New Bangles With Dangles

Preparing for a couple of upcoming holiday shows has me busy at my workbench,
building up my inventory.

In addition to the cuffs that I recently made,
a request came in for more bangles.
Part of my stash of recycled copper wire was pulled out for the job.

Most of the wire used for the bangles is a pretty hefty 10 gauge.

At that thickness, 

I have a difficult time manipulating the wire into shapes 

other than large circles or straight links....

perfect for bangles.

Each bangle has a wire wrapped briolette dangle of amethyst, amazonite or moonstone.

Once the dangles were attached,

I decided that the brightness of the copper was just way too bright,

so the liver of sulfur 

(or sulphur)

came out.

Those who make jewelry will probably know that a can of liver of sulfur 

might last for the length of ones' career....

unless moisture invades.

I had one of those cans of liver of sulfur for years 

and was always very careful to tightly secure the lid 

after very carefully removing a chip of the sulfur.

This level of carefulness worked well 

until it didn't.

When I prepared to treat some pieces of jewelry a few years ago,

I opened the can of sulfur and immediately saw that it had gone bad.

In spite of precautions that I had taken,

I found myself with a can of useless, 

somewhat smelly, rocks.

I immediately ordered more liver of sulfur.

Instead of a can,

I received a small, plastic container with a red lid.

I removed enough of the sulfur to treat a collection of jewelry pieces, 

replaced the red lid 

and put the plastic container away.

A week later,

I prepared to treat some more jewelry 

and found that this second container had gone bad as well.

This second disappointment luckily coincided with

BeadFest being in town.

I put liver of sulfur on my shopping list of supplies

and chose to buy the gel form.

I've now had this container for several years with no problems 

other than the inherent stinkiness.

The copper bangles turned to the expected blackness.

Sulfur success!

After wiping the bangles with a soft cotton rag,

they were cleaned with a fine grit sanding block.

Much improved, 

and my Bangles with Dangles are ready for the holidays.

Cuff Happy

After taking a long break from making cuffs,
I got a request for more cuffs.

Oh, the peculiar nature of things.

A few years ago,
I had discovered the techniques of fold forming
and was almost giddy with delight as I powered my way through the forming and shaping
of brass, bronze and copper cuffs.

Then....

not much happened.

While my cuffs generated a healthy amount of interest,

they did not generate a healthy number of sales.

Cuffs can be tricky.

They either fit well or they do not fit at all

which can make them a hard sell.

While I felt pride in the work I was doing,

I just couldn't justify keeping my focus on something that was not helping me to make money.

This may be another exercise in frustration,

but it's kind of fun getting back to the aggressive hammering required for fold forming.

I cut some blanks from a sheet of brass....

annealed and began folding and forming.

The 18 gauge brass that I used hardened quickly,

so I had to anneal numerous times.

Even with the repeated annealing,

the brass was a bear to manipulate.

I began shaping with a sinusoidal stake,

and was not able to get too far beyond that beginning.

I decided that was not a problem
since the limited forming on the stake
still resulted in a subtle, anticlastic curve that I find quite lovely.

No pickling was done
since I wanted to keep the natural patina that formed with the annealings,
but I did clean up the raised folding lines to create surface contrast.

Displaying cuffs has always been a bit of a challenge for me.

If I want them to sell,

the cuffs need to be viewed in a favorable setting
that hopefully makes them enticing.

A few months ago, I found a small box with 12 compartments at a local thrift store.

Priced at $2.00,
I was pretty sure I could figure out a way to repurpose the box.

Although the box was designed to be used in a vertical format,

I realized that in a horizontal format,

the compartments would be perfect niches for my cuffs.

To become compatible with the other pieces that I already use in my display,

I cut cubby-sized sections of foamboard

and covered them with cream colored burlap.

After painting the box white,

the burlap inserts were set in place.

And there you go.....

a proper cuff display.

More cuffs on the way!