Copper for a Friend

I know it's been a while since I posted a blog and I apologize. Some of my readers have been concerned, asking where I am and if I am all right. I am very touched and I just want you to know that I am fine - just been a little busy. Now... onto my latest project.

A few weeks ago, Sharon, a very dear friend of mine asked me if I could create some pieces for her using copper. She loves the look of copper and the warmth it gives off. Of course, she had some idea of what she wanted and this is what she sent me (she wanted the bracelet without the extra chains).



Both are very nice pieces but... in my mind they are not quite her! When I design pieces for Sharon, I do them to suit her personality which is fun, loving and very out going... these pieces did not scream that to me... they were more of a whisper of what she really needed. So... I went to work. I used the same weaves (Euro 4 in 1) as the above pictures but, I added what I call the Sharon flair! Here is what I came up with!



I sent these pictures to Sharon yesterday so, I'm not spoiling the surprise for her by posting them here today :) And her response... "holy crap...these are STUNNING!!...like em...more like LOVE EM!!!" I think I'm safe to say, she likes them. :)

Sharon has inspired a few of my pieces so far... maybe I'm going to have to start naming my pieces by the people that inspire them... this is part of "The Sharon Collection".

Sharon - thanks for the inspiration... and most of all, thank you for allowing me to create these pieces for you!

Tetra Orb Earrings

I've been slacking in creating new chain maille pieces. I looked at my shops and realized that I hadn't posted a new item in over a week. For those of you who sell on Etsy and Artfire, you will agree that's not too good because if you don't post new items... you don't get new traffic to your shops. No traffic to shops = no sales!

Part of my problem has been filling in person orders for items that I have previously created. One of my post popular bracelets for men and women is the byzantine weave. Sure... I love the weave and I think it looks great but, it does get boring after a while.

This weekend, I took a time out. I've had a list of new weaves that I have been wanting to learn so... I started working on that.

This first little weave is called a Tetra Orb. It's tricky and it took me a while to figure out the right combination of ring sizes to make it work just right. To complicate it further... because I love incorporating crystals into my work... I had to figure out how to get a crystal inside the orb. In the end (once I got the ring size figured out), they were fun to create and I was pretty happy with the way they turned out. I posted these earrings in my shops last night.

Would You Like to Win Some Chain Maille?

Would you like to win one of these beautiful chain maille creations?

Well, you can and I'm going to share with you how!

The Etsy Chainmailler's Guild had a contest for their members. We were to create a chain maille item fitting a "Romance Blossom" theme. The entries are in and now, we are asking you to vote for your favorite! Vote for your favorite, leave a comment with contact information (email) and on April 18, winners for the voter prizes (pictured above) will be chosen via random number generator.

For all the details and to vote, please click here and you will be directed to the Etsy Chainmaillers Guild blog.

Want to get some extra opportunities to win these fabulous prizes? Twitter the URL to the blog, blog about the contest, post in any forum, use Myspace bulletin or Facebook announcements and leave a separate comment for each of these things that you did. Each one of these will give you an extra opportunity to win one of these prizes.

Thanks for voting and good luck - hopefully you will win one of these prizes!

Featuring Fun Toys for Kids

Today I am doing a very special feature on an Etsy shop called Fun Toys for Kids!

What makes this shop so special is the artisan, he is only 11 years old and he does some amazing and very fun chain maille pieces. Greg originally learned how to do chain maille when he was 7 years old at a summer camp. He has since mastered some very difficult weaves which are listed at Fun Toys for Kids. He has a number of other projects that he is working on which will be listed soon so, keep your eyes on his shop!

Greg is also a member of the Etsy Chain Maillers Guild!

These are just some of his wonderful chain maille creations. Check out Fun Toys for Kids for more!

It it truly an honor for me to feature Fun Toys for Kids!!

Dodecahedron Pendants

The Dodecahedron pendant has to be one of my favorite pieces!

The pendant has 12 sides and and is made from 96 individual rings that are opened and closed one at a time. Hidden inside each of these pendants is a genuine Swarovski Crystal with an Aurore Boreale finish. These crystals are just stunning and when the light hits the pendant in just the right way, you see the beautiful sparkle of the crystal come through.

The pendant currently listed in my shop is made from solid sterling silver wire and measures just under 1 inch. I will be posting a smaller version which measures just under 3/4 inch in my shop later this week.

Copper Bracelets

The use of copper for medicinal purposes is found throughout recorded history. Today, thousands of years later, pharmacies around the world offer copper bracelets as a first aid for joint pain and swelling. Although not scientifically proven, it has been found that in general, people with arthritic pain, found the symptoms decrease by wearing a pure copper bracelet.

