WHAT

PSSST!

WE'RE SPILLING THE BEANS AT BUG HQ
WE'D LOVE TO SHARE SOME SECRETS WITH YOU

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Starting from the off - Welcome to Bug.
We are a super duper handmade jewellery brand.
We are a small business with big, (no scrap that) HUMONGOUS dreams.
We don’t want to conquer outer space or anything but we do want share
our silver stories with you forever, or just until we drop.

In a nutshell - we make jewellery that’s inspired by life.
In particular, my life. I’m Ellie by the way. (Click here for the long version).

Bug is a timeline of life’s little wonders captured for your enjoyment in miniature silver form. We love miniatures! (Had you noticed?) What beats your favourite things shrink rayed to pint sized perfection so you can carry them with you throughout all life’s adventures. If, like me, you’re a bit of a hoarder and a sucker for nostalgia then you love anything that takes you back to those extra special moments. It’s like a smell that takes you back to your teens or a track that gives you goosebumps. Memories that only surface when triggered. Our little creations do just that for us and our hope is that they do that for you too.

DO YOU LOVE MARMITE?

RUBBER DUCK FETISH?

Know Alice in Wonderland like the back of your hand?
Journey to the back of beyond in search of the most obscure music festivals?
We could go on forever! Our hope is that through our miniature making
you unearth something you identify with and that makes you happy.

SO NOW YOU KNOW WHY - WE'D LOVE TO TELL YOU HOW

I mentioned earlier that we are a handmade jewellery brand.
By handmade I don’t mean that we buy in charms or boss
someone around on a computer. No Sir. Everything is handmade.
By this I mean everything is made by my actual real life hands.
(No kidding. Here they are)

bug jewellery ellie ingram

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I love visualising stuff in my head and I can generally work most things out up there (normally last thing at night when I'm trying to get some zzz) or I'll wake up having dreamt about solder joins all night long. It’s like a personal CAD program (which occasionally gets interrupted. Ummmm cake.) I do the odd sketch but mainly to document the idea rather than to actually design it (one idea pings in another seems to ping out). The sketches never do look quite the same as the images in my head, the majority are scribblings reminiscent of a two year old’s homework. I’ve always found that the most productive (and fun) way forward is to jump in and start making in metal.

magicians hat

This is where the magic happens.

It’s so exciting to see an idea materialising
that only previously existed in your imagination.
I use traditional silver smithing techniques and
work with silver in it’s raw form. All of our pieces
are formed of silver sheet, wire, tube or by
melting blobs from our scrap pot.

In particular, Coxy and Phoebe were made by
melting what I like to call 'big belly blobs'.

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The initial making process is most fun when I
can fully dedicate quality time to a new idea.
I’m a sucker for zoning out of real life and into
Bug land. I know it's a special one when the
compelling obsession to work on it hits.

"There’s no time for tea -
this duck needs his beak!"

When making an object I think about how to
construct it in it’s simplest form. Stripping it
right back to the bare essentials. I like to think
about how you would make it from a piece of
paper - layering, cutting, folding etc.

simple things

Beauty in simplicity.
I like to keep this moto in mind when designing and making (it's also handy in life too).
Often when brain block strikes it's because I'm doing too much.
It's tempting to over complicate things and I know as soon as I stray
into this territory because the design just doesn't feel right.

TA DAH!

When the design is complete I'm like a big kid with a new toy.
I'll take it home from the workshop for all to see and more often than
not it will then sit on the coffee table with me whilst I have tea.
(yes nerd does spring to mind).

nerd glasses

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