Jewellery Making Supplies Blog

Delve into the world of Art Clay at both our brand new taster classes and day master classes in a fun, friendly and relaxing environment.

We are giving our customers a great opportunity to learn how to make their own unique jewellery designs in comfortable and welcoming surroundings, ensuring total enjoyment, at our dedicated Green Side Studio in Kings Norton, Birmingham.

The Classes are kept small, with the maximum number per class being 8, to guarantee each student has the right support and one-on-one attention they will need. The price includes use of tools, findings, tuition and the silver.

Customers can choose from either a taster workshop lasting 2.5 hours or a day masterclass to unleash their creative flair. Whichever course is opted for, all our workshops give plenty of time to experiment with Art Clay and develop technique. Every student will take away their piece, to both serve as a great memory of the day, and also to enjoy wearing- again and again!

Below are the first set of Art Clay Classes available  at our studio in Kings Norton, Birmingham. We are really looking forward to seeing everyone there! We understand that for some of our customers, this is quite a distance therefore we will also be looking into setting up other classes around the country so get in touch with details of your area for suggestion!

Course Title: Taster Workshop Course Description: At the end of the workshop, students will have completed a pure silver pendant, ready to wear or give as a gift. Level: Beginner Price: £40 (inc VAT) – including an exclusive Cookson goody bag worth over £30! Plus Light Refreshments Date & Time: 5th April, 9:30am-12:00pm

Course Title: Taster Workshop Course Description: At the end of the workshop, students will have completed a pure silver pendant, ready to wear or give as a gift. Level: Beginner Price: £40 (inc VAT) – including an exclusive Cookson goody bag worth over £30! Plus Light Refreshments Date & Time: 1st May, 9:30am-12:00pm

Course Title: Day Course – Earring and Pendant Set Masterclass Course Description: With guidance, students will create some original designs which they will use to make and complete an earring and pendant set. Level: ALL Price: £55 (inc VAT) – including an exclusive Cookson goody bag worth over £30! Plus Light Refreshments Date & Time: 7th June, 9:30am-2:30pm

Course Title: Day Course- Ring Masterclass Course Description: Students will be able to use some original designs which they can use to make a ring of their own. Level: ALL Price: £55 (inc VAT) – including an exclusive Cookson goody bag worth over £30! Plus Light Refreshments Date & Time: 11th September, 9:30am-2:30pm

Course Title: Day Course- Linking Bracelet Masterclass Course Description: Students will be able to design their very own linking bracelet using a variety of Art Clay techniques. Level: ALL Price: £75 (inc VAT) – including an exclusive Cookson goody bag worth over £30! Plus Light Refreshments Date & Time: 30th October, 9:30am-2:30pm

Hurry Hurry! BOOK NOW to avoid disappointment- ONLY 8 PLACES PER COURSE!

The  price includes use of tools, findings, tuition and the silver.

How to Book:

Booking could not be any easier!

Simply call our Contact Centre on 0845 100 1122 and provide the following details:

• Your name
• Your contact telephone number
• The Course Title
• The date you wish to attend

We welcome Visa, MasterCard, Delta, Maestro and Solo cards, please have your card with you when you make the call.

DON’T DELAY AND BOOK TODAY!

To find out more details about where the courses are held and to read more about the Art Clay Tutor CLICK HERE!

Joanne Varney gives her tips on how to kick start a new range. She holds a BA (Hons) in Jewellery and Silversmithing and is part of the Cooksongold team.

The sky is dark, it’s pouring with rain and the wind is whistling down the chimney. It’s the start of a New Year and time to think about the months ahead and what you intend to achieve in them. If, like many others you are feeling a bit flat and uninspired after the retail buzz of Christmas, don’t despair.  Over the next few paragraphs I’m going to share with you a few tips I use to kick start my design ideas when inspiration is a little short in supply.

Ideas Book – Many of you probably keep one of these as standard but for those who don’t, this is simply a notebook or box where you can store your sources of inspiration as you find them. These can be in almost any form from magazine cuttings and photos to found objects such as leaves and stones.  It’s great to keep these items in one place so that when you’re ready you can quickly refer back to a previous idea and start to expand upon it in the form of a mood board or sketch book.

