- 52 minutes ago
I Made It at Market S01E03 Coppersmithing and Jewellery
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00:00Our country is full of incredible makers
00:03dreaming of turning their talent into money-making careers.
00:07It would mean everything to be able to do this full-time.
00:10So, with a team of fantastic professional mentors...
00:14I know your talent and I know what you're capable of doing.
00:16I run a one-of-a-kind boot camp, showing them how to do just that.
00:21Perfect.
00:21My proudest moment, I'll just show that.
00:23Yes!
00:24Now I'm on my way to catch up with those who have made their dreams come true.
00:28Hello!
00:29There he is.
00:29Hello, mate.
00:31I'll be hearing about their amazing achievements.
00:34I've been able to put down a deposit on a house.
00:36This is my full-time job.
00:37And finding out how much money they're making.
00:40A little bit under Β£40,000.
00:42Around Β£50,000.
00:43Β£50,000?
00:44Yeah.
00:44So, join me and meet the fabulous makers
00:47who have transformed their lives and made it at market.
00:50You can kind of say I am living the dream.
00:53I think that's fair to say.
01:03No matter how brilliant they might be at making their pieces,
01:06the one thing that everyone who comes to my boot camp struggles with
01:10is being able to market and sell enough of their work
01:13to build a successful business.
01:16Today, we'll be meeting two who have overcome that hurdle.
01:20Later, we'll be checking in with former teacher and jeweller Sarah in Glasgow,
01:25whose success has meant she's had to take drastic action
01:29after being inundated with orders.
01:31I actually put out on social media that I was closed for commissions
01:35and that still didn't stop the quest.
01:39But first, I'll be catching up with Coppersmith Roy in Wiltshire.
01:46He came to my boot camp in the summer of 2023
01:49hoping we could help him turn his love of metal sculpture
01:52into a full-time career
01:54after recently quitting his job in IT.
01:58I felt that at 61 years old, now was the time.
02:02It was now or never.
02:03And I've been threatening to do it for five years.
02:05I just really haven't had the courage.
02:09To figure out the best way of helping Roy get the sales he needed
02:13to kick-start his business, I gave him three tasks.
02:16The first of which was to make a volume piece,
02:19something he could make quickly and sell affordably.
02:23He chose to make a decorative copper lily,
02:26finished with an inner spike and stem,
02:28then covered with lacquer to prevent discolouration and ageing.
02:38Once he'd cut his template,
02:40Roy used a process called annealing,
02:42which involved heating the metal,
02:44then cooling it to make it pliable and easy to shape.
02:48I'm just going to heat this up to a cherry red.
02:53The flame itself is just over 3,000 degrees of heat.
02:57It's amazingly hot.
02:59Very, very quick.
03:01So I'll come back to the end like that.
03:04OK, turn that off.
03:05And then I can either leave it to cool in the air,
03:09or I can quench it.
03:11That is as soft as you like, ready for shaping.
03:14To help Roy make a success of his lifelong passion,
03:17he was guided by mentor Ian Gill.
03:20Ian is an outstanding metalworking sculptor
03:23whose fantastic creations are displayed in well-known locations,
03:27like Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir Hotel in Oxfordshire
03:30and The Chelsea Flower Show.
03:33How are you getting on?
03:34I've just annealed this piece.
03:36Right.
03:36And I'm about to shake my lily.
03:38Such a soft material,
03:39it's not very difficult to do at all, really.
03:43And all I do now, from here,
03:46is I take my little curved pliers
03:48and then I'll just put my crease all the way around.
03:52If you was to potentially cut a sheet out of all of these
03:57and have them all done,
03:59it would speed your process up so much more
04:01and therefore it would make it more cost-effective for you as well.
04:05Super. What a great tip.
04:07While Roy focused on his volume piece,
04:09I wanted to work out with Ian
04:11how else he could make money from his skills.
04:14To do that,
04:15I'd asked him to bring a second, higher-end piece to my boot camp,
04:19something with a heftier price tag.
04:22Roy decided to showcase a magnificent maple leaf sphere.
04:26A one-metre diameter frame
04:28was covered with around 200 handmade leaves.
04:32It took him around 13 days to complete
04:35and had an asking price of Β£3,000.
04:38He could pretty much sell that anywhere.
04:40All the top garden shows,
04:42garden sculpture exhibitions.
04:44It's quite high-end, isn't it?
04:45Absolutely.
04:46Roy's put an asking price of Β£3,000 on that piece,
04:49which, for the amount of work involved,
04:51seems quite fair.
04:51Very fair.
04:52In the right places,
04:53I think he could actually get more money than that.
04:55He could make bigger ones, possibly.
04:57Yeah, imagine that.
04:58Yeah.
04:59That would be awesome.
04:59Yeah.
05:01Back in the forge,
05:03Roy was concentrating on his volume piece,
05:05and having shaped the outer part of his copper lily,
05:08he was about to attach the inner spike.
