behind the scenes
my workshed
hello!
I'm Tracy Smith, the person behind Cinnamon Jewellery. I live and work in Eastbourne, a small seaside town on the south east coast in the UK. I'm lucky enough to live 2 minutes away from the beach and on the edge of the South Downs National Park.
I'm in charge of designing, making, photographing, marketing, packing and shipping the handmade jewellery you see on this website.
it started with my thing about earrings.....
I began making jewellery to sell in 2004 after seeing handmade earrings online and wondering how hard it would be to try doing that myself. From creating basic earrings and bracelets using mass produced findings and beads I gradually started to use my own ideas for designs and learned various jewellery making techniques including wirework, cold connections, metal stamping and copper and sterling silver etching. Torch enamelling and soldering soon followed and after taking jewellery night classes I learned how to set stones using bezels and tube settings.
I create handmade sterling silver, copper and bronze metalwork jewellery and torch and kiln fired and enamel pieces made with care and attention to detail. Earrings and bangles are my main focus but pendants do put in an occasional appearance too.
As well as harnessing the wonders of metal and fire to make my jewellery I also like to include other elements such as semi-precious beads and cabochons, lampwork glass beads and freshwater pearls.
I'm very fond of texture and a lot of my silver and copper designs feature textured and patterned metal. This is achieved through etching the pattern onto the metal or by using a rolling mill to impress the design into the metal. Oxidizing the copper, bronze and sterling silver really highlights the textures and patterns and gives a lovely antique patina to the metal.
if you love jewellery with a difference...
...with a touch of colour, that's well made and quite unlike the jewellery you see on the high street, I hope you will enjoy having a look around my website. I love learning new techniques therefore my jewellery is constantly evolving as I incorporate new ideas into my designs. I'm not a fan of churning out the same designs all the time so you will find my pieces are varied and ever-changing.