One man's litter

After so many jump rings, it's time I take a break and pick up something that I left accumulating. I parked this project one side after realising that I didn't have enough wrappers to cut and fold. After gorging ourselves silly with lots of snacks and with contributions from friends and family, there's this huge pile.

Can you recognize any of them?

I've washed them and laid them out to dry under the hot, hot sun.

Won't be free to cut them to the right size tomorrow so maybe another update on Wednesday.

Have a blessed day!

So who won the Byzantine bracelet?

Congratulations, Pamela!

You've won this Byzantine bracelet. Please let me know if this length is OK with you else I can customize it to your requirements.

Thanks to all other participants of this giveaway. As a token of appreciation, you get

10% off storewide at Tobias' Shoppe and Tiffany's Shoppe

20% off if you're buying chainmaille items.

Valid till 8Aug2012

Have a blessed day!

Sliding lock

5-aside European 4-in-1 bracelet made with 5mm silver tone jump rings.

I like the slide lock better with this weave, more than with the lobster hook. The hook's nice but with other weave. Somehow, the with and the simplicity of the closed slide lock complements this weave.

Have a blessed day!

I'm off to the flea market. See you there!

Dual purpose

This is the longest chain I've made so far. It's so long that it can be either a double wrap bracelet or a choker. Woven in the Barrel weave using 5mm silver tone jump rings. I added a silver tone lobster hook with extension chain and squeezed in a 5-ring Mobius flower at the end.

I think this looks really nice when worn with a collared shirt. Maybe I'll keep this too, LOL!

Have a blessed evening!

All packed!

Packed the chainmaille keychains more than a month ahead of the actual day. Sometimes I'm early, sometimes I'm late :-( 

Hope the recipients will like it!

Have a blessed day!

New metal

The gauge of these stainless steel rings are higher so I could attempt a full Persian weave. And a 7-ring Mobius flower too. I didn't bother with aspect ratios again and just started the chain. It's quite fluid but not slinky. I added a stainless steel lobster hook so this bracelet is totally made up of the same stuff as forks and spoons.

I like this and am wondering whether to keep it for myself. I like shaggy bracelets too but there's something about simple clean lines and repetition and sleekness that I associate with chainmaille bracelets.

Hmmm, maybe I should make this mine, LOL!

Have a blessed day!

Afternote: I think this would look very nice as a choker when worn with a collared shirt. If I can find a pretty stainless steel toggle. Hmmm...

Playing with food

Do these look like olives?

DS said the previous black one looked like tiny grapes.

Toho 8/0 seed beads with pink lining and olive green on the outside. Silver tone rings for some brightness and shine.

I think this is the last of the shaggy bracelets for a while. Toho has lots more beads that I would like to try - drop beads, 6/0 beads and all the different colours! Well, if these are popular at the flea market on Sunday, I might just delve into these a bit more.

Meanwhile, my sewing machine beckons.

Have a blessed day!

Black Beauty

While this would go very well with a little black dress, I think it does casual looks as well with a long sleeve white shirt (sleeve rolled up to bracelet length, of course) and jeans. I like this combo, shiny/bling beads and shaggy loops, for its dual personality of formal and casual looks.

As usual, I've included an extendable chain with a 4-ring Mobius flower.

I'm liking the Mobius flower more these days. There's something quite captivating about looking at the swirls on a multiple-ring Mobius flower.

Material used: Toho 8/0 seed beads, 5mm gunmetal rings and gunmetal lobster hook

Have a blessed evening!

ps: I'm considering making these as chokers or short necklaces but the looping so many beads is a stumbling block. There are about 400 here and it already took me hours :-( That, and my hand hurts.

Afternote

Took another pic this morning. Looks different :-)

Giveaway!

Would you like to have this?

Byzantine bracelet made from 5mm rhodium-plated jump rings with circle toggle.

Yours if you guess the correct (or closest) number of rings used.

Till 30Jul2012 3pm.

Just leave a comment here or on facebook.

Oh, max of 3 guesses per person and I'll take the most recent one, not all three :-)

* HINTS *

25Jul2012 hint: There are 14 rings per repeated section.

26Jul2012 hint: There are more than 10 sections.

28Jul2012 hint: There are less than 18 sections.

Down with the flu bug

The flu bug's been around recently with the wetter weather here. Thankfully, this time I didn't get teary eyes so I could make these while stuck recuperating at home. 

Nothing like some really cheerful colours and bling to brighten my weekend :-)

Made this specially for DD out of shell beads and 20 gauge 5mm rhodium-plated rings woven using the shaggy loops weave. Making this has reminded me that DD's wrist is larger than mine. Hmmm. 

I like the bright colours and the shimmery way they catch the light when you move your wrist :-) 

Toggle has longer bar to keep it secure even with excessive jingling and jangling. 

This picture doesn't do justice to these beads. I really need to learn how to use my camera better. Can you tell the difference between the 3?

Each of these 3 shaggy loops bracelet has about 400 Toho 8/0 seed beads. Two on each ring, 4 rings on each link. For the fun of it, I made one with all frosted beads (top), one with all bling beads (bottom) and one with half each (middle). DS and DD like the frosted one most. I can't decide how much bling yet, for me. The rings are the 5mm silver-tone ones so those have a bit of shine already. 