05:11There's my little jig that I've made for the process.
05:15All that happens is that sits underneath,
05:18like that,
05:20and then when I weld it down here,
05:22it's at the right position within the flower.
05:25I'm going to weld it with a FOSS copper welding rod,
05:29which melts at a very low melting point compared to the copper.
05:33There you can see it going.
05:37Get rid of that.
05:40Flip it over and finish the weld.
05:44With the inner spike and flower welded together,
05:47Roy removed the discoloration caused by welding using a special acidic solution
05:52before polishing the lily and adding a coat of lacquer.
05:57It's a UV-resistant lacquer,
05:59so that when this goes out in the garden,
06:02it'll maintain its shine and not be dulled by the sun.
06:06It's done a long job.
06:08It's quite pleasing and rewarding, actually, as well,
06:10to make sure that you've covered every square millimetre of this.
06:16To finish,
06:18Roy filed away any roughness on the stick that formed the stem
06:21and slid it onto his flower.
06:24The lily took 75 minutes to create,
06:26and with copper and steel costs of Β£10,
06:29he gave it an asking price of Β£30 to Β£35,
06:33depending on size.
06:35I will say, if it's OK,
06:36I just feel like there's areas like the finish that you could improve.
06:40I don't know if you've talked about that.
06:41We have.
06:41We've looked at making a jig to make the shape.
06:45Brilliant.
06:45That would just transform them.
06:47Yeah.
06:47The small ones are Β£30.
06:49Yeah.
06:49The large ones are Β£35.
06:50They are.
06:51Ian, what do you think?
06:51Are these saleable?
06:53Definitely.
06:54At the moment, how are you selling them?
06:56Are you selling them individually?
06:57Just individually.
06:57If you could sell three-in-one here as a set,
06:59I don't think it would cost you any more with regards to postage.
07:03It would up your sell.
07:04Mm-hm.
07:05And perhaps when you're displaying them,
07:06put three in a pot,
07:07people get to just see that three.
07:09That's great advice.
07:11We'll find out shortly how Roy's lilies are selling now.
07:15But for his final challenge at the boot camp,
07:17I asked him to produce his favourite piece
07:19to see if what he enjoyed making the most
07:22could also be a money spinner.
07:25He chose to create a flame-painted Nautilus
07:28standing 50 centimetres tall,
07:31its 46 cuts represented stripes
07:33on the spiral-shaped C-creature.
07:37He started by marking out his template,
07:40then cut around the outline.
07:49That's a bit easier than cutting it by hand.
07:51Now I'm going to plasma cut up my negative spaces.
07:55There are 46 of them to do,
07:57and this is the jeopardy bit.
07:59I really must take my time
08:00and make sure I don't make mistakes.
08:05There's a small compressor in my little plasma cutter.
08:09It creates an electric arc
08:11which melts the copper on the top
08:13and then the compressed air blows the copper away.
08:18Whilst Roy was working on his Nautilus,
08:21Ian had been thinking about how to help him
08:23generate money quickly for his business.
08:26So you run courses?
08:27I have run courses on small bowls,
08:30and I've often thought that I should do some more.
08:32Maybe you need to push your courses,
08:34cos that could be quite a good revenue for you.
08:36Yeah.
08:36But you could have people put their name down on the list,
08:38and when you get to the amount of candidates you need,
08:41you run another course.
08:42And then if people really enjoy it,
08:44you can maybe do something a little bit more intricate,
08:46and then you can get people coming back.
08:48Repeat offenders.
08:49Absolutely.
08:53Once all 46 cutouts had been created,
08:56Roy smoothed the rough edges,
08:58then warmed the copper to soften it
09:00before adding a crease to form the shape.
09:03I'll follow this line all the way around,
09:06and you'll see it's pushing the copper in.
09:10After making a dent all around the middle of the Nautilus,
09:13Roy shaped the rest of it
09:15with the help of a sandbag and mallet.
09:20Then he started flame painting
09:22using an oxy-acetylene blowtorch and an air compressor.
09:26I'm literally painting with the flame.
09:29As I'm going, you'll see the blues and the purples.
09:34I'm going to try and freeze it into the pinks.
09:37So there's a bit of purple there.
09:39I can come in and develop that.
09:40And you'll see the blue will go to a gold,
09:42will go to a pink.
09:43So I'll come back into there.
09:45The blue to a gold.
09:48And if you wait beyond, it'll go a turquoise.
09:50When I've finished the whole thing,
09:52I'll lacquer it and that'll be it, finished.
09:56With copper costs of Β£30,
09:58plus workshop and welding costs on top,
10:01along with a make time of around six hours,
10:04Roy gave his flame-painted Nautilus
10:06a price tag of Β£295.
10:10It looks really good, Roy.
10:12Using the scrap pieces that you've got,
10:15that you've cut out,
10:16you could connect another one on the back,
10:18making it a three-dimensional piece.
