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!

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 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!

The festive season is fast approaching!! To make shopping easier and more fun Cooksongold has created its first Christmas Gift Finder!! With 15 categories to choose from there is something for everyone!! Whether you are looking to buy something for your workshop or to surprise your friends, family or customers the NEW Cooksongold Gift Finder has hundreds of ideas that will help you find the perfect present this Christmas!

And the best part is yet to come: you can spend as much or as little as you want! Check out our Stocking Fillers under £10, Gifts under £20 or Gifts under £30! Whether you are shopping for clay, beads, kits, finished jewellery or just some treats to relish the Christmas spirit you are sure to find something here! Surprise your loved ones with a little treat and make sure not to leave our cute Bear At The Bench out of your Christmas basket!

Click here to see Cooksongold’s suggestions for this Christmas!



It is that great period again: FREE POST is here!! Within the UK*, for any order over £50* which you place in the next 10 days you will benefit from our Free Post!! When we say it’s easy, we mean you won’t even need any codes or vouchers: just select “freepost” as the delivery  method at checkout and enjoy the experience!!

In case this is not reason enough to order, we hope to entice you with some of our great offers:

• Gemstone Extravaganza: 10% off selected stones. We have over 400 gems in a beautiful multitude of sizes and shapes – you’re sure to get your eyes on something!
• 25% OFF Top 20 Essentials: some of you are going back to school and some of you will only look to renew your tools, kits & accessories collection, in any case the bigger this is, the better! We have great prices on our Hand Torch, the Student Starter Kit, Starter Soldering Unit and Solder Block, PMC, Silver Chains and more!
• Our NEW Reflections Collection:  our great NEW Silver alloy, which we think it might even inspire you for your new piece! In case you need help with it, our team is there to guide you so just try something new!
• Moreover, there are new products in our Art Clay and Creative Metals at Cooksongold and always a great variety of over 11,000 jewellery making products. Just one stop and your jewellery will get the best treatment!! You’ll get fabulous prices and FREE POST!! Free Post ends on the 3rd of October at midnight, but don’t forget you can claim it more than once: make the most of it!! Click here to check out some of the products we thought you’ like!

We’d love to hear what you thought or what you bought so don’t forget to leave a comment!

THE JEWELLERY GUIDE

We’ve just launched the 32-page Jewellery Guide for those of you who are going back to work, starting work or just looking for new pieces to buy for your workshop!!  It contains the essential products to every jewellery maker’s workshop: machinery, clay, starter kits, books, chains and bullion are amongst the many products you will find in this useful catalogue.  Our Top 20 Essentials at discounted prices -UP TO 25% OFF – will most likely catch your eye too! It’s sure you’ll find something you love or need for you next piece!!

and the best part…COOKSON TECHNICAL INFORMATION BOOKLET

What makes this guide even better is the booklet inside, which you can download here or order for FREE here (where you get the whole mini catalogue for a change). The booklet includes useful data sheets and answers frequently asked question on various techniques like soldering and polishing. It provides you with the best hints &tips you’ll want to know before starting to make an art piece.

We’ve been in the jewellery industry for quite a while and now you can benefit from Cooksongold’s resourcefulness even further by login onto http://www.cooksongold.com/technical/. Here you’ll find the jargon used in the trade explained, even more data sheets and instant conversion calculations. Our knowledge base is easily accessible: you can search specific words and you  can almost instantly view “Hot topics”, “Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions” or “Latest articles” .

If you have a question that hasn’t been answered already (or to which you simply cannot find the answer) you can always opt for “ask a question” and you’ll quickly receive a personal response!

So what do you think of it? Have you used it already? If so, is there anything else you would’ve wanted to see in it?

Enjoy our weekend promotion: 5% OFF all our PMC PRODUCTS and 10% off our fantastic ART CLAY range!!

For as little as £7.13 for PMC or £7.07 for Art Clay you can start modelling your great piece of art today!!  There are 30 products to choose from! Our range includes: Art Clay 650 Slow Dry for a more elastic feel, Art Clay Cooper, Precious Metal Clay + and Precious Metal Clay 3.

Free your imagination this weekend! This offer is only valid until Monday, the 13th of September 2010 at midnight so hurry up!! And if you stopped here, we would love to know what you thought of our products!

