All Bangled Out!

Yes it really has been a bangle-tastic very busy run up to Christmas in my Etsy shop and website with my copper and silver poppy bangle sets and singles proving to be the most popular choice with my buyers. Every time I checked my emails there would be one or two more bangle orders! I don't know what was going on but it certainly kept me busy for what felt like weeks. I counted up my bangle sales and discovered I'd made 103 bangles between the 1st November and 16th December. That together with made to order findings and earring sales {the earrings already made thankfully} I was starting to feel a little bit frazzled. And I still needed to do some more Christmas shopping and start writing my Christmas cards and do the ironing and lots of other very important stuff.....

As it got nearer to the cut off dates for Christmas posting to the US and within the UK I remembered what happened last Christmas with a few buyers wondering where their items were/could I make and send their order in the same day {yes, just!} and one bangle that was frantically ordered over the phone two days before Christmas. It was a scramble but thankfully everything arrived. But I just didn't want to do that again this year so I deactivated the bangle listings in my Etsy shop on the 16th.  Then the following evening I got a message on Etsy wondering what had happened to them ☺I explained but then gave in when the buyer politely asked if I could just do one more for him....... He was very grateful but that was definitely it and I then put my Etsy shop on holiday and removed the shopping basket from my website.
  And heaved a sigh of relief.

This silver bangle with coil decoration was another popular choice this Christmas

I had planned on closing on the 24th for a couple of weeks to have a break and make some new stuff but I started to feel that if I saw another order for bangles I might just climb up onto the roof of my shed and throw myself off. Have no doubt I am so grateful for all the sales but I really need a break!!

So now I have some time to myself. I've got my cards written and the presents bought and went out for a boozy lunch with my friend. I've done those boring chores that needed doing. I also had time to unpack a little treat I bought myself recently. It had been sitting on the dining room table for about a week while I was still in the midst of my mad bangling session. It's this.....

The Premium Pepe disc cutter. Quite expensive {say it quietly} compared to the economy versions I already own but it's a real beauty and it came with a set of centre finding punches which means I'll be able to make my own washers. I haven't got round to trying it yet but soon will!

 Even though my shop is closed I can't quite wean myself off Etsy and have been spending a bit of time on the forum reading lots of posts from sellers about their buyers complaining their item hadn't arrived yet and wanting a refund and one seller with 80 open orders two days before the cut off posting date who seemed quite chilled about it {complete madness!} I am quite happy that I can forget about all of that stuff for a while....although there is a chance I might still get an email from a buyer in America wondering if her last minute order will arrive before Christmas.....

I like this time of year as a lot of my jewellery that's been around for a while does tend to sell so it always inspires me to come up with some new designs for earrings and bangles and I also want to make more of the sgraffito enamel designs that I haven't had time to do yet and try again with resin. Having this spare time is dangerous though as I find things online that look interesting and I feel the need to try. The latest is anticlastic forming and I already have a stake and set of hammers lined up to buy "soon"........

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Silver And Copper Bangles With Coils

My continuing love for making bangles now includes bangles with added coils. It's one of the things I attempted with the very first bangle I made a few months ago....

I tried to solder the coils using paste solder on this one as I thought it would be easier but it just didn't work - the paste solder just burnt and formed a lump and refused to flow so I went back to using strip solder. That worked better but positioning the tiny pallions was a bit tricky "back then" and I ended up with a bangle a little bit out of round.

Since then I've learned to pick solder which makes life so much easier! Pick soldering is basically melting the solder into a ball which will then stick to your soldering pick meaning you can position it in tricky spots more easily. Once your metal is up to the correct temperature you place the ball of solder on the join and it flows immediately (in theory!) It doesn't always flow immediately but it will stay in place and is a much quicker way to solder than positioning small pieces of strip solder on an awkward join then watching them slide off as the flux bubbles. I use this method to solder all my bangle joins and to solder on the coils on my new bangles.

 The oxidized sterling silver version three of which I am (yes I really am) going to make for myself "soon" and a copper and silver version...

Excitement Alert!!
I'm very pleased to announce I am now the proud owner of a rolling mill. Yes! I have one at last and it's a Durston! Ever since I discovered rolling mills and what you could do with them I have coveted one but a look at the prices soon changed my mind and I made do with other ways of texturing my metal. I have been using the rolling mill at the night class I go to but the rollers aren't properly aligned so you only get half a texture most of the time. I did ask the teacher if it could be sorted but apparently they can't fix it so that kind of pushed me into thinking about getting my own rolling mill.

It was then a case of arguing with myself over whether to get one of the cheaper versions or to splurge and go for a Durston. I didn't want to get a cheaper one and regret it but the Durstons are so expensive and I didn't know where I was going to put it when I was using it or where it would go when I wasn't. Not having a workroom or bench causes problems like this! I don't have anywhere to fix it permanently but decided to worry about that when it arrived. So I went for a Durston in the end as a reward for not smoking for over a year now. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit I smoked in the first place to be honest as it's such a stupid thing to do but I've stopped and I feel so much better for it plus I've saved myself over £2,500 that would have gone on fags in the last year or so. So spending nearly £400 on a rolling mill was sweetened a little by that thought at least.

Here it is - I solved the fixing it in position problem by using two G-clamps and attaching it to the worktop in the kitchen. That really is the only place I can use it but it's very sturdily fixed and quite safe to use. I need to open the cupboard door to attach the clamps but I didn't think you would want to see the contents of my cupboard :D

It works wonderfully evenly and I've tried out a couple of leaf skeletons on copper and silver which came out really well. I know it's going to get a lot of use and I am thinking of selling textured copper discs in the future too.
As for somewhere to keep it when I'm not using it or gazing at it lovingly... I have acquired part of another cupboard in the sideboard. Me and my jewellery making equipment are slowly taking over.........

Handmade Copper Bangles

Not usually something that crosses my radar being a committed earring freak, strangely I had a sudden urge a couple of weeks ago to make some bangles. I made the first one at night school as I needed something to do in the last couple of weeks that wouldn't take too long. I enjoyed making it - it was a hammered round bangle made from 2.6mm copper wire which I soldered three coils of thinner wire to.

 I soon discovered that soldering the coils onto it meant I couldn't reshape it. I used paste solder for the coils as I thought it would be easier but two attempts and some burnt blobby messes later I went back to sheet solder which worked. In the meantime the bracelet had been bent out of shape slightly plus it needed a good hammering to work harden it as it was a little "bendy" having been well annealed with my soldering attempts!

So having learned what not to do - I never got on with paste solder so why I used it I don't know! - I bought a bracelet mandrel and made a few more -

They are made from 2.6mm and 3.25mm copper wire and are textured with a hammer and stamped designs. Really fun and easy to make.

The twisted wire bangles were a bit more work. I rolled the wire through the rolling mill at college then twisted the flattened wire using a vice and big pair of pliers. Matching the join and soldering was a challenge - I discovered that wedging the solder in the join was the best bet as it had a habit of sliding round the twist as I started to heat up the wire. Thinking about it now pick soldering the join probably would've been a better option and even easier!