engraving - leilani handmade

I Almost Threw in the Towel – August Update

Posted on August 12, 2023August 12, 2023 by Leilani — Leave a comment

“Be true to life by being true to your inner purpose. As you become present and thereby total in what you do, your actions become charged with spiritual power.”
– Eckhart Tolle

But you Enjoy What you do

I’ve been working on updating my personalized products this past month- well, struggling to. I want to offer more engraved jewelry options than what I currently offer, and it’s put me down this rabbit hole of what I do and if it is sustainable as far as selling to the general public. I hesitate even to call it a business; as fellow makers know, it seems virtually impossible to make a living just doing creative stuff.

I made the mistake of doing some number crunching, which led to a good cry. With the rising cost of supplies, shipping, gas, etc., and the work required for my pieces, my take home is $3-$5 an hour – and that’s only covering some of my overhead. Whenever I develop a new product, the time involved to design, make, photograph, then list – or write a blog post – I’m not compensated for that time.

I had to dig down and ask myself, is this what you want to do, or is it time to throw in the towel? There are many challenges with selling handmade goods both in person and online. Cost increases and over-saturation seem like impossible hurdles to get over.

Don’t get me wrong; I want other makers out here selling their wares. I want to refrain from competing with resellers, fooling the public into thinking they’re buying handmade. Resellers have always been rampant online. And platforms like Etsy aren’t caring or doing anything to distinguish between what is genuinely handmade and what is mass made.

Above: some of the necklaces that used to be available with an initial only now with a whole word or name option. I hope to offer this option for all my personalized jewelry, eventually.

Support a Living Wage for Makers

“But you enjoy what you do” is a statement I heard over and over from customers back 25 years ago when I would sell face-to-face at flea markets and craft shows. If you think of it, that statement is merely a way to justify supporting paying makers next to nothing for their craft.

Do I like what I do? Enjoy it? Passionate about it? Of course! But that doesn’t mean there are no moments of stress and hardship. My products don’t sell themselves. I have to work hard to be seen and list my items for sale, sometimes on multiple platforms.

Not to mention after years of this – my body is starting to feel it. Repetitive motion from crafting wears out the neck, back, and shoulders.

It makes no sense to demand someone work for next to nothing simply because “they enjoy it,” as if work is all toil and displeasure. My DH is a software developer – yes, it is a lot of stress, but I’d be hard-pressed to think he wouldn’t do it if he didn’t enjoy it on many levels! I enjoy making things, but implying no thought or skill is involved is ridiculous.

When I have a particularly stressful week because I am busy developing, pricing, photographing, and listing new items, it’s always in my mind that all my hard work may not pay off. When DH has a stressful week developing software, he gets paid for all his hard work. It does feel discouraging at times.

What I’ve Decided

Regardless of the discouragement, something propels me forward to keep going. Maybe it’s passion; maybe it’s the desire to be the change I want to see in the world…perhaps I know nothing else.

Fortunately, I stocked up on supplies years ago while things were still reasonably priced. Charms, for example, were bought in bulk wherever possible. I also have many chains, engraving blanks, clasps, and earring findings.

So I plan to continue to offer my items at the lowest possible price, and when they are gone, they are gone.

I want my products in people’s hands because I love making people happy with my talents. I love making a meaningful piece to honor a loved one, some that have passed on. Giving people the option of something handmade and well-made that is not mass-produced is important to me.

Makers deserve a living wage, but I understand that money is tight, and I’m not providing anything necessary for day-to-day living. They’re extras. Trust me; I get it.

So I will continue until I cannot justify it anymore or when my body has yelled, “Enough!” Whatever comes first.

Hopefully, that day never comes…

What’s New

Engraving Upgrades

I now offer engraved words and names on most personalized jewelry items. In the past, I did initials only, except for the larger disks, which mostly were back engraving of a handmade charm. This was for two reasons:

Most of my fancier fonts only accommodate one letter or short words/names on the smaller charms. I’ve spent the past few weeks playing around with different options, and now I can confidently offer words & names up to 8 characters on two different-sized disks. In the past, I’ve kept it to 1 letter on each charm for congruency because I knew for sure one letter would fit.

