Settling In

A week on and were all settling in to our holiday routine. I felt it best to put my new routine to one side as I wouldn't be able to follow it and it would only stress me and the kids. So rather than fight it created a new one with some creative time added in.

So today I was able to get out to the shed for a few hours and finish up a few pieces I already had on the go. This first one is the bracelet that I mentioned in the last post.

You wouldn't believe the trouble this has caused. Firstly my Archimedes drill was too small for the drill bit that I wanted to use, my rotary tool was too fast so the bit jumped and scratched one of the squares so deep that I had to cut another. Luckily Jo had a bow drill that I was able to borrow and the holes were no longer a worry.

There started the jump ring palaver, firstly the rings were too small, so I made some more but mistakenly used the wrong width wire, so then I made some using the right wire and that were the right size but once id soldered them was obvious that they needed to be oval or elongated, luckily I was able to change the rings in situ.

I cleaned it all up gave it a good polish but for some reason I wasn't happy about it, I'm not sure if it was because of all the time I had spent on it that it had lost its magic or that I just didn't like it but there was just something that didn't seem right. After leaving it for a while and asking a few people about it I decided that it need to add two more squares so needed to rework it and finally I like it. Isn't it funny how things that you plan to make can be the hardest to bring to life.

I'm really proud of this next piece as its completely made by me apart from lobster clasp. The chain took a while but it was a learning curve as its the first chain I've made. Although I think the links are a little large for the centre daisy there is something about it that I REALLY do like, it just works.