10:20And then you could connect a rod underneath
10:23and put it onto a plinth,
10:24so it'd be a standalone.
10:25So you get the light shining through it,
10:27you get great shadows.
10:28So that would enable you to possibly up the cost.
10:31That turns it into a proper big three-dimensional sculpture.
10:35Yeah.
10:35Make it epic.
10:36Yeah.
10:38Roy's decision to launch a coppersmithing business
10:40may have been a long-held dream.
10:43But as he headed home to Wiltshire,
10:45we came up with an action plan
10:46to turn it into a reality.
10:49First, he needed to develop his designs
10:52by making his Nautilus an impressive 3D sculpture.
10:56Next, we wanted Roy to make his lilies more profitable
10:59by refining and speeding up their production,
11:02as well as selling them in sets of free.
11:06Finally, he needed to push his courses
11:08and offer options for returning customers.
11:13For the next two months,
11:15Ian continued to support Roy
11:17as he worked on his action plan,
11:19starting with ordering a batch of copper lily templates
11:22to speed up their production.
11:24They're looking rather fabulous,
11:26and that would save me an awful lot of cutting by hand.
11:30A new tool helped him save even more time,
11:33as well as giving the lilies
11:34the more polished finish I was looking for.
11:37This new jig should make it much quicker
11:40to form them.
11:42Because they're annealed,
11:44it's really soft,
11:46and as you can now see,
11:49there's a small one,
11:50beautifully done.
11:52Roy worked hard on his social media too,
11:55promoting his workshops with positive results.
11:59Press on there like that,
12:01and literally,
12:02you'll feel how light you need to tap it.
12:06And now that it's done to,
12:08I'm afraid...
12:09It's just the elbow grease.
12:10Elbow grease, exactly.
12:13Roy spent eight weeks
12:14carrying out Ian's advice to the letter,
12:16and when he reported back to us at the boot camp,
12:19he had more than reaped the rewards.
12:21I've made just over Β£4,100.
12:25Β£4,000?
12:26Yeah.
12:26That's brilliant.
12:27Really?
12:27Yeah.
12:28Fantastic, Roy.
12:29From sales and the course.
12:30That's amazing.
12:32Isn't it just?
12:32How does that feel?
12:33I'm very happy with it.
12:34The bank account will be all the better for it.
12:38Roy needed to deduct his costs from his fantastic sales,
12:41but in just two months,
12:43he proved that he could make brilliant pieces
12:45and sell enough of them
12:47to build a sustainable business.
12:52Two and a half years later,
12:53I've come to Wiltshire to hear all about his success
12:56and find out how much money he's making now.
13:00Come in.
13:01Hello.
13:03This fantastic workshop converted from a garage
13:06is right next to Roy's house,
13:08and it's a maker's dream.
13:11This place is amazing.
13:12It's my favourite place in the world.
13:14I can tell.
13:15I really can tell.
13:16How long have you been working in this space, then?
13:18Oh, about five, six years,
13:19but since boot camp,
13:21I've had to completely remodel it
13:24and try and tidy it up for visitors from my workshops.
13:27They're becoming a big part of the business now,
13:28the workshops, are they?
13:29They are.
13:29I run...
13:30I can't tell you how many I've run this year.
13:32That's amazing.
13:32It's not just workshops that you're running here, though.
13:34You're clearly making your own pieces still.
13:37Absolutely.
13:37This is my home from home.
13:38I'm out here every single day of the week.
13:41I can see why.
13:42It's a fantastic space to be creative.
13:45But I want to know more about Roy's achievements.
13:49I'm so excited to hear how the business has been going.
13:52Since boot camp, I really haven't looked back.
13:54I've been able to send things all over the world.
13:56Sounds like you haven't stopped.
13:58I haven't stopped,
13:58and I've got work scheduled right the way through till next year,
14:03and I'm having to think really hard about how I fulfil everything.
14:06Where are you finding most of your sales come from?
14:08Is it social media, website, or in-person sales?
14:11It's mainly once a year.
14:14In July, I do an open studios.
14:17And in those three weekends, I can generate enough work
14:19to see me through the rest of the year into the new year.
14:23This year's been particularly busy, taking me through till March, April.
14:26Seriously?
14:27Seriously.
14:28Just in three weekends, I'm just literally opening the door?
14:30Opening the door, let people come in and see what's here.
14:33They'll either buy what's there, or they'll say,
14:37I'll be back in touch.
14:38And I'm just very fortunate.
14:40Wow.
14:42Roy is just one of thousands of makers across the country
14:45who open their studios on set days.
14:48Last year, he booked in over Β£20,000 worth of sales and commissions
14:52on his open days,
14:54including an amazing Β£4,500 pangolin sculpture
14:58made up of individually handmade scales.
15:02But that's not the only way he gets his orders.
15:05I do sell things because they've gone out on social media.
15:09A few of your videos quite often pop up on my feed.
