NEW BEADING CLASS added to the timetable!

Brand New Creative Beading & Wire Wrapping Workshop 

Come and make is beautiful beaded bracelet!

Ever wanted to make your own handmade beaded jewellery? If so then this is the workshop for you. Our new guest tutor Erica Abbiss-Biro of Spirit Jewellery will take you through all the steps from start to finish to create your own unqiue beaded necklace and bracelet set.

Bring your own trinkets, shells, broken jewellery etc to customize your jewellery and give it a truly personal touch and make use of the variety of beads we'll have on offer!

Make your own handmade necklace from stratch!

 

 

Basic beading skills, wire wrapping and finishing techniques are all covered on this one day course with Erica Abbiss-Biro of Spirit Jewellery. Pick up her tricks of the trade and learn to make two matching items of beaded fashion jewellery using professional techniques and high quality components. Personalise your pieces using the materials provided or feel free to bring along any beads you may wish to incorporate. This workshop is suitable for complete beginners.

Time: 10am – 4pm Tutor: Erica Abbiss-Biro

Fee: £90 to include all tools, materials (including unlimited beads) and refreshments. 

Book Now – 17^th July 2010

Book early to avoid disappointment!

Jewellery by HSJ director Joanna Mason

Clam Penant inspired by 'The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy

Bird Head Earwires inspired by The Penguin from Tim Burtons Batman.

Nightmare Before Christmas inspired earrings in fine and sterling silver

Director of Hertfordshire School of Jewellery, Joanna Mason has been working on some new design for her current collection 'Extra - Ordinary'.










This range takes inspiration for the works of Tim Burton, celebrating all kooky, weird and wonderful!









Jo is especially inspired by Tim's almost childlike line drawings in works such as the book 'The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy.' You can see some of Tim Burton work at his official website: www.timburton.com/

Silver and Gold rings inspired by A Corpse Bride

You can see more of Jo's work here or drop by to see it on display at the school!

New FOCUS ON SOLDERING WORKSHOP added to timetable!

Soldering for Metal Clay Artists - Brand New Workshop!

Soldering in Action!

This class is designed for Metal clay artists who would like to focus on their soldering skills. During the day we will make our silver clay elements and explore how to solder these to sterling silver components and findings.  We will learn how to make silver clay cufflinks and solder these to cufflink backs, make silver clay studs and solder these to earring posts. You will also make your very own sterling silver chain bracelet from scratch and solder a silver clay charm to it. We will really focus on your soldering skills during this workshop so you will go home really confident how to solder.

This workshop is for all of those who have hit a wall with their soldering and want to progress their silver clay work further my learning how to solder. Please note you must have some silver clay experience to join this class, but no previous metal working skills are required to join.

Sterling Silver Handmade Chain

Date:  2nd July 2011 Time: 10am – 5.00pm Tutor: Joanna Mason
Fee: £135 to include silver clay, sterling findings and wire to the value of over £50

We have had a lots of interested in this workshop so please book early to aviod disapointment! Click here to BOOK NOW.

Sandra Bornemann - Featured Artist

Sandra Bornemann - Glass Bead Artist

Sandra Borneman – Glass Bead Artist

Sandra was born in Berlin in 1968 and currently lives with her husband and two sons in Bedfordshire.

She has made her first experiences with glass in 2004. Ever since has she been fascinated by this wonderful and versatile material. Glass is a never ending source of inspiration and possibilities!

Work Now Showing at the GALLERY

The artistic joy in experimenting with natural looking shapes, colours and surfaces is Sandra´s main motivation. This is why she often uses enamels and frits in her beads. In addition to this she loves the combination of lampworking and goldsmithing. Be it that a bead is simply lined with a silver core or that she incorporates silver bead caps into her designs. Sandra´s Janus solitaires show their two faces: the colourful glass on one side and structured silver work on the other.

Come and see Sandra's Work here at HSJ

Sandra works with original Italian Murano glass, Bohemian and American soft glass. Every glass bead is an individual piece of its own. After it has been finished it is properly annealed in a special kiln in order to achieve maximum durability.

Beautiful Glass, Enamell and Sterling Silver Bead

You can come and see Sandra's beautiful work at our bespoke jewellery gallery here at HSJ, pop by to check it out!

New Stained Glass Workshop Dates Added to the Programme

Due to popular demand new dates have been added for our extemely popular Introduction to Stained Glass Workshop.

Introduction to Stained Glass Workshop - new dates online now!

Introduction to Stained Glass – learn the basics in just one day!
Join us on our one-day class and get a feel for what's involved in stained glass. We start out by looking at the basic processes and tools we'll be using. We'll then practice cutting and breaking glass. Then we move on to grinding the cut glass ready for foiling. Using the hand foiling method we'll foil the glass ready for…soldering! At temperatures up to 460C we'll solder our glass with the most-commonly used solder types. In the afternoon, we'll get you started on a simple project piece which we expect to finish in time to take home!  We'll provide you with a choice of designs to work on, and a selection of glass to work with. Small class numbers of maximum 6 people. 1 tutor to every 3 students.
Time: 9.45am – 5.30pm Tutors: Jenny Timms / Mike Caddy
Fee: £120 to include all materials, tools, refreshments and info pack to take home.


