Copper Bracelet Set-back, or, Oops, I Made a Boo-boo

I was doing so well yesterday ... I had started off by deciding to go ahead and make an etched toggle to match the bracelet, so I cut some copper pieces and got them into the acid.

I began drilling holes, stopping off and on to help customers, etc. Then my pieces were ready to come out of the acid, so I stopped the hole-drilling (so tedious) and started on the toggle. I sawed out the center of the toggle ring, smoothed all the rough edges, and set out to solder a loop onto the back of the toggle bar. Naturally, that took way longer than expected. But here is my cute custom toggle (it still needs to be tumbled):

 etched copper toggle

etched copper toggle

Once the toggle was finished, I started drilling (and filing) holes again. There are a LOT of holes on this bracelet!

With 3 pieces remaining, I started drilling this piece:

copper connector before the drilling accident

and this happened:

oops - drilled too close to the edge!

I got too close to the edge, and there is just no working around this.

After some chosen words, I cut a new piece, prepped it and stamped it, and packed up for home.

This morning, I plopped the newly stamped piece in the acid, and I just hope it looks like the rest of the pieces when it is done (same degree of etching, same patina with the liver of sulfur, etc.) - it's nice to make all the components of a particular jewelry design at the same time, to try to control all these variables. Oh, well!

So, while my new connector is etching, I listed 2 pairs of the earrings I made last weekend on Etsy:

Copper heart earrings: available in my Etsy shop

Copper Zentangle Earrings: available in my Etsy shop

Stay tuned for further adventures in copper bracelet-making! And I'll also reveal more of the pieces I made last weekend!

Drop me a comment and tell me about some of your boo-boos!

Copper Bracelet WIP update

I didn't get much accomplished yesterday, at least as far as jewelry-making is concerned.

I got my "paper bracelet" laid out (above pic) and started marking my hole placements. The glass cabochon is still not set.

Here's another look at the paper version - they're pretty similar!

Today, I hope to get the holes drilled, and the sections connected. I'm contemplating etching another piece of copper with the same pattern, and making a matching toggle and bar. Maybe. I also need to set the glass cab, but we'll see what develops.... My plans somehow always seem to go awry, so I don't want to put too much on my To Do list!

Cold Connections Weekend

I spent Saturday, Sunday, and Monday teaching a Cold Connections workshop, and we all had a really fun time - but I am absolutely exhausted!

Here is a bit of what I accomplished, in between teaching duties - a lot of these pieces still need finishing touches like some jumprings, or earwires - etc., but all the metalwork is done:

busy metal workshop weekend!

This was just a quickie pic - I have a lot of post-workshop clean up to do today, and once everything is back in order, I'll sit down and finish these pieces, and take better photos (many of these will end up on Etsy). I'll post better pics and more details about each piece as the week goes on.

Here is another WIP from this weekend (naturally, it started out as a paper mock-up:

my paper bracelet

I started freehand drawing the individual sections on Saturday, adjusting their sizes and shape so that the finished bracelet would be the proper length. I knew I wanted to use one of my Picasso fused glass cabochons as the centerpiece.

I didn't even finish all the little paper segments the first day, and every time I got up to help a student, the pieces would get blown around and lost under other stuff. I'd sit back down, and wonder aloud where my "paper bracelet" had gotten to, so pretty soon everyone had taken to calling it the "paper bracelet."

Some time Sunday I finished the paper model, and took them home with the shears and the sheet copper, so I could get them all cut out.

center segment of the "paper bracelet" - stamped and ready for etching

This is the center copper segment - this is the pattern I etched on all the pieces.

I got them sanded, stamped, and into the acid yesterday morning, and was starting to set the cabochon as class ended last night. I still need to finish the stone setting, and punch holes in all the links for jump rings, and figure out what kind of clasp I'm going to use. So this one is a little bit away from being finished. I'll post some more pics of its progress later this week.

Have a great day - I'm off to put away all my "toys" and clean up! 

10 chances

lightning striking the Statue of Liberty September 22, 2010

I picked up 5 MegaMillions tickets and 5 PowerBall tickets this morning on the way to work. According to a large number of sources (which I will not cite here) I have a better chance of being struck by lightning than I do of winning the lottery.

Well ... tell it to Lady Liberty. I'm pretty sure* I purchased the winning ticket. So don't even bother buying any for yourself! Save your money!



*as in, not sure at all.

Tangle Tuesday, and a bead show

We almost didn't have a Tangle Tuesday this week .... stay tuned for details (below). But I knew how you guys LIVE for seeing my weekly tangles, so I just had to come through for you :)

To begin with, I used something I call an "amoeboid string." It meanders around with lots of enfolding loops, similar to the pseudopodia on an amoeba. I really like the way it turned out!

Some of the tangles I used here include:

• static
• corn rows
• zewm
• waves
• warped eggs
• Hollibaugh
• aura

Last week was crazy - I was out sick Tuesday and Wednesday (sorry beaders - bead shop closed) with a killer 3-day migraine - I had it Monday, too - on my day off :(

It was one of those bad, bad headaches where it hurts too bad to sleep, and you can't concentrate. Can't watch TV, can't read, can't work on the computer. And SO much nausea. You just kinda want to die after a day or so ... much less, 3 days.

Then a crazy busy day Thursday at the bead shop, and then the bead shop was closed (again) so we could road trip to the big Franklin Gem and Mineral (BEAD!!!) show - where more craziness ensued.

It was interesting to see all the new beads, and what beads are trendy: the big thing was gemstone rounds with a "belt" of pave rhinestones set around the widest part of their circumference. These were absolutely everywhere, in every color imaginable. I finally asked one of the vendors what they were called, since I haven't even seen these in the beading magazines. He said "agate." (In my head, I said, "thanks, Sherlock") - I'm sure these trendy paved beads have a name, but you won't learn it from me! (I just searched Google, and can't even find a pic of them.) I actually thought they were the next closest thing to tacky, and didn't buy any of them. Not a single strand (which means they'll be on the front page of Bead & Button next month, and 250 people will be asking for them before the month is over.) But I got hundreds, and hundreds, and thousands, of other cool beads, focals, and findings! I'll have to take some pics and post them here!

I spent all day Saturday and Sunday restringing and pricing them, and will now be spending however long it takes to get representative samples of ALL of them put out in the shop.

So that is why we almost didn't have a tangle today - I seriously did not think I would finish on Sunday, and would be at it all day yesterday (Monday, which is my tangling day). But I was on a streak, and my DVR was storing Once Upon a Time, Revenge (2 hours!), Mad Men, and some other stuff WHILE I was watching Celebrity Apprentice (Go, Penn!) - so I just kept watching recorded stuff while stringing and pricing, and before I new it, I was on the last show (Mad Men), I priced the last strand, with 15 minutes of Mad Men left to watch - and it was 4:30AM.

Finished Mad Men (wherein Don Draper is more of a shit than EVER before), went to bed, slept very late, and finally got up. And tangled!

Have a great week - enjoy the tangle, as there most definitely won't be one NEXT Tuesday, because I am teaching a 3-day Cold Connections workshop this Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Crazy!

Tangle Tuesday

No strings - I tangled this one without drawing a string first.

Brass Byzantine Earrings and Bracelet: companion pieces

Remember the pretty chainmaille necklace I designed as part of the 5x5 challenge?

I had a few tourmaline nuggets left over, and quite a few brass jumprings, so what's a girl to do?

Make matching bracelet and earrings!

Brass Byzantine bracelet with tourmaline links and dangle

Brass Byzantine earrings with tourmaline dangles

The bracelet and earrings are available separately in my Etsy shop.