Made By Jewellery

You know when you’re sitting at home on the couch thinking, I wish I could do something that I’ve never done before just so I can try it out and see if it’s something that I like? It’s so cool doing things that are out of your comfort zone, things that challenge your creativity in a way that is so different to what you do in your everyday life.

I love making things with my hands, I always have ever since I was a little kid. In fact, I still have a few pieces of pottery I lovingly carved and moulded for my parents when I was in Primary School, granted I can’t tell what one or two of the items are supposed to be, so I’ll just say that I have an awesome collection of ashtrays and…paperweights. That’s the best part about pottery I guess when in doubt about a piece, it can always just be a paperweight.

A little while ago a couple of my friends, Henriette Botha and Nikki Sherman, who have started their own very pretty jewellery line called Made By started hosting an array of Ring Carving Workshops at various venues in and around Joburg and I thought it would be cool to try my hand at ring making. I thought I wear rings, I like rings and who knows maybe I’ll land up making something that becomes a family heirloom one day.

The workshops are always paired with one other awesome thing, so the one we went to was called Rum & Rings and we were treated to a ring carving course as well as some yummy rum cocktail demonstrations. You may think that rum cocktails and ring carving are not such a good mix, but funnily enough, it worked wonderfully and no one lost any fingers in the process.

Gina and I had the best time at this workshop! Henriette and Nikki did a great job of keeping it light and fun and making your own ring is actually pretty therapeutic. Unless that is, it lands up breaking because you’re being too ambitious which is what happened to me! Thank goodness my first one did break, otherwise, I wouldn’t have landed up with the design I made below, which I love! There is just something so cool about being able to say ‘Oh I made it myself’ to someone asking where you got your ring from 🙂

The evening was full of laughs, food, good drinks and some serious ring making action and it was like nothing else I have done before. The best part is at the end of it all, you in hand in your creation and a few weeks later it arrives back shiny and beautiful after being cast and finished off professionally. Such a treat!

There are a few more of these workshops coming up soon, starting with a Gin & Jewels one that is happening at the very cool Mesh Club at the Keyes Art Mile in Rosebank on the 23rd of June and one happening on the 5th of July at Razor Charlie. So if you’re keen to flex your creative ring making muscle I suggest you book yourself a spot. All the info you need, as well as where to buy your ticket can be found here. 

Below you can see where I started and what I landed up with.