15:12One in particular.
15:13I know which one.
15:15That has done extremely well, hasn't it?
15:17That particular video, I was flame painting a feather,
15:21about 25 seconds long,
15:22and it's had 24 and a half million views.
15:2724 million views?
15:29And I don't know why.
15:31The joys of social media.
15:33Who knows?
15:34What do you think is your biggest seller?
15:35I've sold hundreds and hundreds of sets of lilies,
15:40and the maple leaf spheres continue to be the big seller.
15:44In fact, my next five commissions are all maple leaf spheres.
15:47Roy's now sold 19 maple leaf spheres since the boot camp,
15:52and an incredible 750 of his lilies,
15:55priced between Β£90 and Β£105 for a set of three.
15:59He's also expanded his range of volume pieces.
16:03He now makes hummingbirds for Β£35,
16:06butterflies for Β£15,
16:07and these Β£35 dragonflies,
16:10which he's going to show me how to make using pre-cut copper shapes.
16:15We're going to mark on this side where we want our lines to go in to our dragonfly.
16:20All the veins on the...
16:21All the veins, absolutely.
16:23Like that.
16:23So I've got somewhere to follow.
16:25You have been so busy since being at the boot camp.
16:28There must have been...
16:29I mean, that must come with its own challenges.
16:32The most difficult part, really,
16:34is scheduling my time
16:37and then trying to say no
16:40if somebody comes and asks me to make something
16:43when I know for a fact
16:44that I've got five months' worth of work scheduled.
16:48Did you learn that the hard way
16:49by potentially upsetting people somewhere?
16:51I did learn the hard way in that
16:55I fell foul of my wife,
16:57who's planning it all for me,
16:59and then she's telling me that I'm going to let somebody down.
17:02You can't have your wife inside working out of the schedule,
17:04helping with the planning,
17:04and then you're here on the phone agreeing to more jobs.
17:08Yeah, yeah, I'll do it by Tuesday, no worries.
17:09Exactly, exactly.
17:11Time management is a lesson every maker, including me,
17:15has had to learn.
17:16With the guidelines on the dragonfly drawn,
17:18we use Roy's bead roller
17:20to make ridges in the wings along the lines.
17:23It's an innocuous little job
17:24that can be made to look really easy.
17:27Or you can make a dog's dinner of it,
17:28as you're about to see.
17:29Yes.
17:36Comes a bit like muscle memory, these jobs, don't they,
17:38when you've done them a few times.
17:41All right, last one, Roy.
17:45Here we go.
17:46Beautiful.
17:47It's okay?
17:47Yeah, lovely.
17:48Yeah.
17:49The next step for the dragonfly
17:50is braising or joining the head to its body
17:53using a 3,150-degree flame
17:56and a specialised filler material called Foss Copper.
18:01Introduce the rod and let it run round.
18:03There you go.
18:04You can see it going.
18:05Now let's turn that over.
18:06Nice.
18:07Get more rod this time.
18:09Beautiful.
18:11After welding on the first set of wings,
18:14you have control.
18:15I've got it.
18:16Well, I don't have control.
18:17I've got it.
18:20That's it.
18:20We add a wire,
18:22top it off with the second set of wings...
18:24There it goes.
18:25...and wind the wire around the body
18:26to give it definition.
18:28The idea now is to follow that all the way down.
18:31You want that gap to be consistent, though, don't you?
18:33Yeah.
18:35Yes, I do, Don.
18:36Yeah.
18:36Over to you.
18:37Great.
18:38No pressure.
18:38No pressure.
18:40All right.
18:44Hey, every dragonfly's different.
18:46There isn't a right or wrong.
18:48I'm running workshops for people.
18:49The worst thing you could do is say,
18:51it has to be this, this, this, this and this.
18:54Would you say your workshops are one of your biggest successes?
18:57Yeah, I would say they are.
18:59I've got a waiting list now of people that want to do it.
19:02Wow.
19:02I've got return visitors.
19:03So it's a big part of the business financially.
19:06Yeah.
19:06You're teaching people this amazing craft.
19:08You clearly enjoy teaching.
19:09I love doing it.
19:10I love doing it.
19:11And I should continue to do so.
19:13That's really good.
19:14Yeah.
19:15I've had a brilliant day here.
19:17This has been so much fun.
19:19I'm pleased.
19:20To finish off the dragonfly, we're using the flame painting technique Roy used on his Nautilus.
19:26It's something I've been keen to try since I saw him do it two and a half years ago.
19:31Try not to overheat it.
19:33Oh, there we go.
19:34You can see colours come in already.
19:37And just dab it on and pull away.
19:43That's nice.
19:46Beautiful.
19:47Look at the cut in the cut.
19:48You've got lots of lovely colour coming now.
19:50That's it.
19:55Beautiful.
19:56Lovely.
19:58That looks good to me.
19:59Right.
19:59Stop there.
20:00I'm going to quit while I'm ahead.
