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Aimi – Designer / Silversmith
Aimi has been in the jewellery trade for over twenty-five years. What started out as a hobby, quickly became a passion and after completing a two-year Jewellery Making and Design course, Aimi knew that silversmithing was the right career for her.In 1996 she started her business Silver Shadows, with a grant from The Prince’s Trust, making contemporary silver jewellery. She took on a unit at a local craft centre and enjoyed making jewellery on site for the visitors to see. Then, taking a break to have children, she continued to silversmith at weekends and in any spare time that she could find. Picking up a wealth of knowledge, techniques and valuable experience over the years, she moved with the times and mastered the art of silver clay.
In 2012 she launched two new businesses and Silver Handprints and Silver Paws were created. After a few years, the admin time and overheads of running three websites became a bit of a chore and, when a genius suggested streamlining Silver Handprints, Silver Paws and Silver Shadows Jewellery all in one website it all made perfect sense. The ‘inSilver’ website was created, a jewellery boutique with a modern feel.
In 2018, Aimi tested jewellery making experience days for friends which were very successful, and this quickly became another facet of inSilver. She designed a range of rings and bangles that were achievable for a complete beginner to make. Since then, she had welcomed hundreds of clients into her workshop, wanting to try their hand at making a piece of silver jewellery, some even making their own wedding bands in gold. Aimi loved watching their sense of achievement grow during every step of the making process, until the end of the session, when they had a piece of jewellery that they were immensely proud of.
Aimi continued to make high quality handprint, fingerprint and paw print jewellery. It served her well and she worked alongside local funeral directors to create treasured memorial jewellery. When the manufacturers of the sterling silver clay ceased trading in 2023, she tested other brands, and they weren’t to the high standard as expected. Later that year, she decided to close the imprint jewellery side of the business.
At the end of April 2024, Aimi held her final jewellery making workshop in Leicestershire and relocated to Folkestone in Kent, to achieve her lifelong passion of living by the sea. She is currently trading at one of the beach huts at Folkestone Harbour, the popular tourist attraction leading onto the Harbour Arm.
You can see Aimi at her workbench hand making jewellery for stock and commissions. Aimi’s passion for jewellery has stayed with her and she loves having the freedom to concentrate on the contemporary jewellery which has an artier and more creative feel to it. She has recently invested in training courses in both gemmology and advanced stone setting and plans to incorporate more gemstones and fine jewellery into her collections. Aimi’s style has evolved over the years, but she is still drawn like a Magpie, to the combination of shiny metals and sparkly stones.
Every item on the website is made by Aimi from start to finish, with her sharp eye for quality and detail you are guaranteed to be wearing a special piece of jewellery!
