Aspect ratio

See what happened when I ignored the aspect ratio of the rings. :-(

This was supposed to be a dodecahedron. A regular shaped polyhedron but it looks more like a mangled olive. I had 5mm rings when this called for 4.76mm. I didn't want to wait for 4.76mm rings so I started. Looks like I need more patience and more attention to aspect ratios.

Afternote:

I decided to add a few rings here and there so that there are a mix of triples and doubles. I couldn't triple everything 'cos the inner diameter is too small but the result is much better than before, LOL!

Have a blessed evening!

New take

This is the last watch face that I bought previously. I started with a spiral half reef knot using Chinese knotting string and left it. While it looks ok, I wanted something different and I cut off the string and switched to jump rings.

230 of them. I counted.

5mm 18 gauge jump rings that I pieced one by one into 4 Byzantine strands. I added a simple heart toggle that would clash with the 'complexity' of the weave. I think I like this version better :-)

Have a blessed day!

Make a sound

This bracelet is noisier than any I've made before. With slight movement, the jump rings and glass beads softly clink against each other that it's almost fun to start shaking them about. I don't know what material this metal is, it's harder than the Artistic wire I've been using. It's a nice shade of black/brown though. It seems like there are various shades of gunmetal.

Have a blessed day!

Similarities

Made these 2 bracelets out of the remaining rhodium jump rings. I think I have about 10 of the smaller gauge ones left. So, out of one 40g pack of 9mm rhodium rings I managed to make the cross pendant and these 2 bracelets.

DD's has more flowers. 5 flower charms linked by single jump rings. Flower toggle.

Mine is a 1 by 1 with some 3 ring accents. Flower toggle.

I took less than half an hour to piece DD's together. It took me a while to find opposite petals that were large enough for the jump rings. Sore fingers didn't help much either, these jump rings are hard :-(

I took more than an hour for mine. I started out with a simple one-one chain and decided that it was too plain and since I had some more jump rings, I changed it to a one-two. I still had more rings so DD suggested two-two. After fixing it all up, it looked too chunky for me and I started changing it to 3-ring Mobius flowers with single connectors. Three flowers into the bracelet, I decided that I didn't like it 'cos the flower was too chunky and that's when I switched to the current pattern.

Have a blessed day!

Consistency

Who'd have thought that a pack of  pre-cut jump rings would have so many different gauges even if they have the same inner diameter?

Cross pendant attached to key ring and swivel hook.

Made from inconsistent gauge rhodium 9mm rings in the full Persian weave. This may be small but I took a long time because, firstly, this weave is a very dense weave. Sometimes I had a hard time trying to squeeze a ring in and resorted to using a smaller gauge. Perhaps that's why there are different gauges in a pack, LOL! Secondly, these rings are harder to open/close than what I've used thus far, aluminium or enameled copper.

Have a blessed day!

More aluminium

I bought a bracelet kit meant for making three Byzantine bracelets, in blue, pink and green. DD's making the green and I've completed the blue and the pink. With the 'leftover rings' I made matching earrings and another barrel weave bracelet, below.

I also made some coloured Mobius flowers and added a jump ring to attach as a charm later.

My fingers hurt 'cos with 14 gauge aluminium, I need more effort than the 20 gauge copper I've been using. It's much lighter, of course. And with the large OD, the rings are easier to handle and move into position during weaving. I'm just waiting for DD to finish her bracelet and earrings so I can get the balance from her and maybe make more Mobius flowers to make a charm bracelet?

Have a blessed day!

 I thought it might rain, what with the dark clouds but it's ok. Dark clouds don't always mean rain.

Light and airy

Silver and blue Byzantine bracelet with matching earrings. This time, I used aluminium. 14 gauge 10mm OD. They were a bit stiffer than I expected but still manageable. I wonder what stainless steel will be like.

The camera doesn't capture the brightness of the blue but I still like it. These are a bit chunkier than those I've made before but they're much lighter 'cos of the aluminium.

Have a blessed day!

More food...

 Homemade traditional bak zhang, thanks to SL!

 Homemade nonya zhang, thanks to AO!

Our supper last night. Bittersweet, the best combination.

Have a blessed, warm afternoon!

Chains

Have been trying out different types of chains. These are, from top to bottom,

2 by 3 in brass

2 by 3 in gunmetal

barrel or double vision with gunmetal doubles and brass exteriors

barrel or double vision with brass doubles and gunmetal exteriors

parallel or helm in aluminum

I struggled at the start with the barrel and parallel but it's not that difficult once you get the hang of it and it develops into a rhythm. :-)

Have a blessed, warm evening. Took this pic just now, think it'll be another hot day tomorrow.

It's that time of the year

for zhang.

We've been blessed with kee zhang. No picture of the inside 'cos I ate the first one. Maybe I'll update this if I remember to take a pic before eating. The rice that went into these were carefully sorted to pick out the 'better' quality ones so that when cooked, gives a clear, consistent yellow colour.