Secondly, to keep costs down. It takes longer to engrave names vs. letters, as well as more chances for mistakes. Now that I feel comfortable with the size options, I can offer full-name engraving for an additional fee.

You can read my recent post about the type of engraving I offer and why there are size limitations.

I’m slowly updating my Etsy Shop. I have decided to remove and re-add the engraving items as I edit them and will offer less of this option on Etsy until this new option is the right way to go.

Fun with leftover Plies

a basket full of bobbins with leftover plies of handspun yarn — Some leftover odds and ends from spinning that I am currently turning into small skeins of yarn

It’s that time of year when I have just too many single plies of handspun yarn on storage bobbins. Most of these are leftovers from spinning projects. Some are fibers I spun with no particular plan, and it’s more than time to do something with them. I’ve three small skeins done that I’ll keep to incorporate in my knitting. Spinning leftovers is a fun project to do once in a while. I often get color combinations I would never think to do otherwise.

Another Great Thrift Store Find

skeins of indie yarn found at a thrift store — Three more skeins of indie dyed/higher-end yarn found thrifting

DH does it again and digs out another bag of yarn from our favorite Thrift store. This one only had three skeins, and I paid more for these at $3.75 compared to my other finds, but can you complain? One indie dyed and two wool fiber not from a large company. I’ll take it! 🙂

Bountiful Garden

Despite the horrible weather this summer (it went from too hot/dry to too wet and cold), I’m getting a decent crop out of my little garden, especially the cucumbers, who love all the excess rain. Tomatoes should be ripening any day now (I hope!). I’ve made 19 jars of dill pickles thus far – more than when I bought pickling cucumbers! There is still more to come…

Some of my potatoes this year – almost 20 lbs all together. Not bad for organic potatoes from the pantry that went to seed!

I’ve gotten a decent amount of zucchini, and the squash is coming. The carrots, leeks, a few onions (I never have luck growing onions, so I’m happy with a few!), and even a melon are all on their way. Considering some farmers locally lost everything to this weather, I will be thankful for what I have.

Second Swing Chair Re-do

The weave worked up quickly and much better this gtime on these old swing chairs I repainted and strung with macrame cord after the fabric finally deteriorated — I decided to go for it and restring that first swing chair I upcycled

I’ve been upcycling these swing chairs as the fabric finally let go. Last month I finished the second one. It turned out excellent, better than the first one, so I contemplated restringing it. True to my nature, I soon dragged it into the studio and redid the weave! The chair is restrung with a macrame cord and crochet hooks. I used plain white on this chair to keep costs down. It’s covered with a chair cushion anyway.

If you’ve made it to the end, thank you for stopping by and checking out what’s new! I’m off to keep the momentum going before the self-doubt sets in…

Until next time,

Engraving the Manual Way with a Pantograph

Posted on August 8, 2023August 14, 2023 by Leilani — Leave a comment

Adventures of a (jewelry) maker who uses a classic Pantograph engraver

What is Pantograph Engraving?

brass fonts spelling out K 2 T O G on a metal tray of a pantograph engraver — My view from one of my pantograph engravers, ready to engrave the knitting abbreviation for “knit two (stitches) together (K2TOG) – for stitch markers

When I purchased my first pantograph engraver about 13 years ago, I would never expect them to be defunct this quickly. But here we are.

Pantograph engraving has quickly become obsolete thanks to computerized laser and rotary engravers. Who knew when I purchased a new and a used engraver with brass font sets in 2010 that I could call it “vintage” today! I should have seen it coming since the rising popularity of computerized engraving was certainly obvious back then. But for them to (practically) disappear off the market so quickly shocks me.

Something Truly Special

I recently paid more attention to the changing landscape of engraving when I decided to get re-acquainted with my font sets and engraving blanks. I have many brass font sets I don’t use, mainly because I need to put the time in to feel comfortable using them. Some are very “old school” in design, so I hadn’t thought about what products these would be best suited for. And I still haven’t decided where many best fit as of right now.

