Jewellery made by my students

This term has abruptly ended because of the current virus situation, so I thought I would share some photos of jewellery made by my students in Chesham and Reading this term.

Made by Gill: hammered texture napkin ring

Made by Jane: matching set of earrings and ring with bezel set agate cabochons

Made by Kirsty: punch pattern silver cuff bracelet

Made by Natalie: small bezel set onyx stud earrings

Also Natalie: a rather fabulous rectangle statement necklace. Although it did get amended later because it didn't hang quite right, but I don't have a photo of the updated version!

Made by Rachel: a ring with a large, beautiful stone and on a double ring shank beneath.

Also made by Gill: a swirl of silver wire necklace

Made by Ruth: a very impressive small box with friction fit lid and tree and leaf decorations in brass.

Made by Sarah: a large checkerboard cut stone ring. The stone has subtle colour changes in the light.

Made by Maureen: an impressive cuff bracelet with a simple and elegant result that took quite a lot of effort!

Made by Cora: a very impressive square box with bezel set coral cabochons. Nobody ask how long this took!!!

Made by Helena: elegant moonstone cabochon cufflinks.

Made by Tony: two tube settings on a d-shape ring shank.

Made by Jo: a successful bezel set rose quartz ring.

Made by Gill: bezel set small oval amethyst dangle earrings.

Made by Cora: unusual stone bezel set with decorative gallery wire. Don't mention the melted ones!

Made by Victoria: fun and effective school of fish silver cuff bangle.

Made by Sarah: a brilliant result - hinged square locket with clasp!

Made by Cathy: fabulous rectangular box with friction fit lid.

Made by Susanna: hammer texture pendant with blue cabochon stone.

Made by John: twisted wire rings.

Made by Gill: I forget the name of these things - silver twist and pin to hold a knitted cardigan together.

Made by Jane: ammonite bezel set from the back (this is the front).

Happy New Year!

It's the new year! Happy 2020 everyone! I have many plans for this year, not least the exciting work on the jewellery book. The publication date has been moved back slightly to July of this year, but all is going at a pace in the background. The photos are looking amazing, the text and photos are being put together, and Janet and I have starting editing and we're looking at EVERY DETAIL. There was much excitement when we discovered the book is already on Amazon!!!! No pressure then!!! ha!

Here's the link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silver-Jewellery-Making-step-step/dp/1782217355/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=make+jewellery&qid=1575366994&sr=8-1
and we've even set up author pages so if you click on our names you get way more info on us then you're ever likely to need.

Here is a sneak peek of one of the photos. The designer and photographer put together this photo of the polishing tools and it looks like a painting! I've never seen polishing tools look so pretty!

In other news, in November I brought a selection of jewellery to the always lovely New Ashgate Gallery in Farnham. Not only do they have an excellent jewellery display, there are always interesting other crafts to see there, such as fabulous ceramics! You can see my work on the New Ashgate website here: https://www.newashgate.org.uk/shop_artists/7702/c/101/machi-de-waard/jewellery

Also in November, I taught a very fun and succesful class at Henley School of Art. Everyone made fabulous silver rings and the atmosphere was great.

In my other classes in Reading and in Chesham, students continue to make beautiful and unique pieces. (for information on upcoming classes, see http://www.machidewaard.co.uk/classes/)

Twisted wire bangle with thin round wire and thicker square wire - tricky soldering the join! -by John

Lovely textured rivet swivel locket with a great weight to it - by Hilary

Interesting stone with very flat sides, so set from the back - this is the front with very crisp edges to best show off the stone - by Lucy

Double ring with loose 9ct yellow gold brackets soldered around them - but loose so you can fiddle with the rings - by Natalie

Set of rose gold spiral earrings with crystals on a wire wrap loop - by Jo (fabulous Christmas presents)

Learn to Make Jewellery - Chesham and Reading - some student work

Below are some a small selection of photos of work that my students have made recently. This term, we have worked on making a box. These are two copper boxes made with a friction fit lid and a simple hinge: 

Maureen and Ruth

This is a silver cuff bracelet made by Gill in her first term!

Gill

This is a silver ring with a bezel set trillion purple cz made by Emma. She made her own bearer wire for this project.

Emma

This truly was a labour of love. Made over several terms, this elaborate sculpture....well, it's a brooch, but it truly is a miniature sculpture......is made of copper and brass. The copper was etched and the pieces are at different heights, held up by pegs.

