Hello and welcome to the April edition of the newsletter.
Well, I hope you have all been as lucky with the weather as I have been this last few days! It has been a glorious introduction to spring time.
With local lockdowns lifting and Easter just around the corner, there is a lot more positivity in the air and, fingers crossed, a lovely summer to look forward to.
News from the workshop
It has been a very different few weeks for me in the workshop. I have used this down time to completely redesign and reconstruct the workshop.
Since moving in, in a complete manic rush in October, the workshop hasn’t really been set up in the most practical and ideal way. I just needed it to function and to get some work done ahead of the Christmas rush!
I have been spending the last month, drawing out ergonomic working situations, storage areas and streamlining my office processes. It has been a big learning curve, and I have learned loads of new DIY skills that’s for sure! It is 99% ready and I would love to give my VIPs the first sneak peak behind the scenes, so here we go!
New pendant in the Icons range!
I am really excited to announce the Scafell Pike pendant is now a permeant piece in the Icons collection!
The Icons collection consists as a tribute to those Iconic mountain peaks of the world, Everest, Kilimanjaro, not forgetting our beautiful UK Peaks, Snowdon and Ben Nevis. Scafell Pike now completes the UK selection.
Handmade from Sterling Silver, the pendant is a ring shape with the outline of the mountain encased inside. To top it off, the height in meters is embossed around the edge of the pendant.
I am so pleased to now include it for sale on the website.
Above, you can see the side of the pendant, where the height of the mountain is embossed.
If you would like to add the date that you climbed the mountain, or a name or significant word. That special addition can be applied around the edge of the pendant, making it totally unique and one of a kind to you.
You can even commission a one of a kind pendant with a particular mountain peak that is special to you.
Mini workshop tour
before it was quite finished, with my PA Jasper.
I managed to source three of these large storage units.
There is so much back office ‘stuff’ that comes along with my jewellery business that needs to be kept clean, tidy and dust free, away from the mess of the workbench side.
These units house all of my packaging, giftboxes, paperwork, filing, photography equipment, props and exhibition fixtures. This means I can keep a space set up for photography all the time and I have space to do all my laptop work and BE ORGANISED, which I love.
This area is on the left hand side of me when I am working at the bench. They are little storage holders and containers that you can position and move around to hold all your tools.
This has totally revolutionised the way I work. When you are sat at the jewellery bench, you need all of your most used tools in quick easy reach, as you are constantly changing what type of file or shape of pliers that you are using for each particular part of the job.
I used to store these in a beautiful antique chest of drawers next to me in my old workshop. Although it looked great, I always ended up with a lap full of tools by the end of the day and in reality, Im not putting each file or pliers back after using it!
I can now sit like a busy Octopus, surrounded by my tools, with arms flying everywhere! Its perfect. And tidy!
I worked out the right height of the bench for how I sit in the chair and designed the cut out section of the bench so it is wide and deep enough.
As you can see from the picture, the curved cut out is placed over a ‘bench skin.’ These are both vital for a jewellery bench. By sitting inside the curve of the bench and with the ‘bench skin’ over your lap, you catch all the filings, dust and cut offs of the precious metals that you work with.
I will then collect all the tiny pieces and fillings at the end of each day and keep them safe in collection pots until the amount is big enough to send to a metal refiners to be recycled and milled back into useable precious metal again! I dont like to waste a thing in the workshop, and what can be reused or recycled will be!
As you can see there is still a little bit more finishing to do, and some better lighting. I hope to be able to show you a video of the finished thing soon. I am really excited to get up and running again creating jewellery in my new functional space!
Even more exciting is the opportunity of inviting you into the workshop in the future! I will be offering jewellery lessons, a make your own piece of jewellery session, and a wedding band workshop.
Watch this space!
Thank you so much for reading this months newsletter! I hope you have enjoyed learning a bit more about the workshop.
Please feel free to email me with any questions or queries you may have, I love to hear from you.
Thank you for your continued support.