Not Much is Available Anymore

I decided to do an internet search on what was new and available for this type of tool, only to come up with….nothing. Companies I once purchased from: not found. There were a few places still selling models of pantograph engravers, but font sets – forget it! Get my logos and images cut into templates like in the past…nope. I found a few very old and questionable font sets on eBay now relegated to collector’s items…and at collectors’ prices.

I realized that possessing these skills and tools is now something very special. I like to think that my customers are taking a part of history away with every engraved piece I make, and that is a very literal fact now.

Like my other manual tools, it is a pleasure to keep these old forms of maker tools alive. To think the Pantograph has been around for hundreds of years makes it very special!

Closeup views of my pantograph engravers

Just What is a Pantograph Engraver?

Let’s see if I can explain this in (my) layperson’s terms. Basically, it’s a nifty machine with two arms: one for tracing and one for engraving. It uses ratios with how close or far away the engraving arm is to the tracing arm to give different sizes to the font or image you are tracing. This is how I take a reasonably large word and shrink it down to fit on an 11mm, 12mm, or 15mm blank. It’s relatively simple in design if you think about it. And that is probably why I like it so much. Genius!

Not Just Used in Engraving

The Pantograph is not just an engraving tool. I once saw an educational show with a segment about making traditional domino sets in China. They were using a pantograph to cut the shapes into the dominoes.
(Side note: I acquired a pantograph cutter engraver that is not manual but motorized. It would be great for engraving items like plastic badges, but it’s missing a piece that was impossible to get back then, let alone now. So right now, it’s a collector’s piece.)

According to the internet, the first pantograph machine was developed in 1603 as an illustration machine.

Diamond Drag Tip

My pantograph engravers have a diamond drag tip making them perfect for the metals used in jewelry making. When I first acquired the engravers, I purchased a special diamond drag tip that is flatter. They leave a wider impression on the metal vs. the pointier tip that the engravers came with. The difference is subtle but enough to make a difference (to my eye, anyway!).

What I currently offer for Engraving

From name jewelry to advocacy items to knitting stitch markers: I offer several different options for customizing via engraving. Browsing the Personalized Items section will give you the most. The Advocacy & Awareness section showcases a few other items, including logos I engrave, such as the breastfeeding awareness symbol. Most of these products were developed from customer requests, which I am very proud of. Unfortunately, I no longer have a contact to cut my custom symbols and logos templates.

starfish necklace in silver and gold with engraved name disks that says SIMONE and MARINA — Personalized starfish necklaces

Custom Engraved Stitch Markers were another special request. The customer wanted stitch markers with her children’s names to keep them close in thought while she knitted. These are sometimes purchased “off-label” for other uses, such as boot charms, as they are silver-plated and affordable. I no longer offer plated engraving disks for jewelry, as they can wear out quickly.

Once in a while, I get asked if I will engrave an item someone owns, such as a watch or ring. It’s not something I’m willing to do. If I were to make a mistake, I would feel awful! I haven’t had the privilege of engraving curved items yet, anyway. I believe I have accessories for engraving rings, but it’s not something I’ve tried.

I only engrave flat items and my stock in case of a mistake. And it sometimes happens. I may misjudge the placement, making the word or letter badly off-center. The older brass fonts can be pitted, so if I am not careful, the engraving tip will slip and scratch the blank.

My First Ever Successful Engraving Project

The first successful engraved piece of jewelry I made was for myself. It’s entitled “Wings” and is a tribute to my mother, who passed suddenly in 2008. The first version was done in silver plate, but I quickly upgraded to sterling silver so I could wear it daily.

The original “Wings” – my first successful engraved project

sterling silver angel wings encircling a disk with CGC engraved in monogram style — The original “Wings” – my first successful engraved project

It’s very dear to me to keep my mom’s initials close to my heart with this engraved monogram charm flanked by two angel wings.

Over the years, I’ve been honored to engrave pieces commemorating the loss of babies and children, wives, mothers and fathers, pets…anyone precious to us. It means a lot to be part of the healing journey for my customers.

