Hi everyone! I’ve been really trying harder lately to get you lovely folks to sign up to my newsletter, and there is a reason for it…

We all rely sooooo much on social media to get our daily news, find out what our friends are up to, find out about events etc etc…but what if social media closed tomorrow? I know this is unlikely, but if facebook or instagram suddenly wasn’t available, or someone decided to hack my accounts, all of the 5000 followers that I have across both platforms would just be gone!

Don’t worry, I’m not planning on stopping sharing photos and videos on my socials, I’m just not putting “all of my eggs in one basket” so to speak.

Having a loyal subscriber list is also proving to be very helpful in managing when I can take on new commissions, by prioritising this list first.

So…. If you’re wondering wether to bother signing up or not, I thought I’d share my February newsletter on here (along with a few extra pictures)…

Eco Studio Progress

The coldest months of the year are really not the best time of year to be trying to work outside, but still, we’ve “started” and have been busy tweaking and refining the plans as we go. I’ve also received my Eco Flow battery that will store power from the sun (not got the solar panels yet but will sort those soon) to provide all the off-grid power. Spring is nearly here though so things will start to speed up as soon as the weather gets a bit warmer.

Commissions

Thank you so much to those of you that waited so patiently before Christmas while I moved all of my studio to its temporary home. When I sent out my last newsletter, and opened up my commissions list, it filled up within a few hours!!

The plan was to be able to open my list again around about every month, so if you’re interested in commissioning me to make you a special piece, I’ll be opening up my commissions form again for mailing list subscribers on the 1st of March and if I have any space left, to everyone else a week later.

Workshops

I’ve been thinking a lot (and have had many requests!) about what format my workshops will take once I’m able to run them again. I’m still seeing my text descriptions and workshop formats being copied by others (yes, I know, flattery and all) but to be quite honest, I think I’m at the point where I really couldn’t care less about it.

I want people to come to me because they’ve chosen “me”, not just because I happen to be at a certain local “craft” centre or because I’m offering a discount if you come back. Competing with others really isn’t something that interests me, or that I need to try and do…..so…..my offer is going to be a different one.

Making Your Own Wedding Rings has proven to be incredibly popular, so much so that most weekends up until the end of July are now actually booked up(better get that studio sorted!)!! So these, along with “Make Your Own Engagement Ring” workshops will be staying and will be my main workshop focus going forward.

Ok, so time for a “bit” of a sales pitch…..

Yes, I’ve seen others trying to offer this too, but if you come to me, you’ll be leaving with rings that truly are “wedding or engagement ring quality”.

You’ll make them from scratch in gold, silver, platinum, palladium or you can even melt down your old sentimental gold.

You can make shaped bands, add details, textures, engraving and gemstones (I usually do that bit afterwards unless you already have some jewellery making skills).

At the end of your day’s workshop, your rings will be sent to the London Assay Office to be hallmarked, and I’ll then give the insides (and outside if ultra shiny is your thing) a full professional polish before returning them to you in a beautiful ring box, just the same as if you’d commissioned me to make them for you.

…end of sales pitch!

The rest is all still a bit of a work in progress in my head, but I’m currently thinking that my workshops will be much more bespoke, and about really developing and refining both designing and making skills. I haven’t quite got the wording sorted out in my brain yet, but essentially, you’ll bring the ideas and I’ll teach you the skills to bring them to life!

Events for 2023 so far

I don’t do many outside events, which makes the ones that I do attend extra special, so here’s what I have booked so far this year…

25th March - 10th April - Severn Sisters Art “Flora and Fauna” exhibition - Sevenside Press, Newnham on Severn.
14th May - Rock N Roll Bride Live - Hackney Town Hall, London.
1st - 9th July - farOpen Open Studios - at my own Eco-Studio in Alvington!!