20:01I would.
20:02Yeah.
20:02He looks good.
20:03Yeah, that's great.
20:03It's great.
20:03Good.
20:04Perfect.
20:05That was mesmerising.
20:07I loved it.
20:09What an absolute joy.
20:11Although Roy makes it look far easier than it is, including a coat of lacquer to protect
20:16it from the elements, the dragonfly usually takes around an hour to make and costs Β£35 to buy
20:22or Β£150 to make one yourself in a workshop.
20:26Love it.
20:27It's going to look good in your car.
20:28Love it.
20:29The courses were something Roy's mentor Ian and I asked him to push more.
20:34And with up to 30 of them planned for the next 12 months, it's clear they're working for him.
20:40Time now to find out if the other advice we gave him has had just as much of an impact
20:44on his business
20:45and how much money he's now making.
20:48I cannot believe that two and a half years has flown by since you were at the boot camp.
20:52But we did send you away with a bit of an action plan to try and help you build the
20:56business.
20:56You did.
20:57One of those pointers was to try and work on your lilies to make them more profitable by improving the
21:02tooling,
21:02improving efficiency.
21:04Yeah.
21:04They are looking so precise now.
21:06They're looking beautifully finished.
21:07They're sharper, aren't they?
21:08Yeah.
21:08Yeah, definitely.
21:09So different tooling.
21:10And they're selling well still.
21:11Selling very well.
21:12Something else we wanted you to work on was your Nautilus and making it 3D, double-sided.
21:17Yeah.
21:18How's that?
21:19It's gone really, really well.
21:21OK.
21:21It worked.
21:22They looked stunning.
21:23And I just got rid of one last week.
21:26Roy has acted on all of the advice both Ian and I gave him.
21:30With his talent and determination, he's built himself a thriving business.
21:34And I'm looking forward to hearing what that's meant for his bottom line.
21:38Do you mind if we talk about numbers?
21:40No, please do.
21:41How's it looking so far?
21:42They're looking good.
21:43An income of 29 to 30k.
21:45Wow.
21:46For a year.
21:47That is huge.
21:48That is huge.
21:49It's a big number.
21:50And is it looking positive for next year as well?
21:52It's looking really positive.
21:54And it's like they say, if you find a job you love, you'll never work a day in your life.
21:59And that's how I feel.
22:00You are proof of that.
22:02Giving up an established job and secure income was a big decision for Roy.
22:07But to be earning Β£30,000 after costs so soon after leaving the boot camp is proof that it was
22:14very definitely the right one.
22:17The future for me now is really, really rosy.
22:20I love coming out here every single day of the week.
22:23And the business has gone from strength to strength.
22:26I'm delighted.
22:35The second maker we're going to check in with today is jeweler Sarah, who travelled to my boot camp from
22:41Glasgow.
22:42Just like Roy, she was looking for help to make a career change after a ruptured eardrum forced her to
22:48give up her job.
22:50I was originally a teacher, but because my hearing was kind of reducing down, it became harder and harder to
22:56be able to hear the children.
22:58So I didn't think it was fair to stay.
23:00I started trying to look at other options.
23:02And I know that I'm always going to be making jewelry.
23:05I just need to learn a living from it and believe in myself a little bit.
23:11As Sarah took the plunge and tried to turn her jewelry making into a full-time job, she was supported
23:18by self-taught goldsmith Sonny Bailey Aird.
23:21Influenced by bygone eras, each of Sonny's pieces are unique and combine traditional techniques with a modern twist.
23:30The biggest thing I would say to someone trying to transition from a hobby and turning it into their business
23:35is continue to make what you enjoy.
23:37Customers will smell from a mile off if you're not true to what you're trying to do.
23:42If you're making what you love and you're making what you enjoy, customers will see that and they'll want to
23:46buy into the story.
23:49For her volume piece, Sarah chose to make a pair of stud earrings, inspired by her love of the sea,
23:55which she developed whilst sailing with her father when she was young.
24:00Priced at Β£55, the circular silver studs were cast using a mould.
24:05They were then hand-painted with blue enamel paint after being soldered to a pair of earring posts.
24:12This is the flax. It becomes sticky and allows your solder to stay in place.
24:17I'm just going to put a tiny bit on the back of each of those and then I'm going to
24:23make a tiny little puddle on the desk.
24:26I'm just going to heat this. I'm using the flux as a guide and I can see that that has
24:35soldered on, so I'm quite happy with that.
24:38The impact of losing your hearing in isolation, it's been tough. It's a struggle to meet with friends and talk
24:46to them because it's kind of hard to hear though, so I feel left out.
24:54But when I'm in the jewellery studio, it's just me, it's the silver, it's my tools. I don't have to
25:00worry about hearing people.
25:02I think with anything, no matter what you're facing, finding a way through it is really important and having the
25:07right people around you to do that.
25:08But having something your love really helps as well.