Limitations and Other Negatives

The arm on my pantograph engraver only reaches so far, so there is only so big or so small I can make each font. Big is not a problem for jewelry making. I run into more of an issue that my fonts were for signs and trophies. Thus the fonts don’t go as small enough as I need.

My fave vintage brass font set. It is relatively large, so it would only work as an initial or two on my engraving disks. I have yet to decide what to do with this one.

The fonts can’t be stretched or manipulated like you could with software. It’s a fixed height based on where the arm of the engraver is placed. So you don’t have the options you would with a computerized engraver.

The Longer the Word, The Smaller the Text

One thing that can be a negative is that the longer the word, the smaller the text. It can make the word or name hard to read, except close up. It leaves a lot of space above and below the word. I prefer the word or names filling the disk from top to bottom as much as possible.

If you look at the examples above, the name Samantha is smaller than the name Desiree. It doesn’t look bad, but you see what I mean about more space above & below the text.

It can be Hard on the Body

Sitting for many hours at the engraver is hard on me physically. Like most things I do (knitting, spinning, drum carding fiber, polishing metal components, making components for jewelry, etc.), the repetitive motion can cause the neck, back, and shoulders to be quite sore and worse. After years as a maker, I feel it in my Body.

Even though pantograph engraving is a tracing function, which sounds easy, you still require a keen eye and a steady hand. Therefore, my back is sore after an hour at the engraver. My shoulder, which has damage due to being hit by a car at 16 and from the repetitive motion of all my crafts, has permanent damage. I’m also prone to migraines, so I have to be careful not to push myself too much.

I remedy this by taking many breaks, stretching, and knowing when to quit (yeah, right!). Regardless of how I feel, getting your order out promptly is always of the utmost importance. I turn around orders in 1 business day whenever possible.

What it’s Not

Laser Engraving

Engraving with a Pantograph manual engraver is not the same as laser engraving. I’m unfamiliar with laser engraving, and I’m sure there is more than one type. Still, it’s popular to offer laser engraving that lightly etches/burns into the metal or removes an anodized surface. I’m not sure what the longevity of these items would be, and it’s a personal preference of mine the esthetic of the “old school” diamond drag engravers.

Computerized Rotary Engraving

A rotary computerized engraver is very similar to what I do manually. I once thought I’d also like an automated engraver, but when I looked at them, they were rather clunky and required special ventilation. I’m sure there are tabletop versions that would work just as well for jewelry making. I love my “person power”: I can still work even during an electricity outage. 😉

Manual but Skills Required

I love the skill involved with using this tool. When I first bought mine, I naively thought I would sit down and get engraving immediately. BUT it’s more complicated than that. I’m thankful that I responded to an ad from a gentleman in Toronto selling an engraver and brass fonts because he sat me down and showed me how to use them. We lived in Montreal then, so we made it a weekend trip. As a young family, money was tight, so I expected to buy a font set or two, and that was it. Afterall, I already owned an engraver.

He encouraged me to take the entire lot and gave me an excellent price, so off to the bank I went. I am trying to remember exactly what I paid, but it was around $2000. I went home with an engraver (a New Hermes, which is my fave!), several font sets, logos, and accessories. I also got the motorized cutter I never got working, but I might someday rig something up. I’m very thankful to this man who saw my potential and got me on my way to engraving (he was married to a Filipina! I think that helped ;)).

It’s Not Handstamping

Finally, diamond drag engraving is not hand-stamping. I love the look of hand stamping; it’s not comparable to engraving, so I can’t compare the pros and cons of each.

Free Hand Engraving

I wish I had the talent of those that engrave with a tool freehand – they are the ones to give total props to as far as engraving is concerned!

What Can I make for you?

Now that you know what pantograph engraving is and isn’t and the limitations of what I can offer, I hope that I can make you a special keepsake that you will enjoy and cherish! 🙂

Engraving: How Much Text Can I Really Have…?

