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JEWELLERY MAKING WORKSHOPS with TONI PEERS (For Adults and older teens)
At Tiptree Community Centre, Essex
Silver Jewellery workshop – using silver clay Monday 11th August from 9.30am – 1.30pm.
In this 4-hour workshop, you will learn how to use silver clay make fine silver jewellery. You will have 10g of silver clay, which should be enough to make a pair of earrings, or a medium sized pendant.
£75.00 per person
Enamelled Jewellery workshop – fusing glass to copper Monday 1st September from 9.30am – 1.30pm.
In this 4-hour workshop, you will learn about vitreous enamelling using a table-top kiln. You will use glass powder (enamel) to create approximately 2 pieces of jewellery using pre-cut copper shapes. You can apply additional decoration using glass media – e.g. Glass beads, threads and frit.
£65.00 per person
Contact Toni Peers to find out more and to secure a space: Email: tonipeers@gmail.com www.cgcrafts.co.uk
Enamelling classEnamelling classSilver jewellery using silver clayStudent workIntro level BasildonSilver jewellery using silver clayEnamellingEnamellng transfers, beads and sgraffitoEnamelling
I’m very excited to say I have just added an 3-week Enamelling class to the website. The class will run on Tuesday mornings from 10 – 1pm. This is an experiment to see what proves popular, if you are interested but can’t come at that time or day, please get in touch.
What is Enamelling? it is the fusion of glass to metal, using a kiln as we’re using real glass (vitreous enamelling), which needs to be melted at around 750 degrees C.
What can it be used for? Making jewellery or decorative objects such as glass paintings.
What will I learn? You learn all the basics of counter-enamelling, sifting, and wet packing and then anything else we have time for.
What will I make? i would estimate you’ll make up to 3 pieces in the 3-week class.
When does it start? 16th September for 3 weeks – Tuesdays 10 – 1pm.
It has been some time since I have written an update, so first I am going to give you some dates for 2025 and then there’s a quick whistle tour as to why I have been so busy.
January – Seasons Art Classes – Tiptree Community Centre – 14 week classes Mondays 10 -1 pm or 2 – 5pm OR Wednesdays 10 – 1pm. 14 weeks starting 6th or 8th January 2025. Contact for more details: 01621 818593 Or look at the Facebook page
The Seasons Art Classes – Tiptree and Witham classes have now progressed to 2 days of teaching which is lovely. Our new course starts on 6th January and will take you through a journey from drawing, to oil pastels, to watercolour to acrylics. It is a lovely learning community with beginners and those who just want to set aside time to do art.
CG Crafts
As it has been such a busy year I haven’t done so many classes at home but I have now added the following dates for Spring and as always am happy to tailor classes and look at dates to suit.
15th March – Enamelled Jewellery for Beginners. 10 – 3pm
22nd March – Silver Clay Jewellery for Beginners. 10 – 3pm
26th April – Silver Clay Leaf Jewellery. 10 – 4pm
10th May – Silver Bypass ring using Sterling silver clay – 10 – 4pm
24th May – Enamelled Jewellery for Beginners and beyond. 10 – 3pm
7th June – Make Stud earrings – use a combination of silver clay and traditional silversmithing to make stud earrings.
21st June – Enamelled jewellery – expand your skills. 10 – 3pm
Book here (or buy craft vouchers and organise a date to suit). Or Email me to organise a tailored class
Watershed Studio
I am continuing to teach at Watershed Studios in St Osyth – Book here
8th March – Silver Clay for Beginners
19th July – Feltmaking – creating felt with a ball to make 3D bowls.
18th October – Creating Silver clay keepsake jewellery
ACL
One of the reasons I have been so busy is that the ACL courses have now progressed to Colchester as well as Basildon – unfortunately, as these are accredited courses, they do suck up quite a bit of admin time so it has left little time for me to do other things. This has been a steep learning curve for me in terms of writing a 14 week class, meeting unit criteria and collating evidence for the examining board. I’m working on ways to rectify this. 🙂
At The Bench Academy I’m learning too. I have started a Silversmithing diploma with At The Bench, which is a really great course, I’m learning how to do things such as piercing and soldering properly, which I hope to help me inform you with your design choices in the Silver clay classes – for example adding soldering to make stud earrings,
So all this adds up to little time to do admin. Ahh well. What have you been learning this year? What do you hope to learn in 2025.
As usual, I have had all these plans to write a regular blog and they all go out the window as time evaporates around me.
This last year has been so busy trying to navigate teaching accredited classes for the ACL (19+ education – what a lot of people know as the old adult evening classes). I have learnt how to write a scheme of work for Silver Clay, administer evidence for the examiner and tackle the admin that goes hand in hand with teaching at a college – it’s been most time-consuming. Plus then all the usual prep that goes into writing lesson plans and preparing examples…still I survived. Plus my eldest daughter, Harriet has been doing her GCSEs and that has been stressful (although she works really hard, I just felt like I was taking the exams with her).