Yummy!

Jump ring fatigue

My right hand hurts from gripping the chain nose pliers too tightly. I've switched to using the Beadsmith jump ring 'ring' so at least my left hand is recovering. :-) I'm still having lots of fun with chain maille.

These are 3 bracelets. Only the green one is done. The label on the wire was torn off but I suspect it's aluminum 'cos it's so light, compared to the Artistic Wire brass and gunmetal above. Two are similar in design with the 3-ring Mobius flowers, double connectors and heart lobster clasps. The middle one is a part Byzantine and part metal focal charms. While it looks like there's a big gap between the rings, it wasn't easy attaching the metal charms 'cos of the larger ring size. I like the result though. Now I'm deciding between buying a toggle or making a clasp out of the same brass wire. But for now, I rest.

Have a blessed day!

This reminds me of chocolate

The shiny brass is like the foil on the outside and the gunmetal, the chocolate within. :-)

Mobius chain bracelet with 3-ring brass Mobius flowers or love knots and double connectors in gunmetal. This time, I used a heart lobster clasp with an extension chain. Total of 57 brass rings with 5.5mm ID and 45 gunmetal rings with 3.5mm ID.

Have a blessed day!

All that glitters

Byzantine bracelet made from non-tarnish brass. It's so shiny and I don't know how to take a pic to show this. I'm happy that this star toggle matches the wire. Sometimes metals have different shades. I'll show you the gunmetal next time and you can see what I mean.

144 jump rings were made from 20-gauge wire wound with inner diameter 3.5mm and then cut and pieced  together. I like this wire. Deliberately made in an 'airy' fashion (compared to typical Byzantine links which are closer together) so it's slinky when worn.

Have a blessed day!

Bead your own watch bracelet

I've almost completed this before I decided to make a tutorial. Now I'm out of watch faces so I can't take any pics. Anyway, these are the text instructions first.

1. Get your watch face. I found mine at Beadtlesweet at Plaza Singapura. You can also get these at Chinatown or for a wider range, get them online. Just google 'watch face'. I chose the one that lets me stick a strand of Chinese knotting string through the loop at the top. There are many types of 'connections'. Choose the one that you like.

2. Loop 1 strand of Chinese knotting string through. The length of this would be half round your wrist plus the length of the dangle.

3. Cut another length of string about 40cm long. I don't know the length of this 'cos I estimate all the time. This will be used for the square knots.

4. Tie this with an overhand knot just at the loop where the first strand is then string beads onto 1 side of it. I used Miyuki cube beads here. You only need to string the beads on one side.

5. Tie a square knot. Right over left, left over right.

6. Push 1 bead up and tie half a square knot with the bead on the right side. The string with the beads is now on the left. Tie the other half of the square knot with the bead on the left.

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 till you're happy with the length.

8. Do the same for the other side, ie. steps 3 to 7.

9. Cut another length of string about 15cm long.

10. Separate the middle strands of the 2 beaded sides and bring these together, one facing each way.

11. Use the new string and tie 3 square knots.

12. Trim the middle strands and put stopper beads.

13. Trim and singe all ends. (This part hasn't been done yet in the pic)

Have a blessed day!

Gunmetal vs antique bronze

There are so many types / colours of wires out there. These are 2, antique bronze and gunmetal. At certain angles, gunmetal seems like tarnished metal yet when it catches the light, it seems like hematite. It's actually another type of bronze. :-)

These are 2 airy Byzantine bracelets. Airy 'cos the gauge of the wire is too high compared to the 'norm' and the ID is too big. Well, I wanted to try and see what it's like. Sometimes the links get caught and you can't see the pattern but otherwise, it's OK.

Have a blessed day!

I need a new wire cutter

I wanted to make jump rings. Curled them round my knitting needle and all ready to be cut when I discovered that my wire cutter is blunt at the tip. Now I have 2 springs waiting for me to cut into jump rings. In the meantime, since I could still cut with the wire cutter, I made these. Notice that I took the easy way out and didn't centre the loops. Deliberately. Excuses on a hot, hot afternoon.

Have a blessed day!

My fingers hurt

I'd forgotten how hard I have to pull when using twine for macrame. Good thing this belt only has square knots at the start and at the end. The body is braided. Phew!

Make your own with 2 D-rings, twine and beads.

Cut 6 strings about twice the actual length you want.

Tie to the D-rings using a lark's head knot.

Tie square knots with 2 strands in the middle so you have 3 at the start. Leave 2 strings at each side and tie 2 square knots. Alternate this for about 5cm then braid.

Braiding ends when desired length is reached and then you have the alternating square knots again.

At this point, I left a stretch of about 5cm of unknotted string. This is so that there won't be bulk at the D-rings when the belt is worn.

Alternate square knots again then add beads. Secure with overhand knots.