Oh, the ends are not shown here but they're the extension chain with the 4-ring Mobius flower :-)

Bling it on, cheers!

Slinky

This is a slinky bracelet made using the European 4-in-1 weave. I made a similar one earlier but I added 2 more rows at each side to make it 5 rows wide rather than 3 shown here. Rings used this time are 5mm in a silver tone versus rhodium-plated previously. I added a lobster hook, extension chain with a 4-ring Mobius flower at the end.

Have a blessed day!

Chunky swirly

I like Mobius flowers. The most number of rings I've tried to put in a Mobius flower is 5.

This bracelet is made up of 4-ring Mobius flowers. I used 14 gauge 10mm rhodium-plated rings to this is not only chunky but heavier than usual. With these larger rings, the swirly nature is clearer.

Have a blessed day!

Amber

I found these amber-gold glass beads and decided to pair these with the gold rings.  I added 1 bead per ring and 4 of these per link in the chain, making this a chunkier shaggy bracelet than usual. The extension chain has a 4-ring Mobius flower as an anchor.

Have a blessed day!

Almost featherweight

This shaggy bracelet is the lightest so far despite having the most glass beads. That's 'cos I've used aluminium rings this time. 5mm ID 18 gauge bright aluminium rings. I didn't count how many but they're certainly lighter than the rhodium ones. Sometimes value of jewelry is affected by the weight of it but this one bucks the trend by being chunky yet lightweight so continuous wear is not an issue. I like the sound this makes as well, with the soft clinks of the rings against the glass beads. Fun bracelet to wear :-)

Have a blessed day!

Will it be sunny tomorrow?

We were caught in the rain at the zoo today. Was quite an experience, eating Shrooms at the amphitheathre and getting gentle sprays of water. Good thing that the canopy was sheltering us from the cats and dogs.

Took this pic just now. I think it might just be sunny tomorrow.

Random thoughts and rambling.

Have a blessed evening!

Wire, rings and other things

I don't always make my own rings. Yes, sometimes I buy spools of Artistic enameled copper wire, wrap them round a mandrel and cut with wire cutters but nowadays, I buy ready made rings. I think it's more cost effective this way 'cos I don't intend to invest in a jewelry saw to get rings with a tiny kerf.

So I buy readymade rings. This pic is just one box of rings that I have. These are mainly aluminium rings from 14g to 20g in various diameters. My most expensive rings, to date, are also here. The silver-plated saw-cut ones. Haven't yet decided what to make out of those as yet. Maybe delicate earrings 'cos the rings are so pretty even if there are only a few of them.

My material of choice at the moment is rhodium-plated machine-cut rings.

Rhodium-plated for the shine and machine-cut to lower the cost. Yup, saw-cut ones cost more. Also, these rings seem tougher and thus less likely to get nicks from the pliers when opening and closing them. Lastly, I've yet to snap a ring due to metal stress but I've snapped a few aluminium ones already. LOL!

Have a blessed day!

Productive weekend

Finally attached toggles to these chains. It's a simple toggle but I like it 'cos it's a bit heavy and has nice clean lines. The hole is in the bar rather than a soldered ring. Would have been nicer if the hole in the ring was incoporated as well. I like it too that this simple toggle doesn't distract from the woven chains.

 

Made a second shaggy bracelet. Only bought two types of long magatama beads. The frosted green one and  this blue one. I like the different shades of blue and teal. 

Another chainmaille belt similar to the earlier one with the 3-by-1 weave. These are larger (and heavier) antique bronze rings. Matched it with a pretty heart charm and flower lobster hook.

Have a blessed day!

More and more rings

Bought some long green frosted magatama beads. I was looking for shorter ones, those that look like drop beads but I could only find these. I like these too after seeing how it all comes together as a bracelet. I also found a tiny Hand Made tag that I added, along with a 2-strand slide lock. This bracelet's fun to wear since it's simple to wear on your own with the slide lock and also 'cos it has a lot of movement.

DD has claimed this.

I found 5mm rings in other colours. From left to right, Byzantine weaves in gunmetal, gold, rhodium and silver. I don't think they're the real thing 'cos of the price (even though the Great Singapore Sale is still on) but they do resemble the real thing. I have some silver-plated rings that I bought from Australia and they look similar to these that I bought here in Singapore. Price-wise, the silver-plated ones from Down Under cost more than 5 times the price of similar looking ones.

Both DS and DD like the gunmetal one the most. I think I still prefer the rhodium rings.

Have a blessed day!

Hot pink!

Made another cross again using the full Persian weave. This time, with large glossy fuchsia anodised aluminium rings. This will be the only one 'cos I don't have enough rings to make another one and I don't intend to buy more of such. Not that I don't like it, I just want to try other colours and sizes. 

Have a blessed day!

Splash of colour

More aluminium rings arrived yesterday and I made these. Two Byzantine chains using bright and matte anodised ones. The chain with blue looks like a silver chain with a blue ribbon woven inside. DD requested for hers to have green on the outside.