Amy - 1

Here it is from the side so you can see the elevations.

Amy - 2

This too was a labour of love, mostly because it involved a LOT of annealing. This 8cm silver bowl has a textured inside and a burnished edge.

Jayne

Another labour of love....an epic project involving specially made toads from Ukraine! Amazing twisted wire cuff bangle. Many tests were done with various wires before the right combination was found!

Julie

And last, but certainly not least, silver basket set cz cabochons earrings - isn't that colour great!?

Victoria

Fancy trying some jewellery making yourself?

Jewellery Classes in Chesham, Buckinghamshire

Be guided through a series of projects progressing to designing and making your own individual jewellery. No experience or artistic skills are necessary. Classes are for both beginners and those with experience. The course provides a range of hand tools and access to equipment. You will be introduced to the tools and given full instruction in the use of tools & equipment as the course progresses. Students can choose to work either in silver or they can work in copper or brass. Silver and other metals are not included in the cost. You will be given instruction in how to purchase your own materials.

Tuesday 9:30am-3:00pm (next 11 week session starts 30 April 2019) £284

Tuesday 5:00pm-7:00pm (next 11 week session starts 30 April 2019) £113

Tuesday 7:30pm-9:30pm (next 11 week session starts 30 April 2019) £113 FULL THIS TERM

To book, please click on this link to Buckinghamshire Adult Learning or call 01296 382403.


Jewellery class on Wednesday evenings at Maiden Erlegh School in Reading

18:45 – 21:15 Wednesday evenings – intermediate/advanced jewellery class – next 8 week session starting 1 May 2019 £84

Continue learning silver jewellery making with an emphasis on more challenging projects. Students will be guided through a series of projects or a single more complex project. The focus will be on developing skills, so the class is for learners with some experience, but basic techniques will be reviewed as necessary. We will cover techniques including but not limited to stone setting and complex soldering. Full instruction in the use of tools and equipment will be given. Students can work in silver or copper or brass.

To book, please go to this link: www.maidenerleghschool.co.uk/page/?title=How+to+Book&pid=131

Learn to make your own silver jewellery

Learn to make your own silver jewellery! Start the new year with something fun and social. Jewellery classes start next week, 8 January in Chesham, Buckinghamshire.

Jewellery Classes in Chesham, Buckinghamshire


I teach day and evening classes in Chesham.

Be guided through a series of projects progressing to designing and making your own individual jewellery. No experience or artistic skills are necessary. Classes are for both beginners and those with experience. The course provides a range of hand tools and access to equipment. You will be introduced to the tools and given full instruction in the use of tools & equipment as the course progresses. Students can choose to work either in silver or they can work in copper or brass. Silver and other metals are not included in the cost. You will be given instruction in how to purchase your own materials.

Tuesday 9:30am-3:00pm (next 11 week session starts 8 January 2019) £347 ONE PLACE LEFT

Tuesday 5:00pm-7:00pm (next 11 week session starts 8 January 2019) £139 SEVERAL PLACES LEFT

Tuesday 7:30pm-9:30pm (next 11 week session starts 8 January 2019) £139 FULL

To book, please click on this link to Buckinghamshire Adult Learning or call 01296 382403.

Jewellery classes in Chesham: basket setting

I've been busy with teaching jewellery making at Chesham. This term we're tackling basket setting. Or prong setting, depending on what you want to call it. I aimed to make this setting accessible for all levels, although I did recommend that people do a bezel setting before starting on basket setting. My idea was to build up accuracy slowly over several projects. I wanted to instill confidence and make the projects achievable. Each element of these projects (size of wire, size of stone, type of stone, type of bail, finish of prongs etc) has been chosen for achievability. The day class is much longer, so the evening classes are necessarily working slower because they are 2 hours long (day class is 5.5 hours). I thought carefully about the building up of these lessons, so that nobody got too frustrated. So far, allowing for predictable mishaps when attempting these new techniques, my students are doing phenomenally well!
So, this is what we're working on:

1. one tier basket setting for round cabochon stone (hard, preferably CZ) with jump ring bail: 

 

2. two tier basket setting for round cabochon stone with tapered bail on prong

3. one tier oval basket setting for oval cabochon stone with jump ring bail to be combined with triangle bail or second jump ring

 4. two tier oval basket setting for oval cabochon stone

 5. After half term, we head into faceted round stones, so we start with this 12mm round cz:

All of the above are my samples, here are some photos of student work thus far: