I'm studying jewellery-making on the intensive, two-year Goldsmithing and Jewellery Skills Course run by the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland in the Design Yard, Kilkenny. This blog is the record of my continuing jewellery education. It’s been quite a journey getting to this point. I studied sculpture some years ago in Crawford College of Art and Design, Cork, followed by an MA in Design History and Material Culture at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. I then decamped to London to find employment at the V&A Museum and Dulwich Picture Gallery, but the call of object-making became too strong to resist and I started to do short courses in jewellery-making in my spare time at Morley College, where I became completely hooked on all things metal related. After spending years living in London myself and my other half Ollie moved to Italy for six months where he did academic things at the University of Bologna and I attended the Metallo Nobile jewellery school in Florence. This blog started out as my diary for the time that we spent in Italy, and was a way to keep track of my progress on a number of fronts – learning how to make jewellery, learning Italian and learning more about everyday life in Italy. Now I’m starting the next chapter of my jewellery adventure in Kilkenny and I’ve decided to resurrect the old blog. Hopefully making jewellery in Kilkenny will be as rewarding as it was in Italy!