Cinnamon Jewellery

It's that time of year again and I've been MIA for the last couple of weeks as far as writing blog posts is concerned. After a slow start {and a little bit of complaining to friends on my part} my Etsy shop and website got really busy with lots of bangle orders and quite a lot of earring and findings sales too. It's great but I'm always a bit relieved when it's over and I can put my shops on holiday. I already have lots of ideas for new jewellery for next year and despite enjoying the break I'm already  feeling some metalwork withdrawal symptoms so I'm not sure how long I will be able to stay out of my jewellery shed! Wishing everyone who reads and comments on my blog a very Merry Christmas!  The fact that you are reading my jewellery ramblings is very much appreciated :D Copyright © 2015 Cinnamon Jewellery. All rights reserved.

photo courtesy of Andy Beal Photography www.govisithawaii.com After what has felt like weeks of making made to order bangles and findings, deleting items sold on one site from the other two sites they are also listed on, packing orders and printing postage labels, walking to the post box, and dealing with queries, the Christmas rush is now over..... or at least it will be when I get one last bangle made and in the post by the end of today. This has been my best Christmas selling-wise so far. My copper and silver bangles have been a big hit so I'm so glad I had a go at making a bangle in jewellery class last year when I didn't know what else to make! Now it's just the pre-Christmas induced twitchiness of "can you tell me when my order will arrive?" type of queries to deal with. I've had three so far and after reassuring the buyers that their item should turn up soon and asking them to be patient (nicely) two have turned up and the other (in Franc...

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 q...