25:14With Sarah making good progress with her earrings, I sat down with Sunny to discuss her second challenge.
25:20For her favourite piece, she brought along a stunning pendant necklace, once again inspired by her love of the sea.
25:29It took her around 10 hours to make, had material costs of Β£225 and an asking price of Β£650.
25:38I like the statement, I like the scale of it. Once you look into detail on it, you can see
25:43some bits that just require a little bit of time, just a little bit of care.
25:46Sarah's asking Β£650 for her pendant.
25:48It's at the higher end for silver, but there's lots of techniques in there. You've got enamelling, you've got stone
25:55setting.
25:55For such a labour-intensive piece, you might want to incorporate some higher-end materials, a little bit of gold
26:02in there.
26:02It's not going to add too much from a cost perspective to her, but the perceived value from the customer
26:07jumps up massively.
26:09That's a really good tip.
26:11Back at the jewellery station, Sarah had cleaned her silver sea-inspired stud earrings, and was hand-painting the enamel
26:19decoration onto them.
26:20I've experimented with different shades of blues and greens. This is the best combo that works for me in terms
26:27of trying to create seascapes.
26:30She applied three coats of enamel to each earring, firing them in the kiln between each layer.
26:36You want to open the drawer as quickly as you can so you don't lose the heat, and you need
26:41to melt the enamel to become smooth and get that lovely uniform colour.
26:45The little studs should be in there for maybe one or two minutes. I'm just going to have a wee
26:50look and see how they're doing.
26:53I can see that they have gone quite nicely. I'm just putting them on here to cool down. So I
27:01can put layer two and layer three on.
27:05Once the final layer of enamel had set, Sarah made sure the earrings were nice and smooth before popping them
27:12back in the kiln to make them shiny again.
27:14They're looking great. I'm just going to let them cool down. Then I'm going to remove the greenness of the
27:19silver, and they'll look nice and white, and they're ready to grow.
27:24With material costs of Β£18 and a two-hour make time, Sarah's earrings were priced at Β£55.
27:32There's lots of potential where you can take this, and I actually think that this alone, in different scales, can
27:38become a first signature collection.
27:41It's an entry-level for customers. It's relatively straightforward for you with your skill level to manufacture, and I think
27:48we can take this into earrings, pendants, and even rings.
27:52So you've got a ready-made collection with not much work to do, really.
27:59You've priced these at Β£55. Seems like a fair price to me for the work involved. What do you think?
28:05I think it's a fair price, too. I think it's affordable. You're still making some money, too, which is important.
28:11But also, the more you develop these skills, the easier that's going to become, which increases your margins.
28:17So, win-win.
28:19Thank you. Thank you.
28:21Sonny thought both of Sarah's first two pieces had bags of potential, and he was keen to do all he
28:27could to help her achieve that.
28:29So, for her third task, he set her a special mentor's challenge.
28:34Sarah generally makes earrings, pendants, and necklaces, and we really wanted to incorporate some rings into her collection.
28:41So, my mentor's challenge for Sarah is to create an affordable, entry-level ring.
28:48Sarah chose to make a C-ring, priced at Β£100, to tie in with the earrings she made for her
28:54volume piece.
28:55The silver band had a symmetrical design with three silver granulation balls on each side of a domed bowl enamel
29:02centrepiece.
29:07Here we go. So, we've got a little domed bowl.
29:11I am going to just file a little flat in the back because I want this to sit nicely on
29:18the ring.
29:19Once she'd cleaned the domed bowl and band, Sarah soldered them together.
29:25And moved on to making the granulation balls using scrap bits of wire.
29:30I really like making balls.
29:32You can make small ones, big ones.
29:33You can see the sky because it's two wee bits of wire drawn together.
29:38After soldering the finished granulation balls onto the band, she added enamel to the domed bowl centre.
29:46Being able to do this is something I love, so it's bringing me joy.
29:50The kids and my partner have commented how much more happy I am.
29:54It would be really nice to get paid for it.
29:59Sarah's C-ring took her around an hour and a half to make, and she priced it at Β£100.
30:05Sitting alongside her C-stud earrings, it helped to build a very saleable collection.
30:11And thanks to Sunny's encouragement, she had some good news about the earrings before she even left the gardens.
30:18I was chatting with Sunny and he was saying, come on, think about this, think about that.
30:24And I was like, right, I'm going to try.
30:25I'm going to try and approach maybe a gallery or shop.
30:29And it's through a message.
30:30And remarkably, the women responded, saying, absolutely, send me a pricing.
30:36She's full at the moment, but is looking to take orders.
30:39That's absolutely amazing.
30:40Massive.
30:41In no time at all.
30:42The first message you send.
30:43Yeah.
30:44And it's good news.
30:45Testament to the quality of work, that someone's going to respond within five minutes.
30:49Yeah.
30:50Yeah, I think...
30:50Quite literally.
30:54To keep up the momentum, we gave Sarah an action plan to continue building her business.
