Jewellery Making Supplies Blog

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!!

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!

Today we are launching a new great promotion: OVER 10% OFF STERLING SILVER SHEET!! Some of our best selling sheet comes now with great discounts! This offer applies to 30 variations of sheet from which you can choose according to your needs and preferences. This includes: Sterling Silver Sheet 0.50mm thick, fully annealed soft, and also 0.70 mm, 0.80mm, 1.00mm and 1.5mm – all rated 5-star products by you, our customers! Have a look at the whole range of sheet on offer!!

If we haven’t convinced you yet, check out the details about this offer here!  And the best part is yet to come: the offer ends on Monday, the 1st of November 2010 at midnight!!  For the rest of this month you don’t have to worry about finding a deal on sterling silver sheet, it’s right here for you!

This week treat yourself with some of the most exquisite GEMSTONES from Cooksongold! A good reason to buy: we have them NOW on sale!! You get 10% OFF and the possibility to choose from over 420 beautiful gems available!! You’re going to love our variety: we have around 30 stones and they come in more than 15 sizes!

Gemstones are fun for both beginners and more experienced jewellers!  However, if this is your first encounter with gems here are a few facts and tips you might find useful before you start.

• When just starting to work with stones, it is recommended to use large stones (cabochons) since it will be easier to make settings for them.
• Beginners find it easier and more fun to work with the following stones:

1. Amber – is a low-priced stone that is known for its fragility. It can be cut or carved with steel blades or abrasives but you might find it difficult to drill into. In this case, practice on larger chunks before you go on to your design.  When you are satisfy with your design put it in hot water to remove the glue from the amber but beware that excessive heat causes amber to crack. Did you know amber has been around from Palaeolithic times (9500BC) and it is also used in perfumes?
2. Amethyst – can be found in various shades of purple. Did you know this stone was included in the most valuable stones up until the 18th century (along with rubies, sapphires or emerald)?  Nowadays it is one of the most easily obtained stones, making it widely popular with jewellery makers and lovers. This stone increases its price with the intensity of its colour (some of the deep amethysts can sometimes appear almost black) and it also fades when exposed to heat.
3. Garnet – include multiple shades of red but it can be also found in variations such as green or yellow brown. The rarest variety is the Blue Garnet found in the 90s in Madagascar. It is slightly more expensive than the other gems but also slightly more resistant.
4. Opal - is visually a very attractive stone but it contains an increased amount of water therefore it is easy to chip or scratch. Fire opal is the only variety that can be faceted since most of them are very transparent.
5. Quartz – is an extremely economical stone in terms of pricing. The most popular categories of Quartz are Citrine and Smoky Quartz. These stones are easily cracked and, similar to amber, they will change colour or fade when exposed to increased amounts of heat or sunlight.

We have them all at Cooksongold in great variety … and many more too! So hurry up and grab this great deal before it ends on Tuesday, the 28th of September at Midnight!!

And since you dropped by why not subscribe to our blog? Just hit the subscribe button at the bottom of this page and you’ll never miss another great deal again!! We will also make sure to offer you some great hints and tips and keep you up-to-date with the latest news!

We’re ending July with a fantastic THREE DAY FREEPOST event at Cooksongold. All UK orders over £50* will be sent FREEPOST – helping you save you £££’s! Freepost starts NOW and ends Midnight on Sunday 1st August – so what are you waiting for? Pace your order online NOW!

Don’t forget freepost is now even easier, simply spend £50 or more and select ‘freepost’ in the delivery options menu – it’s as easy as that!

It's FREEPOST this weekend

Why not take full advantage of this weekends freepost and drop into our Hand Torch SALE with 10% OFF our 6 bestselling torches with prices starting at JUST £18. Click here  to enter the SALE NOW! 

10% OFF Hand Torches - ENDS Tuesday 3rd August

If your order doesn’t quite reach £50, click here for a few more suggestions which might just tempt you.

Save up to 15% OFF ALL sterling silver round wire this week ONLY at Cooksongold. This fantastic offer includes our bestsellers like our 0.8mm, 1.5mm and even our 1mm round wire. Click here to enter the Cooksongold silver wire sale NOW!!!

Alternatively, click here to learn more about this incredible offer. Plus, don’t forget this offer cannot last and will expire on Tuesday 27th July 2010, Midnight! So what are you waiting for? Save £££’s on silver wire NOW!

Sterling Silver Round Wire Sale

Save up to 18% OFF ALL sterling silver sheet this week ONLY at Cooksongold. This fantastic offer includes our full range of sterling silver sheet including bestsellers like our 0.8mm, 0.5mm and even our 1mm sheet. Click here to enter the Cooksongold silver sheet sale NOW!!!

Alternatively, click here to learn more about this incredible offer. Plus, don’t forget this offer cannot last and will expire on Tuesday 15th June, Midnight!

Save up to 18% OFF Sterling Silver Sheet