. As worn by the stars, the original versions consisted of a macramé bracelet, coupled with 18k balls pave set with diamonds and rubies.  Relatively simple in design, these bracelets are easily imitated and more affordable versions made of crystal and smooth hematite or steel beads are readily available in many stores.  Simple hematite or pave crystal studs and pendants will compliment these bracelets in an understated way again tapping into the trend in a subtle way.

In fact,subtle is a great description of earring styles this spring if the red carpet looks are anything to go by. Studs are back in a big way, but think of interesting and unusual motifs to jazz them up. Drop earrings are also small and classic. Gone are the oversized chandeliers of recent years. Ear charms are a relatively new and growing category as retailers try to emulate the customisation feel that charm bracelets can offer the customer.

The 20s theme is widely evident (influenced by film releases The Great Gatsby and The Artist) in the form of fringing, feathers and pearls. Pearls have been prominent for a few years now, but the ‘flapper’ style is bringing with it a resurgence of more classic designs. Head bands and hair jewellery in floral and Art Deco inspired motifs are again a direct result of this strong 20s revival.

These are by no means all of the Spring trends which are around at the moment, but I’ve covered the most obvious and the most transferable. I hope they prove useful as you decide what to use within your new ranges.

Sculpt this gorgeous copper heart pendant with our range of Creative Copper Clay!

You will need:

Bows mould

Brass brush

Creative Copper 20g

Hand torch and Soldering block or Kiln

Hand drill

*Heat-proof container e.g. a pyrex bowl

*Hot water

Olive oil and olive oil dispenser

Paintbrush and cup of water

Picklean

Sandpaper

Teflon

Tumbler

Tweezers

Step 1

Rub some olive oil on your hands. Open the clay and press into the mould, filing it so the clay is level with the mould. Smooth the back of the clay with your fingers. Push the clay out of the mould immediately and place on a piece of Teflon. Smooth the edges and refine any fine lines with a damp paintbrush. Leave the clay to dry overnight or by using the drying programme on the Clay kiln.

Step 2

Once dry refine the piece using sandpaper. Drill two small holes as can be seen in the picture above using your hand drill. Your heart is now ready to fire.

Step 3

For best results always kiln fire – Kiln fire at 920C for 30 minutes- Place the heart on the kiln shelf and cover tightly with kiln pillow. This is important to keep fire-scale to a minimum.

Fire using a hand torch: Wait for the binder to burn off and time for a minimum of 7 minutes from when the piece starts to glow bright red.

Step 4

Once your pieces are fired remove them from the kiln immediately and quench in pre-mixed warm Picklean solution and leave in the solution for at least 10 minutes.

We recommend tumbling your pieces for an hour using stainless steel shot and Picklean solution in warm water. Refresh and clean the shot and Picklean solution after half an hour. This method works best for removing all fire-scale. After tumbling you can give them a final brush with a brass brush to bring up the Copper shine.

Please note:

You can create this project using the same method as above but in fine silver by replacing the Creative Copper with 16g PMC3. However, do not tumble in Picklean and your firing time should be altered to 700C/10mins.

This is a guest project designed by Tansy Wilson. Tansy is a professional jeweller and runs her business from beautiful rural Somerset. She also teaches a jewellery evening class at her local college. Tansy has a BA in 3-D Design and has been in the design industry for 20 years. 

“There is an array of textured surfaces that are already incorporated onto hammers now. This means you can easily create a range of fabulous textures on your chosen metal without having to make a patterned stamp first. I have used sterling silver to create this bangle, combining the use of a textured surface against a smooth surface to give a good contrast and make a detail in the design.”

Create these striking textured bangles to wear together or on their own!

You will need:

• Silver Sheet 
• Saw Frame
• Texturing Hammer
• File
• Soldering Block
• Borax Cone and Dish
• Silver Solder
• Hand Torch
• Pickling Unit
• Emery paper
• Bangle mandrel
• Polishing cloth

STEP 1:  Planning

Plan your design to scale and draw onto your silver sheet. Planning is essential as mistakes can be expensive!

STEP 2: Piercing

Pierce out your strip of Sterling silver sheet 20mm wide x 180mm long. Then pierce out the diamond pattern.

