My jewellery making story so far.....

My story….

I made my first piece of silver jewellery when I was 16 as Jewellery was an A level option at Worcester Sixth Form college. I have always loved crafting anything from resin to wire and from silver to gold. I knew I wanted to be in the creative industries and I’ve stuck through it! I have delivered numerous different creative and jewellery making projects for charities and art galleries over the years and now I am spending some time to focus on my jewellery making business alongside working at a jewellery supplier.

Why do I make jewellery?

Ultimately I think I am in love with the sentiment that jewellery brings to people’s lives. We can all wear jewellery in different forms, sizes and of differing values but it will all mean something different to each one of us.

I make each piece of jewellery because I can essentially! I can cut and shape the metal, I can hammer and solder it together, I can clean and polish it and I can pack it and post it. There are few jobs and roles where 1 person sees and controls very step of the process and all the decisions and whilst at times this can be overwhelming it is also very liberating.

How have you created your brand?

I spent some time reflecting on what was important to me in terms of my business. First and foremost I needed my business to make me money! I made sure I was pricing correctly and understood what my over heads where as well as my costs. Secondly I wanted my jewellery to be made by hand so every piece was unique as well as simple, durable and modern. I also wanted to use recycled or eco friendly elements wherever I could from the raw materials I use of recycled gold and silver, to eco friendly packaging. The biggest step I made was giving myself permission to run my business how I wanted to run it and making the jewellery that I wanted.

What have been your biggest milestones?

A big milestone I reached this year was setting up a shopify shop, to some businesses this might seem quite basic but for me was huge! I want to keep my business manageable and profitable and I actually need to ‘grow slow’!

How have you supported others?

I have always supported the charity ‘Mummy’s star’ a charity providing cancer support in or around pregnancy. I have raised over £3000 making and selling a personalised star pendant and donating all the profits directly to the charity.

I like to buy from other small handmade businesses and always take part in ‘superseconds festival’ (probably buying more than I sell). Super Seconds Festival is an online sale where lots of independent makers from the UK sell their seconds/ misprints/ samples at discounted prices.

What are your future aspirations?

I would love to make more jewellery and be involved in the community. I have dipped my toes into teaching jewellery this year and it’s an area I can see myself going into. I’d love to mentor others who are looking into starting a small handmade creative business too as well as be an active part of a local business community.