A Sassy Conspiracy

I finished up some new items for my shop last night – two bamboo tile bracelets with vintage images. The first features a series of Japanese landscapes, which have a really beautiful colour palette. I think the colours would work well with nearly any outfit, though it’d be really striking with black. The second is a series of Tenniel’s illustrations from Alice in Wonderland. The black and white is very graphic, and I think this one would look great worn with a bright colour (red!). Both are made with bamboo tiles and silver-plated wire. I’d like to try this with a 16guage sterling wire (cost permitting) because working with silver plate presents certain challenges – this weight of wire (in plate anyways) is a little difficult to bend and very easy to mar with plyers or by over working it. I end up wasting some wire when I don’t get it right the first time. A good set of nylon grip plyers might save some hassle too. Getting a really nice finish on the tiles is still a pain – I’ve tested a few methods so far and I still prefer the high gloss spray varnish for giving the most even coating and best shine. However, I’m sure this stuff is rather unhealthy and given that it’s winter, I have to spray it indoors (though I do it in the basement). I think the end product is worth it though, so I will probably look into a painter’s mask at some point.

I think the Japanese landscapes are my favorite so far of this style of bracelet. Its very soothing to look at :)