I will be selling these bracelets in a variety of colours, I will keep you updated on the one’s that I have, currently I have black and Army Green, these are for sale in my https://staging.thebritishcrafthouse.co.uk/shop/boomerisanangel/
– Link
I’ve just linked my shop to my web blog, so that I HOPEFULLY get a little more coverage, i’m thinking every little helps xxx
Laura Llewellyn – Meet the Maker
I initially started making jewellery whilst studying for my Foundation Degree in Art and Design; having always been creative this was a fantastic course to do. When I first started the course I thought I would go on to study graphics or photography at university as these were 2 of my A level subjects. After a few weeks one of my tutors suggested trying jewellery making; I signed up for an evening class and the rest is history!
I went on to study at the University for Creative Arts in Rochester and my degree is in Silversmithing, Goldsmithing and Jewellery Design. Once I finished studying I worked in the jewellery industry in various roles including retail, wholesale, designing, manufacturing and managing a shop. I’ve always worked for small independent companies so my responsibilities were always varied giving me a great overview of the industry.
After a few years I also began to teach at our local college
in the evenings eventually going on to take over the course I had initially began my jewellery journey on! After a few years of juggling jobs I decided to go completely self employed in 2016 and set up Hampshire School of Jewellery which I still run now.
Having always designed and made jewellery for friends and family I set up Laura Llewellyn Design in 2017. I work mainly in silver but do on occasion use gold and platinum. I love to search for beautiful gemstones to set in my pieces; I tend to only purchase one (or two for earrings) of each gemstone so you really are getting a one off unique piece of jewellery.
My work doesn’t have a set style; I love to work in different mediums exploring materials and making jewellery that I would love to wear myself. It can be hard to part with the one off gemstone pieces I make! I use a mixture of sterling and fine silver in my pieces and combine traditional silversmithing techniques with the more modern way of using silver clay depending on what I want to create. Each element of my designs is handmade including the individual stone settings.
If you see something you like but you would like it altered please get in touch to enquire from changing a chain length or sourcing a different gemstone I will always do my best to help. I also work on bespoke commissions if you have a particular design in mind and I will work with you to create this.
I am proud to be a member of the British Society of
Jewellers and in the summer of 2020 I passed my Accredited Jewellery Professional Diploma with the Gemmological Institute of America (GIA)
I was thrilled to be chosen as a winner of Small Business Sunday by Theo Paphitis in August 2021.
My hallmark is registered with the London Assay Office and any work requiring hallmarking is sent here to be checked. Please see my hallmarking blog for more information.
My other interests include baking, travelling, sewing and mixing cocktails. My hubby and I dance ballroom and latin. We compete around the country at various competitions and in July 2024 won our couples category at the Blackpool finals. I am also addicted to nail varnish which is highly impractical for a jeweller!
Thank you for taking the time to visit my shop and read my blog. You can stay up to date with my
latest creations by following me on social media.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions at all
Laura x
Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day? Is is important to give your loved one some attention, warm gestures, flowers and present just on this day? Are you looking for something unusual? I have some heart pendants in my shop. Maybe you will find something your loved one be happy with. Just take a look. Happy Valentine’s Day
Hi, my name is Deborah and I am the owner and maker at Silver Wave Jewellery and based in Maidenhead, Berkshire.
My love of creating really began many years ago without me realising when I started to watch my mother make my and my sister’s clothes – they were gorgeous pieces – and I wanted to copy her and make my own. I continued making clothes into adulthood and when I worked in the City you could often find me at local markets in my lunchtime buying fabric ready for my next makes! I also made some of my children’s clothes when they came along.
However, as life became busy with work and family I did not use my creative skills that much apart from knitting a few jumpers and making a few curtains but about seven years ago having always loved silver jewellery and buying it to match my handmade outfits I signed up for a one day silversmithing class in Dorset. I had such a wonderful time and made a couple of rings, a pendant and a beautiful bangle – all of which I still wear today! I
enjoyed it so much I decided I just had to carry on.
I began attending weekly jewellery classes then started to exhibit my work locally, sold at local craft fairs and in the last few years have taken part in art trail events around my local area in Maidenhead, Berkshire. I took early retirement just before the Covid lockdown so Silver Wave Jewellery has now become my main focus and I love being able to work on designing and creating new pieces from my little studio at home.
I use nature as my inspiration and I am lucky enough to be able to spend a lot of time at the coast in Lyme Regis which is where I came up with the name for my business. I love walking along the beaches with my dog Archie and collecting sea glass and pottery. I have not used these in my jewellery yet but have made quite a few pictures for myself and family with them.
I work with sterling silver, precious metal clay, copper and brass and add semi-precious gemstones, crystals
and gemstone beads for a touch of sparkle and interest. Texture is added to my work with hammers, metal stamps, etching, fusing and reticulation, fold forming and on occasions a rolling mill. I love creating simple, boho style, wearable jewellery suitable for any occasion. I create contemporary sterling silver and copper jewellery including rings, pendants, earrings, bangles and cuffs using traditional silversmithing techniques. Many of my pieces are one of a kind, unique items often created out of scraps left over from other projects as I try not to waste any metal and recycle as much as possible.
