For the past two Sundays I’ve taken part in a Creative Bead Jewellery weekend class at city lit .

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been making bead jewellery since I was a young child and have always improvised or just learnt techniques purely by experimentation. As I got older books and YouTube tutorials played a small part in developing ideas, (still very basic techniques). Sooo, I finally decided to bite the bullet and try a professional class. At first I was a bit sceptical, I’ve been umming and ahhing about taking a bead class purely for the fact that I always wonder if I would be wasting my money. I’m by no means a pro by far at jewellery making, but most classes don’t come cheap and I regularly found myself asking myself could I just learn this from a book or online for free? Having said that, I wasn’t disappointed. I learned some simple yet effective wire wrapping techniques. Ive never worked with wire before, so this was a completely new skill for me. And at first it was kind of hit and miss in term of getting it right, but once I got the hang of it I really liked the results. It’s definitely something I would use in future designs, once I get the hang of it.

 

The other new technique we were taught was ‘knotting’. To be honest I’m not a great fan of this aesthetically, as I like my jewellery a bit more polished and I think this would be more suited to more ‘earthy’ looking pieces with a organic feel. Never the less I can see the appeal, but I doubt it’s something I would incorporate in my work.

All in all, I would definitely recommend taking up classes. I’m also currently looking into more, and considering venturing into other materials, such as clay, ceramics and metals.

Pics to follow later..