Meet the animal gang! Bear, Fox, Rabbit, Dog, Cat and Mouse...  more details under Collections
​ I'm pleased to put my new gem set Jewel Creatures collection online - some lovely press in Benchpeg - the jewellery will be ready to buy from the site early May.
Please contact me if you'd like to order bespoke pieces - you can now wear a mini version of your pet, a jewel in the colour of your cat or dog. Happy to make multicoloured foxes or mice too!
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​benchpeg.com/news/kate-dumbleton-jewellery-launches-new-collection-jewel-creatures

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Special mention to Cam and her rabbit called Bunny. 

 Very pleased to unveil my new logo designed by the lovely Holly Milston - she has produced a bold image which incorporates the three sided shape of my Maker's Mark used in hallmarking. My initials cut into the triangle like facets, all the jewellery references covered! 

Was lovely to start the new year with a very interesting day trip to Bath to see Silver: Light and Shade at the Holburne Museum.  An exhibition of historic and contemporary silversmithing - incredible pieces showing intricate skills and lasting beauty.  www.holburne.org/   Some made in 1700s looked modern... 
It inspired me to look out some of my old smithing pieces from college, will post more as I find them...

Also went to the brilliant Museum of Fashion - a must visit for anyone interested in dress - 
en-gb.facebook.com/FashionMuseum/   

A garden full of colour and life, and a trip to Cornish countryside and coast has given me excellent inspirations for various new collections. Couldn't resist taking too many photos! Here are a few.

Earlier this year I had the great pleasure of being a Creative Practitioner at Rhws Primary School in the Vale of Glamorgan. The Creative Lead Schools Project is a 5 year partnership between the Arts Council of Wales and the Welsh Government to place artists, designers, writers, musicians and makers with schools across Wales who need to solve a problem or build on existing practices with the help of creativity. I was chosen to deliver the brief of whether jewellery making can help improve numeracy skills for a Year 4 class. 
It's pretty impossible to make any sort of jewellery without any maths, measuring, counting components etc and pricing so I was sure it would be a great project to do.
Initially the class weren't sure about the jewellery making - especially some of the boys. But in the first session when the children tried the hand tools and played with beads and findings, they soon came around and ended up having a joyful time designing and making jewellery. It was fab and ended after a few months with a grand finale catwalk show and exhibition to the rest of the school and parents. The kids were enthusiastic and brilliant and I learnt that I enjoyed teaching as much as they did making. And learning. Happy to report that maths results improved... 

Click on the D  - Doctor Who news - lovely picture of Peter Capaldi wearing The Ring! 

Some images from last week's shoot with lovely model Olivia Nicholson and talented photographer Brya Waterford. Brya has modelled for me before  - her images are all over this site! The shoot features new work for SS2016 and some archive pieces re-vamped for now. I have collections going back 20 years and it's fun to re-introduce them maybe with a re-style, to be current.
We shot in two locations in Cardiff; Barker Tea Rooms, a beautifully designed place with fab cakes and interesting decor, and Maddisons a very cool, well known nightclub. A huge thanks to both places for their kindness in helping with the shoot.
Several outfit changes later and Olivia was transformed from demure-Deco- Hollywood-darling into a very glamorous siren with a touch of rock goddess! Brya is currently editing so will show off the images as soon as possible... And I'm photographing the pieces for the product pages - watch this space!

A new season means new collections, it's an exciting time! One of designing and researching different techniques and materials and sometimes revamping old favourites. Using various stones in fresh colours and sketching on any handy piece of paper. I'm in the final stages of this new work and planning the photoshoot, can't wait to show you all as soon as poss!