My name's Raven, and this is my introduction into the jewellery making world. I started making jewellery about two and a half years ago. It was my fiancées' mother, Lorna, who got me into the jewellery making world, although at first I wasn't the least bit interested, I dismissed it as childish; just stringing beads upon a piece of string. But was I wrong!!
After Lorna asked me a few times if I would like to join her and her friend, I said yes, and at first I wasn't impressed, it WAS just stringing a few beads together. Yet I thought to myself, surely there must be more to making jewellery. A few months of getting together with Lorna and her friend, Lorna handed me a jewellery making magazine that she had bought and said it was a great read, I took it home to read and I was hooked, just seeing what these other women could do with silver, copper, gold, polymer clay, gemstones, you name it these women could make it.
I started to lean towards the Fimo and PMC clay (precious metal clay) and after some time making jewellery Lorna booked us into a PMC class. It was fantastic, the first part of the course you make five small pieces, you sculpt it or cut it into the shape you want, wait for the clay to dry, then sand it so that its up to standard and doesn't have sharp jagged edges that could scratch skin or damage clothing. Once it had dried it was put into a kiln to be fired.
Moving on from there I started to make more pendants with polymer clay, it was hard to work with at the beginning, and I almost gave up on the polymer clay. It was only when I started to look into various ways to work with it, that I finally got the hang of working with it, and although I'm still learning, as with any craft it will take years to perfect further.
I've always had the intention to sell my jewellery, but after failed attempts at a few craft fares, I almost gave up on the idea. It wasn't until later that I realised I wasn't near the audience that liked the Gothic jewellery, I mean, how often have you seen a Goth at a craft fare?
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| A fimo coffin I did last year |
Now after two and half years of this, I've started making Gothic wrist cuffs. My first ones were hand stitched, which wasn't easy especially when I have arthritis in my hand. Thankfully, now I have a sewing machine which is a far more effective way to make them.
I'm now starting to sell my jewellery which is great, having people respond to what you are making is always a nice sign of appreciation. I'm currently based in Inverness, Scotland, and can only cater for local orders at the moment, but I'm hoping to get a website in the future so I can sell to a wider audience.
I started doing this blog so I could share my journey with you and give you an insight into a Gothic/heavy metal jewellers world.
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| one of my first cuffs with a coffin detail |
