My first jewellery making class

Yesterday I took my very first jewellery making class!

I've been making jewellery for nearly 5 years now and all of my techniques are self taught via all the wonderful craft blogs out there and the tutorials you can find on YouTube.

One thing I really wanted to learn properly was pearl knotting, and a commission for restringing a pearl necklace spun me on to book a class and go. At first I thought I really wasn't going to ever get it, like most things, but after a few test pearls I was feeling confident to make the whole necklace.
 
The class was run by Sally at The Beaderie in Cambridge, only 5 people which was just right and Sally is an excellent teacher. I came back with a lovely freshwater pearl necklace which felt like a great achievement in 2 hours. Along with the commission I have to make I have plans for knotting some chunky long necklaces with some of the millions of beads I have left from past bead buying sprees.

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vintage pearl custom order

I have been fortunate recently to work on a really lovely customer from fellow artist and crafter Julie from Moaning Minnie (who makes lovely hats and bags!)

She had a string of vintage freshwater pearls (amazing!) from a relative which she wanted to be put into a new piece. They were absolutely gorgeous pearls, it is very very hard to get hold of vintage freshwater pearls - I have never seen them myself - and they were in perfect quality.

She like the asymmetrical earrings I recently put in my shop and also wanted a necklace to be made from the pearls.
The asymmetrical look was perfect for the pearls as each pearl is different, so the different shapes lined up perfectly in mismatched earrings.  I made lots of teardrops from silver and strung them together to make the earrings.

The necklace was made from 4 hoops of sterling silver, each a different size to go with the different shapes of the pearls, and strung on sterling silver chain. I love the way this necklace could be worn every day but also dressed up for the evening.

Julie was generous enough to let me keep the pearls leftover from the project, so I have made some earrings to sell in my shops (I am keeping a pair too!).  Another lovely thing to match pearls with is oxidized silver, so I put them with some teardrops of dotted wire which really brings out their colour and smoothness.

Moonlit Pearl earrings are for sale in my Etsy, Folksy, Dawanda and All Things Original shops (links to the right).

I so enjoyed working with these beautiful beads, I love coming across finds like this!

Thank you Julie :)

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pearl custom bridal order

A friend contacted me recently to make some bracelets and necklaces for her bridesmaids, she liked the design of the Classic Pearl teardrop necklace but wanted circles instead. I used glass pearls in a lovely ivory white and a central circle to form the focal on the necklaces and bracelets.

I really enjoyed making these and also delivering them in person - I do like seeing peoples faces when they get their jewellery - a lovely feeling.

Both designs are now available in my shops, Etsy, Folksy and Dawanda.

I will be listing new pearl colours after my holiday too. Yay!

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