STEP 3: Annealing

Anneal the diamond section only.

Please note that you can buy sterling silver sheet already fully annealed so this step would not be necessary.

STEP 4: Texturing

Texture the diamond section only, hammering evenly across the piece back and forth.

STEP 5: Getting straight

Texturing may have altered the edges of your piece so file any edges that are to be soldered, so that they fit exactly flush together.

STEP 6: Preparing to solder

Degrease areas to be soldered and place onto your soldering block so that you solder on the back of your bangle. Flux along all the joins and place small squares of silver solder (paillons) along the joins approx 8mm apart.

STEP 7: Soldering

Heat the metal evenly, build up the heat until you are able to melt the solder and make it run through the join. Carefully place in a cleaning pickle.

STEP 8: Cleaning up

Rinse clean and using a range of files from course to fine, clean off all traces of solder so the back of your bangle is smooth.

STEP 9: Drawing to shape

You will probably need to redraw your bangle shape onto the metal as during texturing and filing the shape may have been distorted.

STEP 10: Perfecting shape

File and use emery paper to get all the edges of your bangle smooth and straight.

STEP 11: Polishing

Polish all surfaces of your bangle. Next wrap a piece of soft material around your bangle mandrel to protect the inside surface of the bangle when shaping.

STEP 12: Bending

Finally bend your bangle around the bangle mandrel, lightly hammering into shape. Lightly re-polish if needed. You have completed your project!

You can also find this project in Making Jewellery Magazine! Hope you have enjoyed the project.

Joanne Varney gives her tips and ideas to help maximise your sales this Valentines. She holds a BA (Hons) in Jewellery and Silversmithing and is part of the Cooksongold Team.

Valentine’s Day is upon us and represents one of the few sales opportunities during the early part of the year. With jewellery being an obvious choice, here are a few ideas to help maximise your sales and to guide those uncertain male customers!!

‘Love Tokens’ –  Gift Vouchers are a great option for those who are uncertain of their partners taste, but can sometimes come across as a little lacking in imagination. However, dress a gift token into something a little more interesting e.g. ‘Love Token’, couple this idea with an attractive card and I think you will provide a useful option for many shoppers. After all, many people may know their partners favourite designer, but may not be able to choose one piece. This is the perfect solution.

Sales Incentives – Just because most of us run small scale operations doesn’t mean we can’t make use of some of the sales incentives used by the large companies. For example, try offering a free gift wrapping service. It’s surprising just how many customers (especially men) will take advantage of this, particularly those shopping at the last minute. Offer a free Valentine’s Day card with every sale in the 2 weeks prior to the big day. Again it’s taking the hassle out of shopping for people and saving them a trip to an overcrowded card shop. Yes it means a small outlay but this could be minimised by designing and printing the cards yourself. Finally a 10% discount off of the next purchase is always well received and brings customers back to you helping to build a relationship of trust.

Although Valentine’s Day is traditionally a day for proposing, most customers won’t be looking for rings. In fact many men would avoid buying them on principle in case their partner was to get the wrong idea!! For the most part it is preferable to steer customers in the direction of items which don’t need sizing. Earrings and pendants are fairly safe options, but offer a longer length chain. (You don’t want disgruntled ladies returning pendants because the chain was too short!)

Charms – Charms make a perfect Valentine’s Day gift for both men and women. They don’t need sizing, can be attached to bracelets or necklets and best of all they can reflect any occasion, hobby or interest you can possibly imagine. Hearts are an obvious and popular choice and can be simply made using either wire or sheet.  Add interest with different textures and finishes and hang together in groups of three with perhaps a Swarovski Heart crystal to create a great cost effective gift. They will work out more inexpensive than other branded alternatives and suit more customers’ pockets.

On that subject I would just like to reiterate a point that I’ve made in previous articles. Make sure you have items at a good range of price points, low to high, to suit all budgets.  Ensure your cheaper items are easy to get to so as not to put people off and perhaps most important of all, smile and try to encourage customers to be romantic!

And if for some reason you are not feeling the romance of the occasion, grit your teeth and pretend!!

Happy Valentine’s Day xx