Recently I had the absolute pleasure of hosting Albie in the studio for a full design-and-make session — the kind of day that reminds me why I do what I do.
Albie arrived with a very clear brief: he wanted to make a pig necklace for his grandma as a Christmas present. No vague ideas, no dithering. A pig. For grandma. Let’s go.
We started with the laser. We looked at the machine itself, what the different parts do, how it works, and the kinds of materials it can cut. We compared wood, acrylic and card, and looked at the difference between a cut, an engrave and a score. Albie was particularly fascinated by how the laser burns through wood but melts through acrylic — which is exactly the sort of detail that makes kids’ brains light up and then refuse to let it go.
Then came the drawing. I showed him some past students’ sketches and the finished pieces they became, and we talked about how his own lines would eventually turn into something you could hold. Albie chose his pig, pulled up a few reference pictures, and got stuck in. We talked about which lines would be cut, which would be engraved, what needed to stay connected so nothing fell out, and how wibbly lines are not only allowed but actively encouraged.
Once the drawing was done, we digitised it. I showed Albie how a sketch becomes a vector in Illustrator — the exact path the laser follows. It’s the technical bit, so while I tweaked the file he took a movement break, had some lunch, and came back ready for the next stage.
Over in the laser software, we talked speed, power, cut order, and what can go wrong if any of that’s off. Then Albie focused the laser, framed the job, pressed start, and out popped his pig — first in test wood, because testing is everything. We checked the size, the hole placement, how it would feel when worn. It was perfect, so we moved on.
For the final piece, Albie chose marble pink acrylic for the body and pink mirror for the ear — a cracking combination. We also made a point of using every bit of material. The negative space from the pig became star earrings for grandma and heart earrings for mum. Waste as a design choice. Always.
Assembly was fiddly, proper hands-on stuff. We talked about different bonding methods for different materials, chose the chain length, learned the names of the tools and what they’re for. Jewellery pliers are not built for small hands, but teamwork got us there.
We finished with the presentation — because what’s the point of a beautiful gift without a bit of ceremony. Albie helped design bespoke packaging, engraving “Albie made this” onto the card and creating custom necklace and earring cards.
If you would like to explore how a Design, Cut and Create day could benefit your child. Please don't hesitate to contact me at theladyandthelaserbeam@gmail.com