A New Chainmaille Coif From Tangled Metal

I have been making a lot of chainmaille lately and neglecting my blog. The above image is a new galvanized steel trimmed in copper coif with split camail or mantle. It weighs in at around 6 1/2 pounds. That makes it weigh almost as much as the chainmaille from the old days.

Chainmaille has been a passion of mine for over 27 years. I have made a lot of chainmaille in those years and I plan to make a lot more in the future.

Not Quite Inside The Box

I make a lot of unique items in my Etsy Shop but I also have a few of the more mainstream items like above. It is sometimes difficult to get a following for a unique style of jewelry. One day I hope to have more people looking at my unique items and less time looking at the stuff I do that many others do. Here is an example of one of my different pieces:

This pendant has actual moving gears. Well, it has no power source but you can turn the gears. It is quite different than the norm. I had a lot of fun making it and think it turned out pretty well. I will be making more jewelry that has moving gears. 

Here is another example of my less than normal items. It is hand cut copper and brass. The copper is also hand textured. I enjoy taking something and putting my own spin on it.

As you can see, I do not blog too regularly. I am still trying to work on that but I did just open a retail location and that is taking a lot of my time these days. I am working on a schedule that will allow for more blogging. Until then, enjoy the random blog posts!

Tangled Metal and The Curious Crow Retail Location

Going to go sign the lease agreement today! The name of the shop is The Curious Crow and as you can see we will have Art, Jewelry and some Vintage items. Very exciting times! I will let you know more about the shop once we have more in place! In the meantime, I have added a lot of new Steampunk items to the shop at http://TangledMetal.etsy.com

Tangled Metal and The Curious Crow

It is official! Tangled Metal and The Curious Crow are opening a retail location in Eureka Springs, Arkansas! We stumbled into a deal we just could not pass up. It is a small shop but I think we can do very well there.  More details will be posted as I have them.

Broken Saw Blues

The jeweler's saw is an integral part of all that I make, from chainmail to steampunk. Yesterday in mid-creation my saw died. I was able to use my backup saw to finish. The backup saw is an older one that is broken as well and will not be good enough to become my primary saw.

Tools are expensive. Let me rephrase, good tools are expensive. A lot of people do not take tools into consideration when looking at the price of a handmade item. Some tools are one time purchases and pay for themselves through the life of the tool. Other tools are disposable, like saw blades, because they wear out and break.

So, I now have to buy a new jeweler's saw and I think I would like to buy a really good one. The problem is one to get me by for another few months is $15 and a really good one is $90. So, I am offering a 15% discount for nay item in my shop on my Facebook Page for Tangled Metal Go "Like" the page for more info.

That is all for today, wish me luck!

Goodbye ArtFire...

I recently said goodbye to ArtFire. I just was not getting the traffic or sales that Etsy has done. So now it is just Etsy for me and perhaps in the future I will add direct sales from my site.

Anyway, that is all for now. I will try and give a full update int he next few days.

Blogging Isn't Always Easy!

I have not blogged in some time. This is something I am going to have to try to get into the habit of again. I have been working on some new designs. I am learning some new techniques. It is both fun and frustrating. I thought learning to solder would be easy. 

Over the next couple of weeks I will be revamping my Etsy shop: http://TangledMetal.etsy.com I will be taking new photos, changing the overall look of the shop, and adding a lot of new items. I hope you like the changes.

Anyhow, a short blog today because I need to finish up an order and get it shipped out. See you tomorrow, I hope...