Friends always seem to assume that because you're at home all day that you're probably sitting at ease with a dry martini watching past episodes of "Friends" and maybe doing a bit of work occasionally. But people who work at home for themselves probably work harder and work longer hours than people at work! Believe it or not, I work more or less continuously from 7 in the morning to about 10 at night.



The first thing I do every day is to check my e mails and see if there are orders or enquiries and then go to my workroom and look at the glorious mess! I suppose some people would be horrified by the untidy state but when you're working hard you have to concentrate on creating something rather than being tidy. I work mainly with wire so at one end of my table I have reels of wire - hundreds of metres of fine silver , sterling silver and gold fill wire. Also all the various tools that I use litter the table - the most important a crochet hook for weaving the wire.

Then I have to decide what I need to do that day. It might be an order that's due. I tell people that orders might take a month but I can get them done quicker than that. Some people aren't bothered about speed - brides often order a tiara months in advance so I have to be organised and write it down. The best place for remembering things is my calendar on the internet browser - it even sends me an e mail to remind me when orders are due!

Most of the work I do is repetitious. I exhibit at craft fairs and exhibitions and there are "best sellers" which people expect you to have in their size so you have to maintain a healthy stock. After a while I tend to break off the routine work and try out a new design or a variation. It's not all life on the treadmill!

As I said , most of my work is with wire and of the silver wires , I prefer to work with fine silver wire which is 999 pure - it does not contain copper like sterling silver. Because of the purity you can burn the ends of the wire to create a ball of pure silver - and it won't go black like sterling silver. I weave with my crochet hook to create rings , bracelets and necklaces and often incorporate the silver balls into the design. If I need a stronger wire I will use sterling silver. The copper content makes it harder so I tend to use this in tiaras and some bracelets to give a stronger finish.

My favourite wire though , is gold fill wire. This is a tube of 14ct gold that has an inner core of jeweller's brass. The gold content is 100 times thicker than gold plate and it won't wear off , doesn't cause allergies and best of all , it's a lot cheaper than solid gold. What you see is 14ct gold and the colour is superb.

Another product I work with is PMC (Precious Metal Clay) silver. This amazing product is a by-product of the computer industry. Scraps of fine silver are mixed with a binder to form a clay. You then work with the clay to form whatever shape you want and you then have to burn off the binder in a kiln. I buy the PMC in small airtight packets and model designs with pastry cutters , say to a heart shape. I might add some texture or some cubic zirconia. The heat in the kiln burns off the binder and shrinks the piece slightly - you have to allow for this. It is expensive and you have be selective in how you use it but it does give you options.

Luckily , my husband's a good cook so I can continue working until the magic phrase "Dinner's ready". Strangely a glass or two of wine doesn't stop me making things! In fact , some of my best ideas come after a good bottle of Bordeaux..

Jacqui Cartman

http://www.zinniajewellery.co.uk