Jewellery Making Supplies Blog

It’s time to celebrate with us all the great events happening this spring: for the next 12 days, claim FREE POST on ALL UK orders over £50* at Cooksongold! This offer starts today and ends MIDNIGHT on Monday, 2nd May.

So why not treat yourself? You can claim free post on our fantastic tools offers. Save Up To 25% on our bestselling polishing and cleaning tools and 10% OFF our bestselling soldering tools, plus you don’t have to pay for the postage.

Did you know we have now launched our Royal Wedding Commemorative Bars in 9ct gold and Fine Silver? Pre-order your own piece of Royal History NOW in time for the big day! Click here to learn more details about our Royal Wedding Bars.

Don’t forget: free post is MULTI-USE, so go ahead and claim it as many times as you’d like during the next 12 days!

To learn more about this offer click here!

A read for today!

In the UK and Ireland World Book Day takes place on the 3rd of March. This particular date originated over 90 years ago in Catalonia, where roses and books were given as gifts to loved ones on St. George’s Day.

World Book Day is a day of personal enrichment which encourages people of all ages to explore the pleasures of reading! In over 100 countries around the globe, this day was designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration. During World Book Night (the 5th of March) 1 million books will be given away to people from the UK and Ireland! If you wish to find out more about this celebration, visit the official World Book Day site here!

To raise awareness and to come in support of this day, Cooksogold is giving you the chance to WIN Your Top 3 Books of Your Choice*!

IT’S SIMPLE: between the 3rd and 6th of March, recommend us a book which helped you in developing your jewellery making skills or business and tell everyone how it helped you (drop a comment here, on Facebook, Forum or Twitter)! You get a chance to win 3 books from Cooksongold. What’s more, you can help many fellow jewellers by doing this and encouraging them to read your favourite one.

So, what is the best book? If reading is your thing too, show it here!

It’s that time of the year again when we (almost) say goodbye to the winter and welcome…FREE DELIVERY Bonanza online at Cooksongold!

Between the 25th of February and 28th of February at cooksongold.com claim Freepost on ALL UK orders over £50*!!

At Cooksongold we’re constantly searching for products that will help with all your jewellery making needs. We know that these products work as you review them. The feedback you give us is invaluable, so why not review a product now and help out a fellow jeweller as well as your chance to WIN £100 to spend on any product you like at Cooksongold!

For your chance to WIN £100 to spend at Cooksongold, simply review a product online now.

So don’t just take our word for it, here‘s a selection of our customer favourites and what you’ve had to say about them.

A great offer is back THIS WEEK ONLY at Cookson Gold:  10% OFF Sterling Silver Round Wire from the 15th to the 21st of February. This promotion offers 43 varieties for you to choose from including our best sellers: 1mm, 0.5mm and 2mm!  Hurry up and STOCK UP NOW! Expires midnight on the 21st of February!

Cooksongold will cut wire to fit your requirements and this comes fully annealed (soft state). You will need to familiarise yourself with two basic techniques for using wire: cutting and bending, which are fundamental to any project you will undertake.

Purchasing a drawplate is a very good investment in your workshop as this is a long lasting tool that will help you alter every size and shape of wire. The drawplate is a tool made of steel with holes of decreasing sizes that should be used in conjunction with a set of pliers called draw tongs. When using it, mount it on a bench vise with the holes being used close to the vise. File a gradual taper onto the last half inch of the wire and poke it through the largest hole of the drawplate. Use the tongs to pull the wire through the plate and move down the line through the smaller holes till you reach the desired size. Throughout the process, try to keep the wire perpendicular to the drawplate. The wire may require annealing (regular heating to maintain malleability) after 4- 5 holes.

Bending Wire: this can be done with your fingers; however, if you require more leverage, use a set of pliers that will match your desired blend. You can find a list of the right pliers to use in our previous article, here.

• Making Jump Rings: use round nose pliers; hold the wire at the place along the pliers for the size of ring you want, bend the wire with your fingers and finish by cutting the wire with end cutters.

• Making a Wire Spiral: the wire spiral can be used as a decorative catch or as a detail on any other piece of jewellery you made. Firstly, hold the end of the wire length with your pliers are bend it around the pliers whilst rotating the pliers. Once you have the beginning of the spiral, release it from the pliers and continue to bend the wire with your fingers. Finish the spiral with a hook and use it to decorate your artwork.
• Other shapes easy to achieve include: heart shape (use 1.2mm wire), zigzag  (1mm for fine shape; 2mm for chunky shape), earwire (0.8mm).

At Cooksongold our online January Sale is coming to an end and what better way to end it than to hold our first 2011 FREE DELIVERY Weekend* event? Freepost starts today and ends Monday 31st January at midnight!

This weekend why not treat yourself to our Dremel 300 Drill Kit and 100 Accessories Was £76.55, NOW £61.24 or to some of our very best 2010 machinery and get it delivered for FREE? We have 10% OFF Single Barrelling Unit Was £137.50, NOW £123.75 and Mini Ultrasonic Cleaner for ONLY £37.50! And whilst filling your basket don’t forget to make the most of our 10% discount on ALL Art Clay range while it lasts!

