With a wealth of information available at our fingertips via the internet, it is easy to think that you have everything you need to learn a craft and develop your skills right in your own home. There are YouTube videos covering every subject you could think of and plenty more besides. There are Facebook groups full of willing members to …
Working for Jewellery Maker can be challenging because the designers have no control over what is put in the kits. We have all indicated the sort of materials we prefer to work with, but there is no guarantee that we will get what we find familar and easy. When I opened the parcel for my recent show I really did …
I was very excited and delighted to read a glowing Product Test of my Prumihimo Disk in the current issue of Making Jewellery magazine. It was with some trepidation that I sent off the disk for Clair Wolfe to put it through its paces. As the person who designed it I am confident that it is a great product, but …
Some of the most elegant beaded kumihimo jewellery designs can start out as plain braids. Taking a needle and thread or a headpin to a plain braid can open up a whole new world of creativity and a really individual look. For the second kit I demonstrated on Jewellery Maker last week I decided to start each design as a …
From time to time I am lucky enough to be sent some new beads to play with and to see how they might work for kumihimo. A short while ago a big box of beads arrived from Beadsmith and they have been keeping me pretty busy since then. Some of the designs I came up with were posted a few …
I have been delighted by the reaction to my new disk, the Prumihimo Disk, and I am starting to see some wonderful designs made on it. Thank you to everyone. I plan to feature these designs in a future blog, so please keep them coming. I hope that people will have lots of fun experimenting on the disk and seeing …
One of the most important aspects of jewellery making is finding your own style and one of the best ways of doing this is by exploring the combination of different techniques. On my last show on Jewellery Maker I showed how beaded kumihimo can be transformed by the use of patina paints. I first experimented with patina paint back in …
It is time to look at the work of another kumihimo artist. When I decided to feature different people in my blog my intention was to add variety and interest to my writing. For me it has turned into far more than that and is proving to be a fascinating insight into the lives and inspiration of the people I …
I am sorry to do this to you, but it really is time to start thinking about Christmas! The holiday season has a tendency to creep up on us. One moment it is way in the future and in the next moment you find yourself scrabbling to be ready! We all create because we love the actual making, so now …
I have had lots of enquiries about whether I am planning to do any workshops at Jewellery Maker, so I wanted to let people know that I will be doing two workshops this autumn. They are not available for booking yet, but Wendy, the workshop coordinator, is happy for me to give out the dates. She will keep a list …
