Design@HEART

Diana Lambert is the designer and maker behind Silver and Sparkle. She’s been in business for more than ten years, designing, primarily, sterling silver jewellery. She exhibits and sells her work through galleries across the UK, online, and at art and craft events and Country shows, mostly in the north of England.

“I had a 20 year career in IT, one of my final jobs being Head of IT for a major financial institution. I did some evening classes as a means of escaping the stress of my job, one of which was jewellery-making. Then I finally decided I wanted to get out of the corporate world, and start my own business. Deciding to give up my well-paid, secure ‘real’ job, and start up my own small business. It was very scary, but I wouldn’t go back in to the corporate world for anything.

“I tried various disciplines, but working in silver was what I found I enjoyed, and it was also something I can do in quite a small space (i.e. the spare room!) without huge amounts of equipment.

During the quieter Winter months after Christmas, I enjoy messing about with textiles as a break from silver.

“I use a variety of fairly traditional silver-smithing techniques – piercing, planishing, forming, texturing, soldering, polishing etc. I learnt the basic techniques at evening class and then the rest is pretty much self-taught, although each year I attend a week long residential Silversmithing course at West Dean College in West Sussex to hone my existing skills and learn new techniques

“I have a studio based at home. It’s just me doing everything so you have to be buyer, designer, maker, accountant, stock taker, web designer, administrator, market researcher etc all in one! The biggest challenge is finding the right market for your work and making any kind of sensible living!

What I enjoy most about my work is being my own boss and meeting customers at shows and events – it can be a be isolating working on your own for yourself, so it’s good to get out to meet not only customers, but fellow makers.”