The new courses for the ACL are now online. I have a Tuesday day class in Basildon which is the Level 1 in Silver Clay and a Thursday day class in Colchester also a level 1 class in Silver Clay – if you search the ACL website for Silver clay they should come up with the following course codes:
I will also be running a mindfulness art class running in Basildon on a Tuesday evening – more info as I find out.
The Seasons art classes have moved to a new location this term and once more we are on the move! Hopefully to a more comfortable location at Tiptree Community Centre, where we can offer tea and cake and lots of art. The new term will start on 2nd September or 4th September. They are 3 hour classes and the 14 week term includes drawing, oil pastels, watercolour, acrylic, mount work and an exhibition. To book for our classes contact 01621 8181593 mention that you’ve got the details from this website an that you’d like to book the Tiptree class., or take a look at this Facebook link
Toni’s one-to-one classes
My tailored classes are still running in my garden workshop. I offer dates to suit and can offer a discount per person if more that one person books. If you are interested in learning, or building on your skills in any of the following, do get in touch:
That’s all for now with my updates. I’ll soon be blogging about my Silversmithing diploma, which I am starting in September, run by At the Bench Academy, I can’t wait to get started but I really do need to find that time machine to make sure I have the opportunity to fit everything in.
Meanwhile, I’m planning to have lots of fun with my girls over the summer, visiting friends, camping, and not thinking about those exam results.
What plans do you have for summer?
Hope to see you soon, Toni
Seasons art class Tiptree and WithamWork with Occupation Health referred Studentlevel 1 Silver Clay at BasildonIntro level Silver clay BasildonIntro level BasildonIntro level BasildonStudent notebookobjectives setStudent workMy practice fox – Seasons art Student’s work Seasons artMy practice for acrylics – Seasons artESOL classPractice Seasons artEnamelling classEnamelling class
Sometimes it seems like I fall off the edge of the cliff in terms of updating the website, so I thought I would just pop on now and say I am still here, busily working on various projects and hoping to soon get a little time to add some new dates to the website. Over the last few months, I have successfully run 2 accredited classes, which I wrote myself. My students were extraordinary – they had so many skills to bring to the class and so many ideas, that I found teaching them an amazing experience. I will share some of the pictures of their work in this post. I have also recently won an art competition that was close to my heart as it was about the climate crisis – I used a piece I made in my level 2 art award (higher GCSE level). Speaking of art, our 14-week art class at The Seasons (Tiptree and Witham) has just started up again and we have a record number of new students, we’ve just finished sketching and I cannot wait to get them started on oil pastels. We are now at the serious end of school for my eldest daughter – as I write she is halfway through her Graphics exam (and enjoying it) many more exams to go though. Mimi is just about to do her D of E expedition. So it is a time of stress, decision-making (which jobs are actually worth it) and hoping the weather gets better, so I can tackle the enchanted forest that is my back garden…especially as I have a few classes coming up in my garden workshop. Oh, and I need to get back to my writing work – this reformation piece isn’t going to write itself. When you read all that back, no wonder I am tired. 🙂 That’s all for now, hope all is good with you. If you are interested in classes, do get in touch. Toni x
Just updating the diary for 2024 so if you are after last-minute present ideas, or looking to take up a new skill next year, do get in touch. Prices listed on website are for 1 to 1 but discounted prices are available when booking 2 or more people so please ask about this.
CG CRAFTS, Colchester (booking 07847 098849) or click here
Sat 30th March – Encaustic Art
Fri 19th April – Silver Clay Beginners
Sat 20th April – Enamelling Beginners
Fri 26th April – Enamelling Beginners
Sat 27th April – Silver Clay Beginners
Fri 10th May – Flamework (Making glass beads)
Sat 11th May – Encaustic Art
Fri 24th May – Feltmaking – needle and wet felting
The Seasons art classes
I teach a 14 week class covering Drawing, oil pastels, watercolour and acrylics. The class currently takes place at The Oaks Golf Course, Rivenhall Essex. Click here to find out more on our Facebook page or call 01621 818 593
19+ Adult Learning at ACL
I am now teaching weekly Metal (Fine Silver) clay classes at Basildon ACL
The Thursday classes are accredited which means they are funded if you meet the criteria, plus you get a shiny certificate at the end. The listings are a little confusing at present as the courses are quite new but if you are interested and can’t find the course let me know and I’ll do my best to help.
Watershed Studio, St Osyth – 01255 820466 or click here
Sat 16th March – Silver Clay Jewellery
Sat 29th June – Felt Making Landscapes using wet felt
Sat 7th Oct – Enamelling
Art Class in actionTyler at work in Art classDrawingSketching weekOil Pastels weekFelted landscapesRolling feltFelted landscapeSilver clay earringsMake fine silver stud earringsEnamelled landscape necklaceEnamelled silver earringsEnamellingEnamelling cloisonneEnamellng transfers, beads and sgraffitoFlameworkMaking glass beadsSilver clayEncaustic artEncaustic art collectonEnamellingLayered silver clay necklaceEnamelled panel
Adapting We now have two C words that we use with trepidation (well o.k there are more) and I apologise in advance for mentioning Covid and Christmas.