Posted on September 21, 2015July 11, 2017 by Leilani — Leave a comment

I get asked often to engrave full words or even 2 lines of text & sentences on my items. It’s been happening so often lately that I thought I should write a blog post about it. I try to be very clear on each piece just how much space I have to work with. In the age of computerized engraving I think most potential customers don’t realize that this is done manually and I am limited with size and space. I can really only comfortably fit 7 characters (letters like this: ABCDEFG) – and in some cases 8 characters (letters like this: ABCDEFGH). This is with the plain font (#3 option above). My script fonts definitely cannot do more than 4 letters on the typical 15mm blank that most of my pieces are made with. Remember that the more letters you add the smaller I have to go, and I will not sell anything that does not look good. The smaller the letters the less detail you can see, and thus it does not look clean or in some cases legible. So if you are going to need a magnifying glass to see it, I won’t be offering it. 😉

blogengraveeg — Example of curlz font; example of curlz vintage font

With the popular curlz & curlz vintage fonts, they are larger templates and are only intended as a focal initial. That means even at my smallest setting I can only get 2 letters, max on the blank.

I’d love to be able to fulfill all your requests and maybe in the future I will have bigger blanks that will accommodate more text. More text = more work which = more work for me, and potentially higher costs to you. Manual engraving is a skill that I have been honing for 5 years now. It’s not as simple as choosing the right letters and go. I have to position the blank accordingly, gauge what size to go with; often times deciding which of the fonts will look the best (it really does depend on initials vs. a word), and this is all done more by feel and intuition than by measurement. Mistakes do happen, so then I have to scrap that blank and start again. Sometimes I scrap a blank not because I made a mistake per se but because I think I can do better. Many times before I even start on the actual blank I will engrave on a piece of scrap metal first to make sure I have the size and spacing just so. By the time I offer an item to the world I have spent a lot of time perfecting its execution. It’s important to really stick with what the piece is intended to be: an affordable gift with an initial or two, or a simple word with meaning for the intended recipient.

I don’t want to discourage you from contacting me, I love to hear from you all, and if you have a request out of the norm feel free to send me an email. But hopefully this answers some questions in regards to size. 🙂

Back to bb3.ca

New Engraved Celtic Knot Necklace

Posted on March 1, 2015July 12, 2017 by Leilani — Leave a comment

This necklace came to me the other day on a whim. I’ve had these diamond shaped blanks for quite some time now, and although I like their unique shape (as far as engraving blanks go) I could never find a design that I liked with them. With our annual spring trip to Nova Scotia coming up I had the Celtic knot on the brain. It is a common symbol in said province, and I love the symbolism of this endless knot. It just hit me out of the blue to engrave a Celtic knot onto the diamond shaped blanks.

This is definitely not my favorite design to engrave. It is incredibly intricate and if I miss a spot well, there really is no going back to fill it in. So like a maze or complicated jigsaw puzzle I have to analyze every line to make sure I have every piece connected correctly. I thought about what stone I wanted to pair with this celtic knot necklace, but in the end, I decided it looked the best on its own.

I’m really quite pleased at how quick of an idea this was. I have a sketchbook full of ideas and yet, some of the best ones simply come off the top of my head. I’m also looking forward to getting more practice engraving this mystical symbol.

Be My Valentine: Personalized Sweetheart Keepsake Necklace

Posted on February 1, 2015July 12, 2017 by Leilani — 2 Comments

Sweetheart keepsake Necklace manually engraved with Initial

My new product for the month of February is a Personalized Sweetheart Keepsake Necklace. If you subscribe to my newsletter you may have received this necklace as a thank you gift sent out to subscribers last April.

Sweetheart Keepsake Necklace Engraved with monogram

You can choose 1 or 2 initials in the curlz font or a monogram. I think initial + sign and initial in script font would be a nice idea for a gift as well (A+B) although I don’t have an example of that to share, yet.

The heart is a culinary grade pewter & the chain is lead & nickel free. The engraving blank itself is a silver plated brass. I love the weight of these blanks. I have yet to play around with my sterling silver disks I purchased around Christmas time. Never enough hours in the day, to balance time with my family, their creative pursuits, and my jewelry & fiber projects. It is the life, however! I’d rather have many things to do/explore than nothing at all.

