Learning new things and expanding my jewellery making skills are key to my life and work. I love to learn new things, find out how things work, and to experiment, and there are many different ways to learn.

One option, of course, it to teach yourself and spend your time working out how things might be made, or backwards engineering different ideas. This can be great fun and you might surprise yourself with how much you can work out if you apply the principles from your existing knowledge into new projects or experiments!

The more you try this, the more it is likely to work as, of course, experience and practice always help, but they are not always essential. A lot of processes can be quite logical once you work out how to break the steps down, or divide the project into separate parts.

To give this a try - whether you are trying to make your own version of something you've seen, or whether it is an idea you've imagined, the best way to start is by trying to draw it - whether or not you think you're good at drawing, the act of looking at (or imagining) the item and trying to figure out how it looks will help you start to think about how it might be build - what shapes join to what, how sections connect, the shape and texture of different elements.. Another way to work is to create a model - depending on the shape you're creating - using paper, card, plasticine, wire to see if you can re-create the form.

Modelmaking and drawing will help you to work out the form, then the next process is to try a prototype - this is a more formal model - made in something close to the final material (if you plan to finally work in gold, then prototype in copper or silver, if you plan to work in silver clay, you could prototype in polymer clay, for example) and working through this will help you to work out and refine any issues. Then you will be ready to create the item for real!

The downside to this process is of course is that you are on your own - but there is plenty of support available, for example - my group the Jewellery Makers - where a friendly group of people is growing - who all love jewellery, and are at different stages of their jewellery making journey - some are professional makers, some are just thinking about getting started, and all different stages in between!

Do come over and join us in the jewellery makers and say hello!

If you've tried teaching yourself something, or working out a new project - do share your own top tips below!!

Files are one of the most common tools used in a jewellers workshop - they are used to remove excess metal - to smooth, shape and refine metal surfaces, to clean or reshape edges and to cut shapes into the metal.
Files can of course be used on other materials too - wood, acrylic and wax being the most likely for a jeweller.
A file has a long handle, and then a specific shaped section that has fine, sharp, cutting teeth cut into it. 

Standard hand files come most commonly in a flat (rectangular cross section) shape, a half round (D shape cross section, tapering to the tip), and a tapered round shape. Needle files are mini files - usually around 15-20cm long including their handles and these come commonly in a much wider range of cross sections - to reach into small spaces and create specific profiles or edges on your metal.

My top 5 file tips...

1. - Files don't come with handles fitted - this is so that you can choose one that fits best to your hand. Make sure to fit a handle to your hand files before using them - the more comfortably and better you can grip the files, the more efficiently you'll be able to use them
2. - Keep your files clean - use a file brush to remove any filing dust from between the teeth. Use talcum of french chalk on your file before use to help prevent the teeth becoming clogged.
3. - File away from you - start at the top of the file and push away from you, using the full length of the file where possible, for the most effective filing - and make sure your work is supported 
4. - If you're starting to collect a tool kit - the most useful files to start with are usually a #2 cut half round file, and a small set of needle files.
5. - To work with wax, wood, or acrylic (perspex) - use a coarse file - a #0 or #00 as these won't clog up as quickly and will be more effective

For more info on files and filing - keep an eye on the Jewellery Club where I'll be loading full notes on this topic in the silver jewellery section later this month...

​Images below show a flat hand file, a standard wooden file handle, and a file brush

Over recent weeks, what I've found joining webinars / online events really great - both for discovering new skills, finding new artists and how they approach their jewellery, and for all sorts of jewellery information, as well as just to see and hear a friendly face...

A lot of these seem to have popped up, prompted by lockdown and the cancellation of real life events, but I do hope that they continue beyond lockdown too - as they are a really great way to connect and learn!

This is a collection of organisations running regular webinars (in no particular order), that I've discovered so far - do please let me know if you find others...

Rui Galopim is a Portugese gemnologist - hosting a series of fascinating talks about different gems - the next one is about pearls - find out more here - https://ruigalopim.com/events 

​Craftcast - Fun at One series - every Wednesday at 1pm US time (6pm UK) - sign up here to watch todays one - https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6107470840165009936 - you can also watch past ones that you've missed, for free - https://www.craftcast.com/recordings/fun-one-5-20-20 

AJF - the Art Jewellery Forum are hosting weekly slots with interviews with artists - https://artjewelryforum.org/organizations/ajf-events-and-trips 

The Jewellers Academy - has a number of free videos on their website - both jewellery making, and for starting or running a jewellery business, and also runs fairly regular live events - sign up to their mailing list for the latest news, or join them on Facebook - they also do facebook or instagram live events - https://www.jewellersacademy.com/

The Jewellery Cut has a calendar of events from various sources, that has been useful - https://jewellerycut.com/calendar/ 

If you're after business information and marketing specific to creative businesses - the Design Trust is great - they offer paid courses, but also do pop up with free webinars - join the mailing list for all the latest events - https://www.thedesigntrust.co.uk/

One off event - but this live webinar about fair trade gems from Tanzania looks interesting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/artisanal-fair-trade-mining-the-moyo-gems-project-tanzania-others-tickets-105988283810 

CIBJO is the World Jewellery Confederation hosts industry and trade related events - http://www.cibjo.org/webinars/  
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This time I'd really like to highlight a couple of contemporary jewellery links...

Athens Jewellery Week - http://athensjewelryweek.com/ - was about to happen this month - it has now been postponed to hopefully happen in November - they have a great YouTube channel here at - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLrYXhvqt5xLGXJ2kT-uk2A where you can watch films from previous events. 

Autor - https://www.youtube.com/user/EXTINS is a fair and an international platform for contemporary and art jewellery - based in Romaniaq - they also produce a magazine and collaborate with many different European groups - https://dautor.ro/en/

Both of these are also very present on social media - so do look out for them if you are interested in contemporary jewels!

I've made this little video to introduce me and my jewellery fascination if you'd like to learn a little more about me.....