Since covid, we’ve all had to adapt, one of the things I have done is increase opportunities to teach longer-term classes. I love teaching one-day classes but the opportunity to help students build on their skills and reflect about their learning is really lovely for me as a teacher.
I do continue to teach one-day classes in fact the last 10 days have been truly unique in that I have taught Enamelling, Silver clay, Scratch coding, Oil pastels, Watercolour and Acrylics! I have been to Basildon, Witham, Waltham Cross and St Osyth! It almost seems like an opportunity to write a short story about a series of crimes that have taken place in seemingly unconnected places….
Art Classes in Witham I love teaching the 14 week art class with Seasonsartclassestiptreeandwitham – these are opportunities to build on all those skills you may have never learnt at school – drawing (using grids, perspective etc), oil pastels, watercolour and acrylic – with tips and inspiration along the way. The classes are also an opportunity to learn in a lovely, friendly environment – often our students become friends who lunch after the class – we love that. The next term starts on 4th December, with a break for Christmas and New Year.
ACL Basildon I am also delighted to be running weekly Silversmithing with Metal Clay classes at Basildon ACL. The accredited courses starting at Entry level (2nd November) and moving on to Level 1 and level 2, will cover a range of techniques such as building bails, embedding gem stones, applying patina and once we get to level 2 we will also look at some cross over skills to more traditional silversmithing including soldering. The non accredited courses will follow a similar pattern but do not offer funding opportunities, once the courses get more popular we hope to run an evening course too.
One-Day classes I still offer one-day courses in Enamelling, Silver clay, Feltmaking, Encaustic art and Flamework, so if you are interested in any of those get in touch, this year as I’ve been busy getting used to teaching regular classes, I have tended to try to fit dates to suit as students enquire about them, I will add some more to the calendar for next year. This is where Christmas comes in…I’ve been told that classes make lovely presents, so on my website (if you so wish) you can signpost your loved ones towards gift vouchers for classes, or indeed buy for a friend – I do offer discounts per person on my classes if you book for 2 or 3 people (email me about this). Tailored gift letters are provided for you to pass on to the gift recipient.
I also run classes for other venues (if I like them).
The next class I have coming up is at Benchspace, Brightlingsea. Enamelling on Silver clay which is running on 28th October. This is an opportunity to design your silver clay jewellery whilst considering how to apply glass (enamel) to add to the design.
I am also teaching a silver clay day at the lovely FSC Flatford Mill on 2nd December.
There is around £60 worth of materials included in the course fee, giving you the chance to make 2 to 3 pieces of jewellery. We’ll be looking at two different techniques during this class.
Making a silver leaf using silver paste Creating a piece of jewellery that incorporates fireable gemstones. Adding patina (Suitable for beginners and improvers)
Next year I will continue to run classes for Watershed studios in St Osyth. The 2024 programme can be found here.
That’s my current summing up of classes, any questions please do ask. Thanks for your continued support, Toni x
I am really excited to update you that the next lot of Seasons Art classes which will start at the end of July are being planned. The gallery shows a selection of what the students have learnt over the 14 week classes. Starting with drawing techniques we build up the basic building blocks and then move on to oil pastels, watercolour and finally acrylics before completing our time with a session to mount our pieces and then the exhibition – which is an opportunity to enjoy the work created over the 14 weeks. If you’d like to know more message me and I can pass on booking details or you can take a look at our websitewhich will be available for bookings soon.
Just a quick post to update you on my course dates until April. Just in case Father Christmas needs to know. You can book online here (or via venue if not CG Crafts).
Tailored Classes
Any classes listed for CG Crafts can be tailored to suit, so if you want to do a specific technique do ask – these may be subject to a slightly increased materials cost if needed.
14th – 16th – Jewellery Making at FSC Flatford Mill – Enamelling and Silver Clay classes in a lovely historical setting. Available for residential and non residential.
No matter what my good intentions are, something always gets in the way of writing regular blog posts! Well here is an update on what has been going on in the past month or so.
In October I started teaching art for The Seasons Art Classes – Witham and Tiptree. It is a 14 week foundation class in art and covers the basics of drawing, pastels, watercolour and acrylic – the course Manager, Tyler and myself cannot wait until week 14 which is exhibition week – it is so lovely to watch student’s confidence grow in these classes. It is also quite a challenge for me to use a flipchart to demonstrate – I’ve never taught such a big class before. If you are interested in learning more, get in touch and I can pass on the details.
I’ve also continued to teach my specialist craft classes at home which includes: enamelling, silver clay, feltmaking, encaustic art and flamework. I gave a talk to a lovely W.I group about ironing – well encaustic art ironing, and I managed to drop off some new handcrafted cards and jewellery to Dedham Art and Craft Centre – if you’ve never been do go, there are plenty of unique presents to be found.
I’m still in the process of updating the website for dates next year, but don’t forget if there is a suitable date listed you can always buy a gift voucher and contact me to organise a date to suit.
Anyway hopefully, I’ll update again soon. Happy Crafting, Toni x
Pastel example for the Season Art ClassTalk at W.I West MerseaMy shelf at Dedham Art and Craft CentreOne of my classes here at CG Crafts – Enamelling on Silver Clay