If you are buying for a gift I can ship direct to the recipient with a short handwritten gift note.
All my jewellery complies with the UK hallmarking regulations and I have my own makers hallmark registered with the London Assay Office.
Please get in touch if you have any questions.
Deborah
Email: silverwavedesigns@gmail.com
These beautiful wooden boxes come in a wide range of styles with both text and imagery and are great for gifting – especially if filled with your loved ones favourite goodies! The natural wood grain can be seen in the boxes and they have a gentle curve on the corners.
There are five sizes to choose from ranging from a small square (14 x 14cm) up to a large rectangle with carry handles (45 x 16cm). Prices start from just £14 and as with all of my items they can be personalised to suit your needs.
These cute square boxes are the ideal size to store your pet treats in. They can have generic text or be personalised with a name.
Do Mum and Dad need to sort their “stuff” out? Then I have a perfect solution!
Enjoy these boxes with a beautiful hand drawn sunflower, or simply have custom text burned on to the wood.
A great box for the kitchen. Text could be amended for other treats – eg “Mum’s Chocolate”.
As I create every piece myself by hand it can all be personalised. Create a box as unique as your loved one for a never forgotten gift. Choose to have simple text or add in an image to make it even more special.
I hope some of these ideas were useful. Please follow me on social where you’ll see lots of behind the scenes pics and vids and find out about new offers.
I’m Fallon, a thirty-something year old, living in Hertfordshire with my husband and daughter. I’m an avid crafter, have been all my life, trying my hand at many different activities for fun and making numerous things for my daughter and as gifts. I also love home baking and drinking copious cups of tea! I have a degree in photography and shoot freelance baby and children photography (when global pandemics don’t get in the way!)
I’ve been using polymer clay since I was a child, initially making teeny tiny food for my dolls house. My husband bought me a food themed polymer clay book many years ago, and after experimenting with cakes and sweets, decided to start selling the increasing number of makes I produced, mainly to clear some space!! The rest is history, HRJ was born in May 2011!
I chose to continue the foodie theme as I love all things quirky and retro – I’m an eighties child, so the retro food you find at old school birthday parties is an absolute favourite at mine – plates of iced ring biscuits, fondant fancies, etc – whenever we have a birthday at home, we always have that kind of tea party to celebrate! I think the theme brings a sense of nostalgia to childhood/good memories from the past (my allsorts sweetie bracelet was one of my very first makes, and is still so popular today, with the young and old!). I’ve now also started to branch out into homeware and decorations…but more on that in my next blog post!
Inspiration strikes me at any time – I generally get distracted by anything cute and quirky, especially colourful eye catching things. I love kawaii styles, and have incorporated it into some of my pieces. Current trends inspire me, as well as actual foods; being a keen baker, I follow lots of baking accounts on social media, and sometimes try to recreate something edible into clay form! I also have had many commissions and special requests over the years, and some I have felt would be really popular, so have then made these into pieces for my shop too.
I joined TBCH in early 2020 and love the unique community of makers here, they are all so helpful and friendly, with each and every one making beautiful high quality handcrafted items.
Oh and if you’re wondering…my favourite biscuit to dunk in my cup of tea is….a chocolate bourbon or Lotus Biscoff!
I’ve had another go at the squashed glass technique and this time I used opalescent glass which reflects light as opposed to transparent glass that transmits light.
I love the effect that has been produced where the various coloured pieces have met and merged. There has been some reaction where some different coloured pieces have overlapped and merged caused by the chemical make up of the glass colours I have used in this piece. Various colours have Lead, Copper or Sulphur in them and when they meet you can get some special effects ranging from subtle to dramatic.
This piece has some subtle reactions where the sulphur bearing red has overlapped the copper bearing greens and blues.
In addition a particular colour called Steel Blue has a tendency to dramatically change to a matt steel colour on the surface exposed to the air in the heat of the kiln. This hasn’t happened to a great degree because it was covered by the kiln shelf except for some subtle areas on the edges of the Steel Blue bits in the piece.
I shall square off the edges and slump this in a gently curved mould to make a lovely platter to be listed in my shop.
Ever since I started selling online I have struggled with photographing my fused glass pieces to show them at their best. As you can imagine the main issue is light reflection on the glass. I have tried reflecting the lights off white card, black card and silver backed card. Pointing the lights at the backdrop, directly at the glass, and at the reflective card. All have produced mixed results and I seem to try a different set up every time I have a new piece to photograph.
My most recent set up is featured in the picture above and involved using two clamps to attach the light that is hanging down to a handy shelf above my ‘photo studio’ corner. I got a nice new camera for my recent birthday which has lots of handy features which have made a big difference and I shall probably be retaking pictures over the next few weeks.
Wish me luck!