For PMC beginners the most confusing thing is, “What tools do I need?”, so here are a few suggestions to help you along the way:

PMC Suggested TOOLS:

A roller – used for rolling out the clay

A rolling surface – Non-stick as possible e.g. a glass board or polished tile

Spacers or playing cards – for getting the depth of the clay even

Cutting blade, scalpel – For getting straight edges and making your shapes.

A small lidded pot – to put filings & tiny offcuts into so you can save them for making silver clay paste or slip

Various grades of sanding pads - or get a 4 way nail filing block and strip the sides off.

Badger Balm or Olive Oil for stopping the clay sticking to your hands and tools.

Tools for Precious Metal Clay

FIRING METHODS:

For Hob firing, stainless steel mesh with protection net.

Torch firing – Handheld torch and a firing brick (asbestos substitute not a household brick )

Kiln – If you can get access to a kiln then use it, the metal is normally denser and the results more consistant.

Stainless steel or brass brush – for brushing off the white post firing and leaving you lovely silver.

Silver polish & Cloth – for getting the final buffed up shine.

Some Optional Extras:

For ring making – A sliding ring guage, A wooden ring mandrel, and ring papers (to stop clay sticking to the mandrel).

For Better finishes – A small set of metal files for neatening edges quicker than sanding them down.

Long Tweezers – For holding / moving the pieces when firing

Liver of Sulpher – For antiquing or bringing out fine detail

Burnishers & ultra fine sanding pads – Post firing for a REAL shine!

Cutters & Shapers – Using pre-shaped cutters e.g. hearts will same time and give you more consistant shapes

Tiny drill bits – you can twist them in your fingers to drill through the unfired clay & make jump ring holes & hanging points.

Texture Mats/plates – Roll the clay out on these and you’ll have fabulous patterns straight away!

Letter Stamp Set – For stamping words into unfired (rubber stamps) or fired clay (metal stamps).

Why not check out our ready-assembled Starter Precious Metal Clay kit packed with everything you could possibley need to get started with PMC. Alternatively, if your not a PMC novice click here to view our full range of silver clay kits including our Art Clay kit and complete silver clay accessories kit, tumbler kit and tool kit.

Starter Kit for Precious Metal Clay

This December has seen the launch of the Cooksongold  Deal of the Day event! Each day throughout the month during the build-up to Christmas Day Cooksongold will bring you a NEW fantastic daily offer. These offers will not only feature great savings on individually selected best selling products of up to 35%, but will also feature great savings on entire selected product categories up to 25% OFF, so make sure you stay in the know and visit www.cooksongold.com to be sure you don’t miss out! 

Cooksongold's Deal of the Day

If you missed Monday’s official Deal of the Day launch e-mail then click here to find out what fantastic offers we have in stall for you over these first 5 days. If you don’t already receive our weekly e-mails detailing all our daily offers, then click here to sign-up right away! Also, why not claim your FREE Christmas is Here mini catalogue packed with new products, perfect presents and stocking fillers!

FREE Mini Catalogue

Make sure you stay especially vigilant at the weekends as we will be hosting some suprise offers to make your Christmas online shopping that bit easier! Why not check out our first 5 days worth of daily deals below, but remember you’ll need to keep checking back to find out whats coming up for the remaining days before Christmas.

Fantastic Daily Offers

Monday 30th November  – 10-15% OFF Hobby Drill Kits
Tuesday 1st December – 15% OFF Starter Tool Kit
Wednesday 2nd December – 10% OFF ALL Gems
Thursday 3rd December – 10% OFF Art Clay & 5% OFF PMC
Friday 4th December – 35% OFF Starter Bench Pack
Saturday 5th – Christmas day – Remember, the offers just keep getting better in the build-up to the Big Day!
(Please notes these displayed offers will expire 04/12/2009)

In the meantime, why not check out our fantastic festive themed web pages full of incredible gift ideas including jewellery, kits, tools, clay, packaging and more…

Workshop Treats
Christmas Kits
Stocking Fillers Under a Tenner
Gifts Under £20
Top 10 Presents
Say it with Silver
Midas Touch
Finished Jewellery
Perfect Packaging
Creative Christmas
Christmas Reads
Tis the Season to be Red
They’ll be Green with Envy