Ancient Egyptians wore copper ornaments and jewelry as a mark of high status in society. The love affair with copper continues and it's warm red hues, has made it popular for fashion jewelry today.

Whether for fashion or medicinal purposes, I have had a significant increase in requests for copper jewelry. As a result, I have been increasing my copper chain maille line. I use pure copper wire in the making of these bracelets and pay the same amount of attention to detail as I do to my sterling silver pieces.

To keep your copper pieces shinny, here is a simple recipe: Put a couple of tablespoons of lemon or lime juice in a small container and add a teaspoon of regular table salt to the juice. Drop in your item and swirl it around. The tarnish is gone instantly and your jewelry is bright and shinny again. Be sure to rinse the jewelry well to remove the salt as copper corrodes easily.

Cosmic Crystals

I'm a little late getting a post up today due to the effects of a cold that I have been fighting this week but, I am determined to keep my blog going so, here I am! Better late than never right?

I just finished a bracelet yesterday that I will be posting in my shops sometime today - once I get the proper pictures taken.

I originally made this style of bracelet about 1 1/2 years ago. The inspiration came when I took some earrings that I made into Malibu Tan - a great tanning salon that also sells my jewelry. The earrings were made using these gorgeous Cosmic Crystals and a simple byzantine weave. Someone at Malibu Tan saw the earrings and said, "a bracelet made from those crystals would look really nice - if you can figure out a way to link them together". I thought about it for a while and decided that I could link the crystals using the same byzantine weave that I used on the earrings. The Cosmic Crystal bracelet was born!

I recently had a special order for this bracelet and the customer wanted clear crystals which I wasn't really fond of but... everyone has their own taste right? I ordered in some clear crystals but at the same time, I also came across these Crystal Cal V SI colored ones so... ordered both in. When the crystals arrived, I thought the Crystal Cal ones looked brilliant. They looked like silver crystal. I made up bracelets and matching earrings using both crystals and decided to give the customer a choice. When she saw both of them, she was drawn instantly to the set using the Crystal Cal color. She loved the sparkle that the crystals gave off.

I loved the crystals so much, I made another set to sell in my shops. Here it is...

Chain Maille and the Process of Cutting your Own Rings

Today, I'm taking you into my world... the world of Chain Maille. I thought I would share with you the history of Chain Maille and the process I use to cut my own rings.

First the history - don't worry, since I didn't care much for history myself when I was in school - I will make it a short lesson!

Chain Maille is the ancient art of weaving small metal rings into patterns. It was the earliest form of metal armour and was probably invented before the 5th century by the ancient Celts. The name mail comes from the French word "maille" which is derived from the Latin "macula" meaning "mesh of a net". The armour itself involved the linking of iron or steel rings, the ends of which were either pressed together, welded or riveted. Sometimes the rings were stamped out of a sheet of iron and these were then used in alternate rows with riveted links. End of history lesson - that wasn't too bad was it?

My Chain Maille jewelry is a modern interpretation of this ancient technique.

Now... onto the process. I make all of my own rings using solid sterling silver, copper or gold fill wire. First the wire... nothing fancy... just wire and this is how I receive it... in coils, no labels - here is where it is wise to own a caliper so you know which wire gauge you are working with - this is very important and I will tell you why.... another day!

I coil this wire onto different size mandrels (for different weaves) using a jump ringer system. There are a couple of different systems out there and I am not going to recommend one over the other. The coil is then coated with cutting compound and placed into a coil holder.



A top plate is finger tightened over the coil. To cut the coil, I use a jewelers blade and blade guard. The power behind the spinning blade is a flex shaft - do not use a Dremel as even the best Dremels will not get you the rpms that are needed to cut through the wire - especially the heavier gauges. My flex shaft spins to a maximum speed of 18,000 rpm and I make sure it's spinning at that speed before I attempt to cut the coil. If the speed is not fast enough, it will bind. Oh yes... very important... always wear eye protection! There will be metal dust spraying out at you and there have been many times where I have had wire or a piece of the blade come flying out at me.



Once the rings are cut, they are placed in a tumbler containing stainless steel shot, a bit of water and dish soap - that's right... dish soap is not just for cleaning dishes! The cut rings are then tumbled for several hours before they are ready for use. The tumbling does two things; first, it polishes the metal, removing small scratches and burrs and secondly, it hardens the metal. Once this process is complete, the rings are ready to weave into intricate Chain Maille pieces - if you click on the picture of the rings you can see just how shinny they are! You can use different metals together in one weave, add crystals or make pieces using just one metal. That's where your imagination and creativity comes in!