Colour – Colour can be a great starting point for a new range as it can be evocative of so many different things.  For example if you are drawn to cool blue tones, what images do they conjure up? Today, if I think of blue tones, I think of clear blue skies and warm seas which in turn lead on to soft fluid images of ripples, waves and clouds. By this point I am already thinking of smooth, rounded shapes in cool silver tones, so very quickly, as a jeweller, I have converted those initial thoughts into the beginnings of a new range. This of course is only a simple illustration of how to get started and in practise far more consideration and research would be given to each stage, but you can see how easily colour can be a terrific trigger for new design ideas.

Texture – Texture can very easily be transformed into fantastic pieces of jewellery once it has been captured in metal. This can be achieved relatively quickly by casting direct from the object using either PMC or plaster of paris and then wax to make a mould. (If you are lucky enough to own a rolling mill, varying textures can be rolled onto metal, providing the objects used won’t damage the rollers) I’ve had some fantastic results in the past using objects as mundane as household tin foil. Once crumpled up it takes on an interesting texture which I captured using molten wax. I then got the wax cast into metal which I cut into simple shapes to make a selection of pieces. I have also used stone and miniature tyres from a toy car both of which worked really well.

Form – Perhaps the most obvious source of inspiration, form can be taken from absolutely anywhere be it natural or manmade. Whether you choose a literal or abstract interpretation, the key to success is in how you bring that form together into a piece.  I have found that looking at things with a restricted or distorted view can bring some interesting results. For example, just by cutting a hole in a piece of paper and placing it over a drawing, you will be able to look at the image differently, perhaps picking up new details that might otherwise have been missed.  Distortion can also give some great results, try looking at objects through patterned glass or even through a mass of bubbles and you will soon have some fascinating new imagery to work with.

Working as a designer/maker can sometimes be a lonely and difficult experience especially when you’re stuck for ideas. Learning to become resourceful using the objects around you is a great skill to have and will help you through those inevitable periods when the designs just won’t come.

In 1992 I left school and took a foundation in Art & Design.

At the point of completing the course, I should have followed my heart, and gone on to study fine art.

I went on to take a degree in Film & Video at (what was then) West Surrey College of Art & Design. In spite of all my best efforts to the contrary, I graduated with a shiny new BA(Hons) in 1996.

Work in television production followed. Highlights included electrocuting myself while testing products for a review show, audibly vomiting during a live cookery programme and being pecked on the head by an eagle owl.

Despite these giddy showbiz heights, I missed my artistic endeavours, so took a City & Guilds in Jewellery Design specialising in Silver at night school. It was here, (thanks to my fantastic tutor Nicholas Keogh) that I discovered a real passion for working with silver.

When I had my daughter in 2005, I became a full-time mum, and my husband and I moved back to Cardiff. My son followed in 2008. A couple of brushes with death for two of the four Niziblians led to us having a discussion about what exactly we wanted to do with our lives.

I dusted off my tools and made a few pieces of jewellery. I showed them to people, and they all sold. With the support of my fantastic family, that same week in April 2009, I became officially self-employed as a jewellery maker.

When I was little I wanted to be an archaeologist, and I think the idea of discovering something hidden in the earth stuck with me.  I love working with gemstones, minerals and crystals in their uncut and unpolished state.  Lots of my work is designed to look ‘found’.  I really enjoy playing with finishes, especially oxidising and the range of colour-play it can give.  There’s definitely a perverse pleasure in making something clean and perfect, then working it back to look distressed, aged and worn. Although I like trying out new materials, silver is my real love, it’s fantastically easy to transform and the variety of ways you can work it are vast.  It’s a little bit magic.

I currently work from a studio in TactileBOSCH in Cardiff, where I am on a constant learning curve. I’m always trying my hand at new techniques, and find inspiration in many places, from nature to science-fiction.  I recently had a go at working with brass, silver and copper for some large-scale autumnal jewellery for an alternative fashion magazine.  The oak-leaf cuff I made won me a new workbench in Cookson’s design of the week competition. I was delighted, and it’s going to see a lot of use!

As for the future, I’m looking into expanding the range of ready-to-buy jewellery I offer.  I plan to keep experimenting, learning and creating for as long as I possibly can.  I consider myself incredibly lucky to be doing something I love so very much.

Take a look at Lydia’s gorgeous work:  www.niziblian.com