9 posts tagged “chainmaille”
It's been a long time. We just came back from vacation yesterday and we had a wonderful time. Look at how many little stars I created in our family down time ie. when baby was napping and we weren't on the go and when the little guy wasn't destroying our very schwanky cottage.....
There are 24 of them and the Halloween coloured one (black and orange) is available in my store now. Other colour combos may become available but most of these are destined for my fall craft shows.
I also haven't introduced my caterpillar chainmaille titanium bracelet yet. I named it caterpillar because I actually scared off a colleague when I put just a small piece of it over my finger and put it under her nose... I love the slinkiness of the box chain and the coloures of the anodized titanium. I'm a fan of variegated colours in my knitting so I also love to randomly arrange colours in my jewelry creations.
And last but not least, this blue heart pendant had been burning to be made into a necklace. It just took me a while to get it all put together. A simple blue enameled copper and stainless steel 2 X 2 chain turned the pendant into a necklace. I'm so pleased with it....
These are my latest and greatest in the store. While I was away, I got two lovely supply envelopes. :-) So let's see what I can come up with next. I'm a bit behind on posting about my affection with large kidney ear wires and cubes.... that shall be next up. Right now, my 18 month old is single handedley demolishing a kleenex box. I guess a sign I should stop.
I've been busy to say the least. I committed to do my first craft show ever. It's not even until November but I'm going crazy thinking about what to make, how much to have on hand for stock, what to concentrate on, how much variety etc. etc. It's a 2-day show, at my church - I feel comfortable in that setting at least as I know many faces etc. So, I'm planning out what supplies to buy and order and I'm easily sidetracked and led down the path of spending way too much money. More than I'm sure I need and then of course, I forget about the basics like needing headpins and eye pins and ear wires and lobster clasps..... :-) If anyone has any tips, I'd be more than grateful to hear them.
The other thing I really need help with is getting organized and how to find the ideal storage solution for all my beading and chainmaille supplies. Right now, nothing is working for me and last night I couldn't find my gold filled ear wires. Okay, I only have 3 pairs in stock right now and they are in a little 2X2 zip lock baggie so they can easily be missed but come on...... I made a pair of earrings and I want my gold filled ear wires. So I'm probably just going to run to the LBS and grab a pair which will cost me more than double compared to those that I have in stock. I knid of know what I want and my Dad would laugh if he knew. In his working days, when he ran his artistic ironworks business he had this great wall unit that had all these little flip out containers that he used for washers and screws and nails and all the little things that someone like him would need in his shop. It's that wall unit I'm after. I'm sure he's sold it by now and if he hasn't, then he's still using it plus it would take a whole lot of cleaning to get it up to snuff for use with fine jewelry supplies. It came all the way across the water with us when we moved to Canada from Germany many years ago. I think I need to talk to him. Maybe he knows where I can get one just like it.
Well, what's new in my store? A hodge podge of goodies. Some aren't brand new but I just haven't blogged about them yet and others are in the store but I don't have pictures handy here, at the moment. So it's always a good idea to pop on over and check out everything that's in store.
First of all, I'd love to show off the set I made for my daughter's Kindergarten teacher for the end of the school year. I combined some chalk turquoise with some mother of pearl and created a bracelet and earring set. I think she really liked the set and I love the combination of the colours. It's just so summery.
I've also been a bit on a cross kick. I've always loved crosses and for many years, all I would ever wear for a necklace is my sterling silver cross and a sterling silver "God Bless You/Guardian Angel" charm (text in German) - the only thing I own that was given to me by my grandma. It tarnished and I never cleaned it up (silly me and now I've got some great tarnish remover so I should get to it). After learning the persian weave and making some lovely basic key chains and a very pretty sterling silver and copper bracelet, I wanted to learn how to extend that weave and make the crosses so I did and I've been enjoying making them. I love the key chains but I'm especially fond of the small, dainty cross I made from niobium and sterling silver and attached to a sterling silver chain.
Aren't those kind of cool..... of course, if you're not objected to crosses.
And, of course, I'm forever making earrings because if I have no time for anything else, I still have enough time to let my creativity be and make a pair of earrings. I am so very fond of these funky glass beads that I got in pink and blue.
And then here are a few other random earrings that I made. The flower spheres remind others of eye balls which I think is hilarious. I didn't see it until others said it to me but I still don't totally agree but I guess if you want to see eyeballs instead of flowers, be my guest. :-)
Time to be off now. I have more catching up to do later. All these things are available at Sparkles & Fuzz, my Etsy store.
It seems I only get to create anything on the weekends............. so here are last weekend's creations, all listed on Etsy by now:
I love this moebius flower bracelet. It's made from stainless steel and enameled copper in pink and amethyst. The closure is a silver plated lobster clasp. I'm also working on a similar one in a combination of blues.
I call these topaz coloured ear threaders "simple elegance". A simple tear drop shaped Swarovski crystal and looooong ear threads - they are 5 inches long made from sterling silver box chain. These ear threaders are really comfortable to wear and are fun and elegant at the same time.
I like basic, plain things and these little pink drop earrings are also just that:
A simple Swarovski pearl paired with a plain crystal.
And just for fun, here's a pink crackle glass bead anklet for capri and sandal weather........... it will arrive eventually:
Another very simple design but yet, very effective in my opinion.
I have a blog special.............. if you come to my store via this blog and make a purchase, I am offering 10% off the purchase of any one item or 20% off a purchase of two or more items in the same transaction. Indicate to me in the "comments to seller" that you saw the special on the Vox Blog and wait to pay until I send you a revised invoice.
Even though this weekend seemed to go by in a blur, I did get a couple things finished.
