Cuff bracelets - new products

I have been looking at new ways to produce cuff bracelets from a collection of found objects to extend my commercial product range.

I have been supplying products for some time now consisting of a range of up cycled materials.

Whist punching out holes using an oblong punch, which is used to punch out slots to for fitting belt buckles in my tyre belt range, i realised i could extend its function.

I wanted to experiment with the creation of a bracelets, which i could quite readilly produce using  materials in my environment. The materials consist of racing bike tyre tread and industrial conveyor belting, as well as this brown plastic type material also found within a bicycle wheel.

I started by cutting out slots using this tool, so that i could weave the materials together.

Above is a cuff bracelet using green conveyor belting as a base with a weaved racing bike tyre tread. 

I also used snaps for the fastening mechanisims, as its a quick inexpensive way to create a closing mechanisim in quick succession.

I played with different colour combinations seeing what would look interesting.

The dark brown plastic material looked really rich and interesting so i made a few of these.

Due to the fact that there are two elements interlocking, they tend to pull on eachother and this distorts the shape of it being round. I tested a few, and wore them out and found them to be really comfortable.

Im very happy with the outcome of this experiment, and im sure i will be producing more this week, for the two markets i will be trading at this weekend.

Another important issue to mention is the process.

 Like the hoarder i am i have been collecting materials of different natures for some time now, and in this case i feel i need to tell you the difference between bricolage and Upcycling. They are simmilar in the way that

 up cycling is described as taking disposable materials and changing their use into something of greater use and value, whereas bricolage refers to the construction or creation of works using a diverse range of accessible materials.

I think the key word here is diverse, using a bit of this and that from your environment to make something new.