Much
to my amazement and delight, I got an email from Cookson Gold saying I’d won
their August Shopping Spree competition from their new magazine! The prize was
a hefty £200 worth of products from their website which I had the luxury of
choosing!
Obviously,
I was ecstatic at the thought of free Cookson goodies – amazing to get a good
boost to my small-but-growing workshop and treat myself to some things I wouldn’t
normally have the money to get.
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| Cheesy shot of me with my winnings by my workbench |
Choosing what to get in my ‘spree’
I
was in a bit of a quandary trying to decide exactly what to get, and the right
balance of bullion to tools. Did I splash it all on one big item on my
wishlist, like a rolling mill? Or did I spend it all on silver sheet and wire,
to shore up raw materials before Christmas? Or did I buy lots of little things
to try and make the prize as big as possible?
I
ended up with a bit of a mixture – decided to buy some tools, some silver and
some little things. I’m especially happy with my new Knew piercing saw and
Vallorbe swiss needle file set – I own cheap versions of both these and being
able to upgrade for free to the best versions makes a huge difference, especially
as I use both these tools on every piece.
(I guess this is where all the advice about buying the best tools you can afford really rings true. I find the reality usually is, you can only afford basic because you need so many tools to start off with)
(I guess this is where all the advice about buying the best tools you can afford really rings true. I find the reality usually is, you can only afford basic because you need so many tools to start off with)
My prize...
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| So exciting - like Christmas! |
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| Lots of packaging inside the box... |
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| Yay, goodies! Tools at the top, silver at the bottom |
- Knew Concept saw
- Saw blades
- Vallorbe 6 needle file set
- 7 hole disc cutter
- 1.5mm letter punches
- Solder cutting pliers
- Iron binding wire
- Silver sheet in 0.5mm and 1mm
- Loose belcher chain
- Silver wire - selection of square and round
Thank you very much, Cookson!!
Great Prize! Well done.
ReplyDeleteAm I allowed to say that I'm really envious? My jewellery making is at the beading level but, although making necklaces and earrings that people want to wear gives me a huge thrill, I really want to work silver. Lots of silver. In all shapes and sizes.
ReplyDeleteI am building my tool kit and when the opportunity arises I will get some training but that is some distance down the road.
Despite the envy I wish you many happy and fulfilling hours and enough appreciation for your efforts to support your work in the future.
I look forward to reading more.
Big congratulations on winning! I would have had the same dilemma should I have won - buy just one thing (like you, I'd have been very tempted by a rolling mill) or lots of smaller items, including the holy grail of good quality tools!
ReplyDeleteI'm so pleased you're pleased with what you received - thanks for including the photos of the parcel and hope you have many productive hours with your goodies :-)
How fantastic! Congratulations :) I'm sure you'll have great fun playing with it all. I love piercework and the knew saws are so so pretty. Enjoy! Looking forward to hearing more about what you get up to with this lot.
ReplyDelete