I’m starting 2018 with a positive mind. Last year was a very tough year both financially and mentally. And this time last year I was in a much darker place. Planning a wedding is both stressful and expensive, I’ll share my experiences in other blog posts, giving advice and tips of how to plan and enjoy your wedding day. So this year is about appreciating what I have, celebrating my achievements, being positive and making time to do the things I love.
I’m happy 2017 is over but it wasn’t all bad. In this post I am writing about the things that I achieved last year that I am most proud of. I made new customers and lots of special commissions, including revamping your old gold jewellery and lots of lovely wedding and engagement rings. Here’s 4 of my favourite pieces that I made last year.
I realised I like to pass on knowledge and help others succeed.
I hosted lots of jewellery classes in my studio and taught lovely people how to make their own pieces. I gave a talk about setting up a creative business and hosted a jewellery workshop at Strathblane Primary School, to the P7s.
I took on new interns which was both challenging and rewarding. I passed on my knowledge to my French intern, Lyngil, who was studying business and Emma, a 3rd year jewellery student from Duncan of Jordanstone, who both learned about the different aspects of running a creative practice and were with me for 2 months. As well as this, I gave a talk to the level 4 jewellery, architecture, fashion and interior design students at Dundee of Jordanstone.
It’s good to continue learning new skills for yourself, so I went on a mentoring training course and took on my first mentee. I’ve realised that I like working with other people and enjoy passing on knowledge and encourage them. I feel isolated working on my own in the studio most of the time and want to push myself to work with others this year. It’s great to give something back. I get such a buzz from teaching my jewellery classes and look forward to be teaching more students this year.
New Designs and Exhibitions
I also expanded my 3d printed collection and made new one off pieces. I exhibited at Pittenweem with my besty arty friend @jenrobsonartist and am looking forward to exhibiting again this year. I exhibited at Handmade in Edinburgh @handmadebritain which was a very high profile show. I made lots of new creative friends and opened my work up to a new audience of clients.
I still continued to do social media posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, but I didn’t write many blog posts, so I hope to change this, in 2018. Although I find social media challenging, it does have it’s good aspects. Here’s me thinking I didn’t get much done last year, due to wedding planning. But then I looked through my social media profiles to get some inspiration for writing this blog post and then I saw everything that I did last year. I need to learn to appreciate everything that I have achieved, big and small.
In my personal life, I rocked out at lots of gigs, saw Guns N Roses in London, went on holiday to Venice. Took up Zumba and started Yoga again. But most magical of all, I got married to my soul mate and best friend and became Mrs Davidson. We had a such amazing honeymoon in Thailand and has made me rethink about how we live our lives, treat our animals and the environment. I will write a blog post about my experience in Thailand and a new project which I am thinking of doing.