New Product: Engraved Owl Necklace

Posted on October 6, 2014July 12, 2017 by Leilani — Leave a comment

Owl necklace personalized with engraving

The most popular pinterest board that I have to date is all about owls. I’m glad I’m not the only one fascinated with these creatures. Back in April I did a giveaway to my newsletter subscribers where everyone who responded would get a free product from me. This allowed me to bring some new products from paper to fruition. I always love to have a muse or energy to work towards. A few of my subscribers received this piece, and it is now available for purchase. Choose one or 2 initials for engraving.

If you are a knitter, you may also like my owl stitch markers. 🙂

New Pearl Option for the Flower Child’s Personalized Necklace – with Engraving

Posted on June 9, 2014July 12, 2017 by Leilani — Leave a comment

A customer recently asked me if I could do a pearl instead of a Swarovski crystal for her flower child’s necklace order. I had some 4mm freshwater pearls on hand, and I loved the result so much I decided to add it as a permanent option for both silver & gold versions of this product. Now added on the website and coming soon to Etsy (my Etsy shop is closed as I am currently travelling).

DPP_3106 — pearl option gold (click to view listing)

As an aside, I get asked every now and then if the blanks I use are black. What you are seeing here is the reflection of the camera lens. Often the glare is so bad on these very shiny blanks I cannot capture the detail in the engraving. Often times the best way to take a clear picture of the engraving is to have the reflection of the camera lens absorb the light. So in the closeups this is why sometimes the blanks look black. My photography skills leave much to be desired, I know. 😉 I try to post several photos to help best represent the piece so always browse through them all to get an overall feel for the product. Photos are so flat and one dimensional they do not do my work justice. I think most – if not all – online sellers are feeling my pain, here. 🙂

New Engraving Fonts

Posted on February 5, 2014July 16, 2017 by Leilani — Leave a comment

As mentioned in a previous post the studio is open but you will see some favorite customizable products on the website missing. I have 2 new engraving fonts and thus am updating/revamping the missing products. I should have prototypes completed within the week, and barring the need to order in supplies we should see the new and improved products back for sale in about 2 weeks. I’ll reintroduce them one at a time here on the blog once ready, as well as on my newsletter where you can also receive discounts and a chance to win product.

I actually own many fonts for manual engraving, however not all are suited for the kind of engraving I mostly do. I usually do jewelry with one or two letters, or monogram initials, and some of the fonts I have are either too plain or not suited size wise or style wise for either. A couple products I offer now are on the time consuming side as I have to fiddle with the font to get it to look proper for one initial rather than a whole word. A slanted font will look lovely in text, but horrible as a stand alone initial. In this case I need to play with the size and the angle of the blank when I engrave. It’s a skill I certainly can do, but the more time it takes to engrave one piece the more expensive, essentially, the piece becomes. I am committed to offering my products at the best price, but this also means it has to be a fair price for me. I literally time myself when making a piece, and will always continue to look for ways to become more efficient without sacrificing quality. Time is money, as they say…

So here’s a peek at the 2 new fonts I am adding to my collection. The first one is called Curlz. It will replace most of the engraving on the children’s pieces:

It’s a fun font and on the larger template side, so suited for 1 or 2 initials for most of the work I do.

I also obtained an upright script, as I the script I use now is slanted, which as mentioned above needs a bit of play in order to look good as a stand alone letter. An upright script will alleviate the need for measuring and guesswork when engraving one or two initials.

I am also going return the use of the Old English font, especially on personalized bookmarks. I also already own a curlz type font that I am calling curlz vintage. It is very old and a collector’s item to me. It will be another variation available. Be sure to keep an eye out both here on the blog & on the website or sign up for my monthly newsletter & never miss an update on new and improved products. I look forward to sharing them with you!

New Engraving Font

Posted on May 18, 2011July 17, 2017 by Leilani — Leave a comment

I am excited about this new engraving font. And even more excited that I mastered it quickly. I engrave manually so it takes a bit of skill to have the letters of this monogram interlock:

Here is an example of it actually engraved:

This font will be available as part of my engraving collection on my website. The website will be going live shortly with my clearance section active – over the coming days I will be loading in the custom collections as well as upgrading to faster hosting.