No headphones

I've always wondered where the dust plug goes when the headphones or earpieces are plugged in. I think I might just add a tiny lobster hook so it can be hooked somewhere. Maybe onto the keyring?

Made this with a bling dust plug that just arrived. Detached the Byzantine chainmaille from a shepherd hook's bookmark and attached it here. Hmm, maybe I should just have a lobster hook so you can have a two-in-one. Bookmark or dust plug. LOL!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!