What are you waiting for? Just select “freepost” in the delivery options menu at the checkout! Hurry up: this event ENDS Midnight Monday the 31st January!

P.S. Check out our NEW range of Anti -Tarnish Bags and Tabs from ONLY £3.15 for a pack of 10!

Happy New Year from everyone at Cooksongold!! May you have a very prosperous 2011!

To have a good start of the year we have organised our usual fantastic January Sale throughout the whole first month of 2011! Here’s what it’s all about: we are offering up to 60% OFF  for over 500 products!! Get an even better price than before with:

• up to 50% OFF Charm Beads
• up to 25% discounts on Tools and our fabulous range of Clay
• up to 35% discounts on Boxes and Packaging
• New Low Prices on Loose and Finished Chain

…and so many more!! Enter the sale NOW by clicking here! And remember to get a really great deal by visiting the HUGE DISCOUNTS category, which also contains products due to be discontinued – don’t miss the opportunity to grab a bargain before stocks run out!

Lastly, hurry up – this ENDS on the 31st of January! Enjoy this year with Cooksongold and we hope to hear from you soon!

Beat the big freeze this month with Cooksongold’s Deal of the Day!! It’s the season of joy and good will and every day of December at Cooksongold you have the chance to save money and choose something different! We have over 24 fantastic offers on tools, clay, packaging and so many more for you to treat your workbench and your loved ones!!

Today, ONLY 19 days to go before Christmas, you can get 20% OFF ALL Black Leatherette Boxes from ONLY 64p! and  10% OFF  storage products, and the range includes over 30 storage solutions for you to choose from! So what are you waiting for? The clock is ticking!

This week at Cooksongold expect to see some great discounts on Kits and Jewellery Tools! For more information, don’t forget to keep an eye on your email to get updates for everyday’s offer!! If you haven’t done so, you can subscribe to receive our e-communications here!

We’re going even further to entice you: because it is such a busy season for everyone, Cooksongold is taking some time to personally help Santa: we are NOW OPEN 8am – 8pm and the cut off point has increased to 4pm: order before 4pm for same day delivery!!

Alternatively, become a Cooksongold fan on Facebook where we’ll keep you updated with our latest offers and we will offer you even more prizes, competitions and fun this month!!

Have a wonderful festive season with Cooksongold!!

The festive season is almost upon us and with less than a month to Christmas Cooksongold is running a FIVE DAY FESTIVE FREEPOST* event.  Freepost starts today and ends on Tuesday 30th
at midnight!  Simply spend £50* or more and select ‘freepost’ in the delivery options menu.

Why not stock up now for the busy Christmas Season, grab that unusual present or even treat yourself ! Cooksongolds got the very best gift ideas, stocking fillers, and kits to make any jewellery makers heart beat that bit faster !

Why not take full advantage of the freepost and double-up on the savings with 10% OFF our ever-popular Soldering Kit, 10% off all Durston Rolling Mills, 10% off our Art Clay Starter Kit andÂ
15% off creative FIMO kits !

Don’t forget freepost is MULTI-USE, so go ahead and claim freepost as many times as you’d like!

It's freepost this weekend at Cooksongold.com

This week at Cooksongold we are offering Over 10% OFF Sterling Silver Round Wire!! This offer is available for our entire range of Sterling Silver Round Wire and runs from 16th of November until the 23rd of November, this means ONE WEEK ONLY: hurry up and stock up NOW!!

There are over 43 different variations you can choose from, various diameters and all cut to your requirements.  Our offer includes our best selling 0.8mm, 1mm, 1.5mm and 2mm Sterling Silver Round Wire.

If you are new with jewellery making wire designs, here are the essential tools you will need:

• Round-nosed pliers: are one of the tools that are fundamental to wire jewellery making. Their rounded noses allow a grip on the wire that will not mark, crush or kink it, enabling easy manipulation for intricate movements such as the turning of loops in head and eye pins when making earrings or pendants.
• Stepped pliers: used for looping, which allow you to repeat circular patterns over and over again without the size of the loop varying.
• Flat-nosed pliers: are used for straightening metal findings and, again, are designed to minimise scratching and damaging.
• Side cutters: (or diagonal cutters) enable the craftsman to make specific pieces in specific sizes, or add further detail to a piece. Because of the many different gauges of wires there are many types of cutter available. When working with wire you often need to ensure you get a clean straight cut, and therefore worth investing in a flush or semi flush cutter to avoid crushing the end of your wire.
• Bead mats: (or bead boards) on which to lay out beads whilst designing pieces such as necklaces. They minimise wear and tear on the jewellery findings, but with enough friction to prevent items such as beads or stones rolling away.

Now you have everything you need to get started!! Enter our fabulous Wire Sale by clicking here and let us know what you think!