Jewellery fit for a Princess at a Royal Wedding

I was delighted when Larry Gent, Development Officer of North Tyneside Council contacted me to ask if I would be able to put together a programme for a workshop for his 14-16 year old art and design apprentice students.

So over the Christmas whilst people were buying gifts I was putting together several types of jewellery making programmes for Larry to approve.

I only emailed one of the programmes in the end but it was a winner and I knew he'd be happy with it. I was wrong, he was amazed at how indepth and thought out it was and loved the fact that I bundled a load of design theory behind the fun aspects of making jewellery.

Students making mood boards

So in the February half-term I experienced the most busiest, tiring and by far rewarding two days of my life as we played host to 18 students from three North East schools.

The brief was simple to create a mood board which would be the basis of their jewellery collection. They were asked to create a collection of jewellery for Princess Beatrice or in the boys case if they preferred to they could design a collection for Prince Harry to wear at “The Royal Wedding” of the decade.
(This is a Fictional Project)

 



Building their collections

The 18 students who hailed from George Stephenson, John Spence and Burnside schools attended a full-day workshop each, at my recently opened bead shop called Rosewill Cottage, which is based on Park View in Whitley Bay.

My philosophy of less talk and more action when learning really paid off. Each student learned how to create jewellery from a concept before going on to produce their designs in the afternoon.  

I was amazed at how focused and interested the students were in this project, even the boys! They spent ages pouring over magazines for the right pieces of jewellery, colours, textures and some of the girls even choose which models they would like to model their collection. 

The finished results were stunning. These students created some interesting and intricate pieces of jewellery, some of which I could actually see Prince Harry wearing Ryan' Chain Maille Bracelet and the complimenting necklace hematched it with. The fact he was mere learners of jewellery making (as all the other students were) didn't show as we observed him creating his chain maille chain followed by his neat eyepin loops and attachments.

Leanne created a pop Princess style collection for Princess Beatice with a theme running through all her pieces before going on to make a few items for her Mum for Mother's Day. I'm sure I can see a spark of Madonna inspiration in these pieces!

I was so proud of all the students even the one or two that were difficult to start off with. It showed to me that Rosewill Cottage can inspire people of all ages and my little bead shop's business plan is steadily starting to outweigh most bead shop owners dreams.

I was thrilled to find out this week that I have inspired a few ladies and gents to ditch the high street and make their own jewellery in their own style in future! Great more competition for Rosewill's Charms tehe.

But more importantly I am now a proud Educational Partnerships Business Ambassador for North Tyneside Council and hope to show the delights of jewellery making to more children and young adults in the near future!