31:00First, she needed to develop an affordable signature collection of earrings, a pendant necklace and a ring in a range
31:08of different colours.
31:09Next, we wanted her to refine her pieces to make them more saleable.
31:14Finally, she needed to introduce other materials like gold into her work.
31:22For the next two months, Sunny supported Sarah as she worked to kickstart her business.
31:27And she started by working on creating an affordable signature collection, made up of earrings, a ring and a pendant
31:34necklace.
31:36Let's start getting more of these guys to tidy up.
31:38And then we'll have a little D-link in the back so that they can go on a chain.
31:44And these guys here all have a little pusson.
31:49All I need to do tomorrow is start putting all the cool colours into them.
31:55After just a few days, her collections started coming together.
31:59This is the ring and then a necklace with a little D-link in the back.
32:05As Sarah shared a kiln in her studio, she got in touch with Creative Scotland, an organisation that supports culture
32:13and creativity.
32:14I have applied for funding for a kiln of my own and to be able to get some tuition and
32:21engraving.
32:22And this is where I now learn Class A's.
32:25A few weeks later, she was awarded the grant she applied for and wasted no time spending it.
32:46With support from Sunny, Sarah spent eight weeks following the boot camp, working 24-7 to give her business every
32:54chance of success.
32:56And when she came back to tell us how she'd got on, the results had made it all worthwhile.
33:01Sarah, I'm quite excited to ask you now how much you've earned over the last eight weeks.
33:07I have earned just almost Β£5,000.
33:12Β£5,000?
33:14Yes.
33:15I honestly cannot believe that.
33:17You and me both.
33:20Even after taking off her costs, Sarah had absolutely nailed it and proved that she had what it took to
33:27build a brilliant jewellery business.
33:3118 months later, she's done just that.
33:34And I've asked Sunny to pop up to Glasgow to find out more about her fabulous success.
33:40And how much she's earning now.
33:44Hi.
33:45Good to see you.
33:46Hi.
33:46Hello.
33:47In the camp.
33:49When Sarah came to the boot camp, she was already working in a professional jewellery-making studio, and she's still
33:55making all her pieces in this fantastic workshop.
33:59Sarah, what an amazing space.
34:01What a joy it must be to work here every day.
34:03It is.
34:04It feels like home.
34:05I've got the use of all the tools.
34:07I've got an amazing kind of knowledge bank of all the other jewellers that work here, their support, their help.
34:13And, yeah, no, it's absolutely brilliant.
34:15How's business been as of late?
34:18I've been really busy this month.
34:20I've got four or five commissions on, just kind of checking out some of the finer details in some of
34:25them.
34:25I've got some engagement rings and the wedding rings that are due to be sent off for a wedding in
34:30April.
34:31It's so good to hear about your bespoke commissions and keeping you so busy.
34:34Yeah, I think it was last year that I actually put out on social media that I was closed for
34:40commissions.
34:41And that still didn't stop requests and people asking.
34:45And I have a wait list and I'm still, this month, got four or five in that I'm working on,
34:52plus the online orders.
34:54Where do you find that you've been getting a lot of your leads and sales from?
34:57Um, some of it's returning customers, some of it is word of mouth and I get friends of, like, customers
35:05that I've worked with before.
35:07I've got three stockists that take my work, sometimes it's markets.
35:12Are you making any new pieces or collections?
35:15I am. I took on board what you said about using more high-end materials and I have made a
35:21little silver heart range, which has a 18-karat gold bezel and is set with a ruby.
35:27It's brilliant to hear how busy Sarah is.
35:30It's also good to know that she's used the advice we gave her at the boot camp to work with
35:35more expensive materials like gold to lift the quality of her work.
35:39And she's going to show Sonny how she makes the heart pendant from her new golden ruby collection, which is
35:45priced at Β£395.
35:48She starts by creating a heart-shaped wax model.
35:52I've drawn round and I have my little heart good to go.
35:56I'm just going to follow my line round with my saw and cut it out.
36:06It needs a little bit of TLC.
36:08These are my special wax vials that I only use for wax.
36:12Let's get a wee bit smoother.
36:14I'm happy with how it looks.
36:16And then I'll start to shape it in.
36:19This is going to be the base of my pendant.
36:21Having created the wax model, it's time to make the silver version.
36:25And Sarah is going to cast it using sand.
36:28I'm just going to chop up the sand.
36:33A bit like cooking.
36:34You look like I'm making pastry.
36:37Jeweler turned baker.
36:40Multitasking hat as always.
36:42You do wear many hats as a business owner.
36:46Some better than others.
36:50Sarah fills a silver ring with sand, which she's going to place her wax heart model into.
36:55I'm just going to scrape off the excess and place the heart in the middle.
37:03And then I am going to push it in so it's halfway in.
37:07With the wax model placed in the sand, Sarah puts another ring on top and fills that with sand too.
