Custom Made Bead Bracelet

After putting a lot of work hours, this project has finally come to an end. I have learned a lot in the process and had lots of fun doing every single thing about it.

The customer wanted a rustic look for the silver, so I added a little bite of ammonia to darken the natural tone of the silver, then I sand it leaving some areas a little brigther than other, this will give a great volume and depth effect to the bead.

Here is the final result:

silver foxes, literally!

This will be heading to California this week in two awesome and very fashionable bracelets:

silver fox bracelets

The whole process of making beads is enchanting, and next week I will have my first Aleksei Skull Bracelet, I would probably make another post about it next week!

Casting process

Still have tons of work to do, but since time is precious I have to do it wisely, life has open me some doors with great opportunities, all of this is telling me that I am on the right path to succeed!

What is success? 

I will talk all about it on my next post :)

Free for All

It has been a while since the last time I posted, but I have a good reason, my office job has changed it's way of work so these past days have been very time consuming.

I started this week with some cool shots from Finland! It is so rewarding when customers show their love!

facing dragons

custom made spartan bracelet

Meanwhile at the jewelry workshop, tons of stuff are happening, good stuff!

Brass anchors and silver skull

New rubber molds are coming and new designs with them! Making my own beads it's what will eventually set me apart from others bracelet makers, what will make my brand special and unique.

But... workshop work is not the only work! (I wish!) showing the products is a great part of it, share them on all social media and make sure to reach as many people as possible. That's why it is so important to have a little fun!

 

"Don't let any part of your dream job to be boring or dull"

Much work is coming, ideas are materializing, organizing is the key, everyone says, and I thing it's true! Time is precious!

Casting for my Dreams and Legacy

So I finished casting some new stuff, the fox bead, the skull and the clasp, all of them in silver. I didn`t have a lot of time this weekend but I made a lot of progress!

anchor bracelets

I added a whole new section on my site dedicated exclusively to my signature anchor bracelets, that was something that I should have done a long time ago! you can check this section here!

These past few week I have thought a lot about Legacy, something that honestly I have never thought before. I guess this come in hand with parenthood.

What will my legacy be in this world? For what will I be remembered? What good I have done in this Earth, and what am I doing now to make it better?

Good things always come when I start overthinking, I guess it is life´s way of telling me to keep going!

Growing Pains

This week was all about growing, my Instagram Official Page reached 3000 followers this week, I feel blessed and humbled for the support I have!

My skills carving wax have been improving and growing as well, I can work faster and more confident, my fox bead turned out great, the surface is nice and smooth, and it will be ready for casting next week.

 And I managed to make some anchors as well!

 It is not easy to make a business grow when you have a full time job and a family, it´s all about mastering the art of timing.  I am passionate about jewelry, and also good at it, that´s why I have to make an effort, give the extra mile, see the big picture, work harder, make smart choices and above all... endure!

Custom made Fox Bracelets

I gotta say that carving this fox bead has been a great task to do, even though I lost my first carved piece, that actually helped me, when I started carving the second piece, I felt more confident and it showed.

wax block ready to be carved

The tricky part was to put the ears into place and make them fit so they had a natural look.

Fox bead

It still need a lot of work, but I am happy with the result so far, I still have to drill the hole for the cord, lessen the overall surface, and empty the bottom part. Hopefully all of that will be done this week so I can make the first casting before making the mold.


Don't forget to visit my site, suscribe to this blog and support my raft!

The Joy of Making custom Made Jewelry

Last week was a little intense, I had lots of work in the office and at the workshop, I made some new adjustments to the website and if everything works fine, I will be able to accepts credits cards an not just Paypal.

This is a major step forward! Hopefully everything will be as planned!

Another cool thing happened! A custom made bead request! I am very excited for this challenged and I already started! I will be doing a sterling silver fox bead for two bracelets.

This is a rough clay model, it's the first steps, this way I can see the proportions and then apply it to the hard wax

I am heading to the jewelry shop right now and will be posting more this week!

Two Career Man

As Creative Engineer of an international company I enjoy all the perks that an employee has, I have stability, private health insurance, possibilities to grow and so on.

I am very used to this kind of life, I have been working that way for almost a decade. It was never my plan to work for someone else, when I was younger I had a small company that failed miserably for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I didn't have the guts to do it all by myself.

Now that I have ALEKSEI, a small but successful business I can see clearly that in order to achieve my goals I had to become a stronger person. There are a lot clichés about being an entrepreneur, but I can say that self-confidence and perseverance  is what makes the difference, well, at least in my case.

I used to mock people that didn't know what they wanted in life, in my 20's I had all figured out in my head, but now that I am 30-something, I am in front of a sea of choices and I have no idea where I am heading, but I love that!

 If have my family's love and my health with me, I don't really care where I'm going as long as they come with me!

"I am the Master of my Fate, I am the Captain of my soul"

Invictus

Aleksei Bracelets around the world / the joy of a one man show

The most gratifying thing about my craft is knowing that things created with my hands are everywhere around the world, it makes me feel that small business can achieve great things, even when they are a "one man show" just like ALEKSEI DESIGN

Picture from New York

It's also great when customers share pictures with me, when someone takes the time to do this sort of things makes me feel I'm on the right track.

Picture from Tokyo

Something we are so focused on succeding "big" that we forget that there is no quantum leap, success is about enduring and being persistent, take changes and risks, but it is also ablout doing what you love and get recognized by that.

First Inictus bracelet sold internationally

Hopefully on day Aleksei Design will be as great as I wanted to be and how I pictured it right now in my mind!

The next step: Wax Casting my own beads

I have been taking a wax casting workshop for a while now, even though I have great bead suppliers, I feel that I have to do this to be taken seriously as a jewelry designer.

if you want to check my brass anchor bracelet you can check here:
http://alekseidesign.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=95

And here for my sterling silver Limited Edition Bracelet:
http://alekseidesign.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=99

But the main reason is because I have always had a natural talent for sculpting things, even as a child I used to carved small pieces of chalk.

Yesterday I received an email, a possible new customer asking me for a fox bead, it will be a challenge but Im up to it! This may be my first custom made bead for someone!

My work, my designs, my life

I am Alex, a paracord bracelet designer, and this is my brand, Aleksei Design

 I started about a year ago and it has been since then a great part of my life. Now I am starting to make jewelry as well, I think this time I really found what I suppose to do with my life. It is never too late to chase your dreams!

I have a lot to learn, about business, about my craft and about life as well, luckily I have a lovely family and friends to share this journey!