I played with this Helm's Chain bracelet in silvered enameled copper:
And these earrings. I tried to make something different but the little rings turned out too little so I changed direction and came up with these earrings:
All available in my shop as of this morning. Stop by for a visit. :-)
I love copper and I particularly enjoy weaving copper rings into chainmaille. I only had time for something small this weekend so off the kitchen table jumped these little earrings perfect to show Mom how much she's appreciated.
I love the little two-sided copper plated pewter charm. If my Mom wore earrings, ever, I'd give them to her for Mother's Day or her birthday. Since she doesn't, I think Mom will get a birthstone necklace design for her birthday/mother's day (in my Mom's case, those two events are always only separated by one week).
Just listed over at Sparkles & Fuzz
I just had to try them......... I saw them on my ring supplier's web site and I had to try doing chainmaille with rubber rings. Oh, that's different and kind of fun. It doesn't create fine, delicate jewelry but it's kind of funky, quirky and playful.....
I started out with a pair of earrings and they are listed in my Etsy Shop.
What do you think? I think they are just plain fun. Oh and see the picture on the left..... I just created my own earring cards yesterday. I'm stepping it up a notch.
Now, I'm working on a bracelet. With the rubber rings, the bracelet is not supposed to need a clasp. I'm using the same Japanese 12-1 weave structure and just connecting flowers of different colours with a few rings inbetween for spacing. Maybe I can show it off tomorrow.
Better go finish dinner. I've got a ton of custom earring orders to work on and some other sales that I need to put the finishing touches on.
Here's my contribution to those who love music. Besides my crafty side, music has always been my next passion. I play several instruments (not very well any longer). I used to sing, play guitar and direct various church choirs. I love to sing........... and you know what, I actually have a pretty good voice. (pat my own shoulder). Unfortunately, as I've grown older and added a family with children to my mix of responsibilities something had to give and music gave way. I'll be the one that you watch in a line-up of cars though, tapping my steering wheel to the beat and singing out loud.... you know those people you always grin about when you see them do that in your car. Ah well, no shame here..... :-)
So, I made this pair of chainmaille earrings in sterling silver that are just perfect for that musically inclined person. They are my current favourtie in my Etsy store.
I would just love to hear anyone's thoughts on these. At first, the tiny rings really stumped me but once I used a little pin to keep them in place where I needed them to insert the next set of rings, I was ready to roll. I only bought a very small amount of sterling silver rings because the cost of sterling is quite steep and I didn't have much to spend at the time but I have enough to make another pair and I have some little heart charms that I will add.
Tonight, if I have any time, I might get myself back to knitting with some wire and some amethyst chips.
You'd think that I'm a big jewelry hog, the way I've been creating. But no...... I'm plain and simple Vanilla girl. I wear basic little diamond stud earrings most of the time and if I take them out and wear something fancier, I often forget to put earrings back in for days after the fancy ones come out. For necklaces, I often just wear something simple. For years I wore my silver cross and my charm that said "Gott Schütze Dich" (which translates to God keep you safe or God bless you). The charm is one of the few things I have that I own from the only grandmother I ever knew and she passed away when I was only 10 (on my birthday). The silver tarnished and I've been too lazy to clean it so I put it in my jewelry box. Then for the longest time, I only wore my mother and child necklace which my husband gave to me when my Little Miss was born. That poor necklace went through a lot and has been fixed many times. One must remember that I have 2 small children and necklaces are especially tempting to a 14 month old curious George kind of a young man. :-) Rings..... I always wear my wedding rings (except I haven't for over a year now because we suspect that the big diamond is loose and it needs to be inspected and we haven't got around to taking it in). I also always wear my Tanznite that Evan gave to me as a gift when JR was born. Bracelets.... I always wear my watch which is a charm bracelet watch and I wear my charm bracelet and I do wear one of my stainless steel chainmaille bracelets all the time. Now, I'm dabbling in all this jewelry and I'm having a blast but I'm trying to be better about wearing my own jewelry and doing things I would usually not ever think of making. The ring, for one, I just love............... and the necklace and earring set I made last week, I've worn almost every day this week. So where is this going? Well, I made an ankle bracelet last night. I've never, ever worn one but I want to make more, more, more.......... don't know why? I guess when shorts and sandal weather does arrive, I had better try wearing some of those ankle bracelets I'm inspired by. Here is my newest creation:
Try and get over the poor picture quality as I took a pic of it yesterday under horrible lighting. Just listed at Sparkles & Fuzz this morning.
For the sake of keeping track of all my creations, here's a necklace that I didn't get around to showing off last week. I think this necklace is a lot of fun and just a bit different. Very simple and very casual but the pendant is quite big and so not necessarily for the faint of heart. :-)
Yesterday I had a bit of unexpected time. I dropped my little girl at a birthday party just 2 doors down the street. I've never left her at a birthday party by herself but all the Moms were dropping the kids and so did I. What a freeing moment..... In less than 2 minutes, I was back at home. The baby went for a nap. The husband went to do some work in the basement and I said............ housework.............. not for me, not with 2 1/2 hours of unexpected free time. So I decided to play with some of my sterling silver earring components that I bought some time ago. I can show you my first pair today. My second pair already sold at the office and I never got a photograph of it. I don't have a picture of my third pair yet and the weather is terrible so maybe I'll try my scanner tonight. So here is pair #1, listed this morning:
I love the colours. All the components are sterling silver and the crystals are 4mm Swarovski bicones in aquamarine and a colour whose name I can't remember at the moment.
I also played with this bracelet:
The beads are fun lampwork beads that I picked up some time ago. I also created a necklace to match and will create some little earrings to make up a set. For the necklace, I just need to attach a clasp and I've set some beads aside for the earrings. I'm just trying to figure out whether I should try to list necklace, bracelet and earrings as a set or individually. I haven't created any matching pieces yet so I'm not sure what would be more attractive. The word is still out. Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated.