37:17After the rings are separated and the wax removed, two half-heart molds are left.
37:22And Sarah then makes air holes in the sand in the top ring to allow steam from the molten silver
37:28she'll be pouring in to escape.
37:31It's amazing how something so simple and relatively primitive is used, even today.
37:36I mean, this is a technique that's been used for thousands of years, literally thousands of years.
37:40And we're still using it today. It's amazing.
37:43It is amazing.
37:44And I can almost imagine the caveman or somebody in the Iron Age doing this.
37:48Sarah creates a channel through which the silver will be poured into the mold.
37:53Then joins her two rings back together and melts down some recycled scrap silver.
38:03The hot metal is poured into the mold.
38:09And once it's set, she tidies up the silver heart.
38:17And solders on an 18-carat gold circular ring or bezel for the ruby to sit in.
38:25After cleaning it up in a special acidic solution, she solders on a silver ring that will attach the pendant
38:31to a chain.
38:33And after cleaning that, moves on to creating a recess or hole for her ruby in the gold bezel.
38:46I'm just going to check how deep we are, so that I know how far down I need to go.
38:52So I'm just going to find my stone.
38:54Nice, gorgeous ruby.
38:56Go to check how we're doing.
38:59Probably just a squidge more.
39:01I'm just going to switch over to this, and this creates a little ledge for the stone to sit on.
39:15OK, it's looking pretty good.
39:17I'm pretty happy with how that's sitting.
39:21To finish, Sarah pushes in the sides of the gold bezel to hold the ruby in place.
39:27Then gives the pendant a polish.
39:30It's looking nice and shiny now, so I'm going to pop it through the chain, and it's good to go.
39:39Sarah's new silver heart pendant with a gold set ruby has material costs of Β£200,
39:45and with a make time of five hours, is priced at Β£395.
39:50It comes with matching earrings that she charges Β£785 for.
39:55It's great to see Sarah working with new materials,
39:58and she's also turned her beautiful seat pendant into an affordable signature collection.
40:04But I'm keen to know about how she's been refining her pieces,
40:08and how much money her business is now making her.
40:11Sarah, it's been great to see how you've been tackling most of your action plan,
40:14but one of the things we asked you to try and work on was some refinement.
40:17How have you been trying to bring that to the fore?
40:20I've been trying to refine my practice, depending on what my client wants,
40:25whether it's adding different settings, different metals,
40:30whether it's platinum, 18 karat gold, different stones.
40:33I have an engagement ring that I've set with pink sapphires, diamonds,
40:38and it's in platinum, if I'm actually in platinum wedding bands.
40:41Platinum is so interesting because it has to get so hot,
40:43pretty much double the amount of heat that is required to work with gold.
40:47So that alone is a massive hurdle.
40:50You have to have eye protection, you have to have specific tooling
40:53so that they don't just literally melt, and you can contaminate platinum,
40:57which is another hurdle that you have to get over.
41:00So it takes a lot of planning, and like we've been mentioning, refinement.
41:07It's clear that Sarah has worked with dedication and real determination on every aspect of her action plan,
41:15and I'm excited to find out what effect that's had on the income she makes from her jewellery making.
41:20In order to have a business, we need to have some money involved as well.
41:25Talk to me.
41:27We do, and I am doing so much better than I'd like to ever have.
41:33I'm now making around Β£30,000 a year.
41:36Hey, that is so good. So good.
41:39Proper business?
41:40It's a proper business.
41:42Yeah, I actually can say I have a proper business.
41:45You must be so proud.
41:46I am. Yes, I am.
41:48Actually, I still have moments of disbelief, and is this happening?
41:52And yes, yes, it is happening, and I hope it continues to happen.
41:57Well, if you continue to put in the work that you have been putting in,
41:59I can't see why it can't stay the same and grow even more.
42:02I think the one thing that you should be aware of is that you've done all this work yourself.
42:06Of course, you've had community and friends around you, and they help lift you up.
42:10But you've put in the work, and you've put in the dedication to take this further.
42:14And it wouldn't go anywhere without the work that you've been putting in.
42:17Not only your technical and design skills, but your effort and dedication to the craft.
42:21And I think that's something you should be super proud of.
42:24Thank you. Thank you very much.
42:26I agree with Sonny.
42:28Making Β£30,000 a year after costs just 18 months after leaving my boot camp is an outstanding achievement.
42:36Sarah's now got a long-term sustainable business, and having worked so hard to build it,
42:42she deserves every bit of her success.
42:45I think having a career that is guaranteed, and to have the leap of faith and leave that,
42:53and to be able to go and do something that is self-employed, that isn't guaranteed, is hard.
43:00But I'll get into doing what I love, which is really important.
43:06Want some help building a business that lasts?
43:09Visit the Open University's interactive guide for practical help to sustain and grow your business.
43:15Scan the QR code on screen, or visit connect.open.ac.uk forward slash I made it at market.
43:49I'll see you next time.
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