Have a blessed day!

Chainmaille

I chanced upon chainmaille jewelry few weeks back. Jump rings linked together in certain patterns to create chains or pendants. I bought some jump rings for the bookmarks few days back and decided to try this out. The 'normal' gauge for such is usually thicker than what I had on hand but for a trial run, it was OK. I tried 2 types before my hand started aching from twisting the rings shut or pinching them to hold them in place before placing the next ring. I prefer the Byzantine one more than the double ring one. Maybe if there was more colour or different sizes, the double ring one would be nicer. I used the gunmetal rings instead of the antique bronze. At a glance, it may seem to be tarnished but when the light hits it at the right angle, it's a really pretty colour :-)

Afternote: made the Byzantine into a bracelet.

Double-hitched

I seldom use the double-hitch knot. The filler strand seems unruly, difficult to control but I thought, with the help of beads, it might be easier to guide where it's supposed to be. If you've not realised by know, I took the 'back' side of this bracelet so the double-hitch looks odd. LOL!

Have a blessed day!

More updates

First 2 of 4 coptic-bound hardcover books. White unlined pages with pink or patterned papers for each signature. All 4 are pink and unique :-)

 

DD wanted more clips and I got a bit carried away at the shops. Somehow, hair clips at craft shops cost less than hair clips at accessories shop. These are in gunmetal, DD's current favourite colour for accessories.

So I made some bookmarks with the organza ribbons using antique brass and gunmetal ribbon crimps and charms. I like the shells most. These are really simple to make. A tad tricky to roll the end and crimp it but otherwise, just attach a charms using an O-ring.

I like simple shiny shapes. Kind of regret only getting 2 each. Hope there'll be more at the shop when I next go there. Attached a flower to the light blue double wrap braided bracelet posted previously. Used one square for a bracelet similar in design to the ones I've made before. Last 2 are for an interchangeable necklace. I like the blue + silver combo.

Have a blessed day!

More beads

I managed to buy the last 2 packets of blue and green beads. I like the colours and the almost transparent nature. Two holes through each bead made it really easy to thread it all through. Now I just have to add matching toggles.

Experiments with peyote and weaving with Miyuki cube beads. Peyote's fast to bead with cube beads 'cos they stay in place. Usually the first 3 rows are a bit difficult to get in place but it was a cinch with cube beads. Weaving wasn't easy at the start. The cube beads have a relatively large hole but because I wasn't using a proper bead loom, the weft wasn't taut enough and there were many times when I missed threading the beading string on top and below each row. Got better with practice though :-)

Have a blessed day!

Braiding

I've wanted to try braiding more than 3 strands for a long, long time. Finally tried the 6 strand braid here. It's not as difficult as it looks so I went on and on. This was supposed to be a simple bracelet with a charm at the ends but I was enjoying the braiding so I continued and now it's a double wrap.

I'm going to experiment with other colours.

Have a blessed weekend!

Out of touch

It's been a long while since I've done any beading. I was so into beads few years back that I went for a short course but the instructors, patient as they may be, got a bit ... when I was practicing and practicing trying to get that perfect round. That course was a complete the item course rather than fixed time session so it took rather long. Alas, I'm not able to replicate that nice looping. At least, not till I have more practice.

I don't know what this will be, perhaps a bracelet? The colours are very pretty but the workmanship needs vast improvement. I ran out of jump rings and made my own with inconsistent results. I'll use the rest of this pack of beads to practise till I get the loops just right. 

Peyote beading with inconsistent beads. While this method of beading is very simple from the third row on, it's a bit tricky when the beads are of odd sizes. I'm not buying any beads to practise this. I think I'll just use the perler ones :-)

Have a blessed day!

Lazy holiday shopping

DD and I went shopping yesterday. DS didn't go 'cos he's in a flagship camp.

We went to shops at Arab Street, Jln Sultan, South Bridge Road and in Chinatown. Strangely, while there were lots and lots of crystallized elements, the findings selection wasn't as great. I was looking for pendant trays and glass cabochons. Didn't find any cabs but found pendant trays / bezels at only 2 of the shops. Guess I'll have to get from online shops and have them shipped here.

DD saw the green/black/vermillion beads and had to have them. I asked her what she wanted to make with them and she didn't know. She's not that into bracelets as yet and the types of necklaces she wears aren't those with beads. I suggested a bag charm and that's why we included rhodium split rings and lobster hooks. Rhodium chain too, to hang the beads. I'll have to make some eye rings. It's been a while since and I hope the loops will be nice and round :-)

DD spotted this owl at the last shop we went to. There's a blue version of it but we liked the brown. The round thing below the owl is a bird cage. Three-dimensional but I only took the top view. There were half cage pendants, flat ones but this was the only one that was three-dimensional plus there was a bird inside. The antique bronze chain would be for the owl and cage. I just have to find a jump ring and lobster hook for it.

Have a blessed day!