This is not my first attempt at a whirlybird but it's the prettiest. I'll need to experiment more to find the right mix of rings to make these sturdier. I'll want to try putting a marble in too :-)

Have a blessed weekend!

Almost shaggy

Found a bag of light blue acrylic chips and decided to make a bracelet using the balance 5mm rhodium rings I have. There was one main problem though, that the 5mm OD was too small for some of the chips. I wanted to have the chips all over the full length of the bracelet but since the chips couldn't fit on the rings, I changed the two sides to a 2-by-1 chain.

No clasp yet though :-(

Have a blessed day!

Bees

Still in the chainmaille mood with these 3 chains - barrel, box and Byzantine.

I put a coin there as reference to show how petite these chains are since they were woven from 3.5mm ID rhodium rings. While I like the shiny results, my fingers are aching from handling such small rings and I need even more frequent eye breaks from squinting to check if the rings were closed properly.

I'm just wondering, comparing lengths, which weave is denser, ie, uses more rings. The barrel's out of contention for sure, even I used 3 rings inside this time compared to the usual 2. Would the box have more rings per cm or the Byzantine? Interestingly, the box weave as a tactile feature that you can squeeze opposite sides of the box to flatten it. Can't squeeze the Byzantine or the box.

These chains are short of clasps. When I find suitable ones, I'm thinking of giving away the Byzantine as a National Day giveaway with a twist. Let's see... :-)

Have a blessed day!

Eeny meeny rings

These are not the smallest rings I have. They're just the smallest ones that I'm using on a Byzantine and box weave shown here. These are 3.5mm ID rings so the resulting chain seems rather delicate compared to the first few aluminium chains I made. I like these rhodium rings. They are tough and shiny :-)

Have a blessed day!

Antique bronze cross

Full Persian woven cross using 12mm antique bronze rings. I like the lobster clasp, not for its floral detail but for it's unique design where the hole for the rings is integrated into the whole hook rather than added on as an afterthought. I think this hook would also be very nice on a belt where the orientation of the hook is irrelevant, compared to a hook that has an enameled heart like DD's.

This cross is larger than the rhodium one I made (9mm vs 12mm rings). Since this is a larger gauge, it also took me more effort to open and close the rings. I added a third ring on each side for the 'arms' for stability too. I think I might make more of these :-)

Have a blessed day!

More rings

I miscalculated and thought I had lots of rings left over after completing 12 keychains. That was when I started this simple 3-by-1 chain. I thought I'd make a necklace for a change but I didn't like the chunkiness so I decided that it'll be a belt for DD. I attached the other pair of sneakers so DS has one pair and DD has one too. At the point when I took this pic, I didn't have the clasp yet. DD has since chosen a large lobster clasp with a white enamel heart and a tiny bling :-) Maybe I'll take a pic another time.

I bought more rings and chose antique bronze this time. I found this toggle and I like it lots. I like simple, clean lines and this is just fantastic. I had to adjust the bar-end 'cos the 12mm ring was too large for the toggle to be fitted. It's another 3-by-1 just like the belt above.

Have a blessed evening!

Micro-maille

I bought these 3.5mm ID rhodium rings intending to make some Celtic stars but they were too small. Somehow the aspect ratios don't work with the 3.5mm and the 9mm rings. They were also too big for the Japanese weaves so I decided to use them on their own.

This is the European 4-in-1 weave. It looks like a very simple weave but it took me a while to get a hang of piecing it together. It didn't help that these are tiny tiny rings but I like the result. It's super slinky. Now I just have to find a suitable clasp.

Have a blessed day!

Jingle Jangle

 Twelve key rings here.

Green bells - box weave

Blue bells - full Persian weave

Green/blue bell - Byzantine weave

While all are 9mm rhodium rings, the gauges are different for some. The difference is most obvious for the box weaves. The thicker gauge means a dense weave while the thinner gauge means a more open, airy weave.

Have a blessed day!

These shoes weren't made for walking

I saw this mid-cut sneaker charm and immediately thought of DS. He has a pair now in marine blue that he wears quite often. I made this out of 9mm rhodium rings that I attached to a key ring but he didn't want it. He prefers keys in a pouch so that they don't jingle jangle. He said to put it on his bag instead and coincidentally, there's a missing zipper pull.

Have a blessed day!

And more stars

I made another 6-petal Celtic star and decided to try making a 5-petal one with the remaining rings from both the gunmetal one (bottom of the pic) and the non-tarnish one (top right). I found two smaller rings for the middle and counted off how many rings I would need and, thankfully, I had enough.

DS and DD both prefer the gunmetal one. I think I prefer a silver one (from rhodium or aluminium rings) with an accent charm for some colour. 

Have a blessed day!

Seeing stars

This is the 3rd attempt at making a Celtic star. It's a variant from the actual 'cos I didn't bother with aspect ratios again so the first two were too floppy. These were made from 2 sizes, one wrapped round a 3.5mm knitting needle and the larger one wrapped around a Papermate pen.

Have a blessed day!