One Christmas present finished, many still to go

Further to an earlier blog about the dilemma of giving your own hand crafted gifts to family and wondering if they're thoroughly sick of your work, or actually value the effort you've made higher than bought presents, I have now finished the silver bracelet I was contemplating at that time - and have another different design in progress too.

Of the two bracelets made in copper, this was the heavier one.
Please click on the photos to see better versions.

The original idea was for an open loop-in-loop bracelet in Sterling silver and I started by trying the structure in copper first, liked the results, so then made a couple of finished bracelets in copper - I find working on a specific finished project far more worthwhile as a learning exercise than just tinkering with a part-made prototype.

Both copper bracelets together, heavily antiqued.

The finished bracelet in Sterling silver -
it is the same size as the smaller copper one.

I have now pretty much finished the silver version, save for some last minute inspection and polishing. I'm very happy with the results and definitely thankful that I'd already snagged the design and honed all the measurements and shapes in copper, as silver is slightly harder to work with in some respects and what I learned earlier potentially saved some costly wasting of material.


Unfortunately it has worked out heavier than I'd hoped when finished and will be too heavy to make to sell without being hallmarked, so that is something for the future.

Now all I have to do is hope that she likes it.