Click here for more details or to book. Book now to avoid disappointment!

Metal Clay - what is it?

What is metal clay? It is a clay-like material made from minute particles of finely ground metal, a non-toxic organic binder and water.    What can you do with it? In its clay form (it also comes as paste, paper and in a syringe), it can be rolled, coiled, textured, moulded and extruded just like ordinary clay.  Once the water evaporates from the clay, it can be fired using a kiln, a gas hob or a butane torch.   This is the magical bit, the organic binder burns away, the metal particles sinter and the end result is pure metal.   What is it like to work with? Metal clay is easy to work with you don’t need any specialist skills, special equipment or previous experience to use it.  It is a versatile medium and can be used successfully by anyone Working with silver metal clay   What is it like to work with? Metal clay is easy to work with you don’t need any specialist skills, special equipment or previous experience to use it.  It is a versatile medium and can be used successfully by anyone   What sort of metal clays are available? Metal clay comes in lump form and it is sold in sealed packets to keep it moist and workable. Currently there are silver, gold, copper and bronze versions available.  Silver metal clay was developed first and as a result it is now available in a greater variety of forms; as a soft clay in a pre-filled syringe which can be used to produce extruded forms, slip and as paper-like sheets, from which most of the moisture has been removed.  Silver metal clay was the first to be developed, in the early 1990s, and is consequently the best known of all the metal clays.   Lump metal clay in bronze was introduced in 2008 and copper clay followed in 2009.  Pieces made from silver metal clay contain 99.9% silver, known as fine silver, which is purer than sterling silver which is 92.5% pure silver.                      Pieces incorporating fired elments of bronze and silver clay   HSJ offers a variety of workshops in metal clays, designed for both the first-time user or someone who already has experience of this amazing material.   You can start with our Introduction to Silver Clay workshop and progress through the Intermediate and Advanced workshops or try your hand at making your own metal clay ring on our Silver Clay Rings workshop or adding gold to your pieces on our Keum Boo workshop, the choice is yours.  Our experienced tutors will provide you with all the information and assistance you need to create your own unique piece of jewellery. Check out our Jewellery workshops by clicking here.

Featured Artist

This month's featured artist is our very own Joanna Mason. Jo is the director and chief jewellery teacher at HSJ and has a real passion for all kinds of jewellery. She enjoys working in a mixed media of different materials and describes herself as a serial learner! Jo is enjoying working in silver and enammels at the moment, as well as bronze, copper and brass. You can see more of her work here or drop by to see it on display at the school!

 

The 'Message in a Bottle' and 'Sari Silk' range is now on display at the Hertfordshire School of Jewellery - drop by and check it out!

New Workshops online NOW!

The class program for 2011 has been listed and workshops are available for booking NOW! Lots of new and innovative classes have been added to the timetable and we have some new and exciting guest tutors teaching them.   Perfectly Paired: Polymer & Silver Clay Workshop     Also new classes added for 2011: Adding Colour to Metal Clay - 2 day Workshop 4th & 5th June Enamelling on Fine Silver - 2 day Workshop 16th & 17th April Image Tranfer on Metals - 18th June Perfectly Paired: Polymer & Silver Clay Jewellery - 2 day workshop 7th & 8th May   For more info or to book please click here

New bracelets

New jewellery

In Print Again

Catch up with our very own Joanna Mason who once again features in Make Jewellery magaine. Issue 21 of the magazine, which is in the shops now, contains an interview with Jo in which she talks about how she got started in the the jewellery making business.
http://www.makejewellerymagazine.com/

Merry Christmas

The Hertfordshire School of Jewellery would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

We will be closing on Christmas Eve - Friday 24 December and will be open again on Tuesday,

4 January 2011.  We look forward to seeing you all next year.

Metal Clay Drop In

In January we plan to start up a monthly Metal Group Drop-in group for anyone interested in metal clay.  The group will provide the opportunity for members to use the workshop facilities, get their pieces fired and swop ideas with fellow enthusiasts.  The first meeting will be on Thursday 6 January 2011 between 7.00 - 9.00 p.m. the cost will be £10 per person.  If you are interested in coming along, please phone or email to book your place as numbers will be limited.

Welcome!

Welcome to our new blog!  News and information will be listed here over the coming days so please stay tuned!

Holidays

Joanna is off on holiday from the 21st January to the 29th January 2011. Please note if you are calling to book during this time your call will not be answered untill her return. If you would like to book or would like more information please check out the workshop pages of the website or email Jo at hsj@thealbionarts.co.uk
See everyone in a week, hopefully full of inspriation from Egyptian culture!!