Silversmithing

Week 5 – ‘One I Made Earlier’
This was my final week of the silversmithing course. We had all not completed our projects so were able to have one on one time with our tutor to complete them. I had one bangle (the third and final) left to finish and then I needed to polish everything up and connect on the jump ring. I found having a fresh head on (despite my terrible cold) and one on one time really sped up the process. Because I had done two bangles already I was not doing something new so I was able to complete the third one quicker and with more confidence. I was able to practice annealing, soldering and polishing. I just love the polishing bit as it means you get to see what all your hard work has been for and I especially loved it on week 5 as I knew I was polishing it all up to be finished and ready to jingle away on my wrist and be admired by thousands! (Well maybe a few people I will wave my hand infront of and the folk that read this blog anyway).

I came away thinking my final piece of work was pretty much how I had expected it to be – which is always a good sign. I am proud of what I have learnt in five weeks and what I have accomplished. I think my final piece is something I will take pride in wearing lots.

I can’t wait for the first person to say “oh I love your bracelet – where did you get it from?” just so I can say “oh this, this is one I made earlier.”

I have recently started a silversmithing course and I thought I would blog about how it is all going.

I started another silversmithing course last year but I found the class was too full and I left more frustrated and depressed than having learnt anything and feeling inspired. I therefore decided to quit the course as my confidence really had been knocked and find another one.

I had heard good things about a course that a local jewellery shop called Wink runs so I signed myself up. It is a 4 week course one night a week for 3 hours and my tutor is called Becky. She has over eight years’ jewellery making experience and is very down to earth. The maximum they take in one class is 6 people and our class is made up of 4 which is a really nice number so we all get a lot done each class and get a good amount of attention.

Week 1 –
I had seen a lovely bracelet by Lily Belle with hammered bangles and a heart charm dangling from it and thought I would use this as my inspiration.
I decided to make some hammered bangles but make a butterfly charm to hang off them to match the butterfly on my Pierrine logo. In my first week I stretched out some silver until it was flat enough to cut into 2 bangle lengths. I then shaped them into circles and soldered one of them together. I left feeling inspired, positive and really looking forward to returning the next week.