I heart Mondays

For today's post, I'm going to revisit this cute bracelet I made following directions from Australian Beading magazine:

The heart was a lot harder to make than I thought it would be. In fact, I made about five before I was happy enough with one for the bracelet. I couldn't part with the rejects, though -- they weren't good enough for the bracelet, but they were still appealing in a rustic sort of way.

I wasn't sure how this project would go, so I used German jewelry wire (silver-plated copper) instead of sterling silver to practice. I loved making the "garage-door" links. I was lazy with the jump rings, because I was eager to get the project done.

When I was finished, I loved the project, and wished I had made it in sterling. After a few days of wearing it, one of the connectors snapped. I am sure this is because the metal hardened too much as I was working with it and became brittle. (I have a tendency to get carried away with the hammering and texturing stage, plus the wire wrapping with a gauge this large -- 16? -- requires some wrasseling.) Then, it couldn't stand up to the action a bracelet gets during the course of a few days. So now, this sad little bracelet is in a pile on my work table. I can't bring myself to get rid of it until I recreate it in sterling.

Lessons learned? I'm really not a prototype person. If I'm going to make something, I should just go ahead and make it the right way, the first time. Pay more attention to the little details (jump rings) and have a lighter hand with the texturing.

Hmm. I have the urge to find some wire...