Birmingham School of Jewellery

Last Sunday Stuart and I drove up to Birmingham to get ready for my three course I was delivering for the jewellery school. I've never driven to Birmingham before...well the centre anyway...only ever the NEC. It was surprisingly easy if I didn't take much notice of multimap...I'm sure I confuse myself too with it!! We drove straight to The SAS Raddison Hotel on Holloway Circus. The hotel was perfect for our stay...18 floors high with private apartments above for ???? floors - a very tall building!! On the 18th floor was a gym that I went and tried out on the sunday...felt a bit scary - I thought my cross trainer might jump forward and I'd end up out the window!!

SAS Raddison

The rooms were very comfortable..everything you could wish for. The beds were EXTREMELY comfortable - just what you need after a long days work!! The hotel was 5 mins from the Mailbox and Bullring so would be perfect for a weekend of shopping and relaxing if you had the time.

Our home for four days.

The Mailbox is a very 'trendy' area filled with nice shops, restaurants, galleries and a relaxed vibe. Stu and I had Tapas for dinner at Estillos on the Sunday night....the Paella was amazing!!! After a good nights sleep and a massive buffet breakfast I was ready to start my 3 day course. I took literally my whole workshop so got to the jewellery school early so I could get set up - Stu helped. We were greeted by one of the most friendliest security guards and caretakers I've met..they made us feel very welcome. Each day ran from 9.30-5pm with breaks if you wanted them. I had a group of 6 ladies from various areas around Birmingham and one from Belfast. The group were great and were all keen to learn what PMC is all about and how to work with it. What made the group so interesting is that each person had different reasons to be there and levels of jewellery making.

The Birmingham School of Jewellery

Throughout the 3 days we covered using:

• paste to create a silver leaf
• paste to create a hollow bead
• lump to create a dry construction pendant
• lump and torch firing to make a pair of earrings
• soldering techniques on PMC to create a pair of stud earrings
• dichroic glass and lump to create a pendant or ring
• syringe to reate pattern and texture
• cubic zirconias
• and more.......
  

Hard at Work

The PMCers Bench

The Final Pieces

While we were gone Harry stayed with his Aunties.....as much as he loves them he was pleased to see us!!!

Working my little socks off!!!!

Wow....its been ages since I last wrote in. I have been working my little socks off!! Getting ready for Artweeks has been really good fun but added a big work load to the already full schedule!! I've also started back all my evening classes - I've really missed them while I've been off although it was nice having a couple of evenings to make a few beading things. I've been playing with the bead mixes we have in store....Kay and I found them at a trade show in Feb and since I've had them in the shop they've sold really well. I always say to people who come along to my beginner workshops "If you go into a beadshop and aren't to sure what beads to choose always look at their bead mixes...these are a great place to start as they can give you ideas on colour schemes, textures, beads types etc" I think the summer being on the way is inspiring these necklace and bracelet sets - all I've used in the set below is one of the Tiny Gold Bead Mixes £1.50 and a selection of semi-precious and glass beads to match. The necklace is approx 30 inches long with a toggle clasp so you can wear it long or doubled up. The bracelet is simply on memory wire - we've got some new silver plated stuff in the shop by Beadalon...much easier to work with then the previous one we had.

This necklace is one that Rosamund started on the Beads & Knotting workshop the other week. She'd finished it at home and bought it into the shop for us to see. I love it when customers do this!! Its always great to see what you've been upto!! Rosamund used the Planet bead mix for this necklace along with some blue No18. Nylon - she's used simple knotting and macrame techniques to create the complicated looking piece. She came into buy some Square Calottes to finish the ends - these are clamped on so a clasp can be fitted.

Last week we also had Little Lucy's birthday....29years!! We started back our evening classes on her birthday so as usual on a Thursday she had dinner with Stu, Harry and me then we went into class. To celebrate with Kay we all went for dinner at The Mole Inn at Toot Baldon. Our Dad grew up in The Baldons and was actually born in the house opposite The Mole so it was a lovely blast from our past!! We used to go to what was then The Crown for the best chip buttys. The Mole is very nice...not cheap but really worth the money. If you want somewhere special for the evening I'd highly recommend it although booking can be a bit of a hassle!!!