Tiny Silver Rosette Earrings

I made this pair of silver earrings last night. I've been having conversations with friends who are rather fond of tiny earrings instead of the longer dangling ones, so I've decided to play around with a few ideas. This is really the tiniest I've ever made, with the length not much more than 1.5 cm. To really keep them very small I used earring post backs with a little silver nut to keep them from slipping from the ear.

The design is based on the popular moebius chainmaille weave, where I've doubled up all the rings for this little rosette design. The last picture is not very sharp, I just wanted to show how tiny they are in my hand.

YOJ 2013 - Week 16 - Something Hidden

Here is my entry for the week 15 at the YOJ project group for 2013. The bracelet is a mix of chain maille and soldering. All sterling silver and all rings hand cut with the jeweler's saw. The bracelet measures 18 cm (7") and the chain maille weave is called Orbital Vipera Berus. Very light bracelet and fun to wear.

I named the bracelet Oriana as it reminds me of a highschool colleague of mine from way back - back at home.

YOJ Week 15 - Fibonacci Sequence

Here is my piece for the YOJ week 15 project, with the theme Fibonacci sequence. Well, for this week I chose to honor Leonardo Fibonacci, who as the son of a merchant had free access to the whole Byzantine empire, so he could go to established centers around Europe to study. So this week's theme is for him.

The necklace is quite dense, it is a graduated Byzantine in sterling silver. All jump rings have been cut by hand with a jeweler's saw. The rings range from gauges 14 to 19 (1.2mm to 0.9mm) in various sizes and aspect ratios to get the graduated effect. I love this one, but boy it's expensive to create something major like this in sterling silver...it eats rings like a hungry pet!

Meaasures 18.5 inches (46 cm) including the sterling silver clasp. Simply beautiful!

Square Knot Bracelet In Bronze

Sterling silver is quite expensive, so I've decided to experiment in other materials that are not only cheaper, but also quite cool actually. This piece was made in bronze and it's called Square knot based on the B2 weave. It's quite fun to do and awesome to wear. I love how is rather loose on the wrist and kind of fluffy. Now try to do this heavy one in sterling silver!

The clasp is an antiqued bronze square clasp. Not sure yet if I'll keep it. The color is a bit off compared to the bracelet, but it does make a nice contrast. Bracelet measures 19.5cm (almost 8") and it's made of 4.4 AR various size bronze rings (bought from TheRingLord).

Stepping Stones Weave Tutorial - My Way Of Doing It

First of all Happy New Year to everyone reading this blog!

This is my first post this year and a tutorial for the Stepping Stones chain maille weave for an alternate way of doing it for those (few) like me who are math challenged (despite my mom being a math teacher, lol).

I made a Stepping Stones bracelet a few days ago (design by Corvus Chainmaille) based on the free tutorial from Mailleartisans, which is very easy to do. I created the bracelet without a problem - until I wanted to do a pair of earrings with different size large rings which assumed a different number of small connector rings to attach the large ones to - especially when working with 3 ring sizes, as opposed to 2 sizes that the tutorial from Maillerartisans is based upon.

While looking at my bracelet for a little while, I realized that the whole thing is nothing but a 2 in 2 chain with some additions. I deconstructed it in my mind, and hopefully this tutorial will help a few - it is a bit slower going because I did it in 4 different phases, but some steps can be done together once you read through the basics.

So first here is the silver piece I started with, in an overview as to my progress so far. I will also post the bracelet once it's fully woven together. I used here 3 sizes of rings:
- large rings  (I used 1.5mm rings with ID of 6, for an AR of 4)
- medium rings (I used 0.9mm rings with ID of 3, making it a 3.28 AR)
- small connector rings (I used 0.7mm rings with 2.5mm id with AR 3.5)

Above you can see the bracelet in different stages of 'being', and some silver rings that I'm using to work through the piece as well.

Step 1 - Create a simple 2 in 1 chain in two ring sizes. Attached to this medium size ring are two small rings (the connector rings). Make the chain longer than a regular bracelet size, since the addition of the big rings will curve your chain and make it shorter.

Step 2 - Double up the medium rings so you end up with a long 2 in 2 chain as shown below. So you have 2 med. rings connected to the two small rings.

Step 3 - Start adding 2 small rings on one side of the medium rings, like shown below. How many of these 2 ring sets you will add will depend on how big your large ring is and how curved you want your piece to be.  The original tutorial calls for 4 double-up small rings, I used 6 in this example. So basically the medium rings will have 3 sets of small rings on them - two sets as connectors, and one set lose in the middle (as shown in the image below). Once you have the 6 double rings (or how many you want your large ring to be connected to), when you add the next set of 6 rings, add them to the opposite side of the medium size rings.

Step 4 - Now add the large rings. So far I've added two large rings for each 6 sets of small lose connector rings. As I go along, I will keep adding more.

One other reason why I prefer doing it this way is that in case I want to add a different size of large rings or attach it to a different number of small connector rings (e.g. a focal point on a necklace), I can decide right there how many connector rings to add as I progress with the piece and see visually where I am at the moment.

While this is quite basic, maybe it's the way my mind works, but this is how I could make sense of it all. I hope it does help someone mathematically challenged like I am :)

Chainmail Bracelet For Men - Sold

The latest jewelry piece I've sold was one that really took me a lot of time and silver. Not sure if I'll ever attempt another one so detailed, intricate ... and heavy.

Made of pure sterling silver, the chainmail weave for the bracelet is called Turkish round, and I've saved some of the pictures of the piece before selling it off in my Dawanda shop.

The size is 20 cm (8.5 inches) and it's really one of the heaviest bracelets I've ever created. Each silver ring was hand-sawn by me and interlaced with each other to create this long bracelet chain.

 

What's new?

I've been a bit quiet lately on my blog, however I did a few more things that I added to my shop.
A small sterling silver pendant with purple freshwater pearls, done in freeform wire wrapping style. It's reall too cute :)
Modified version of the original Vita pendant with adding some gorgeous freshwater pearls around the frame, I feel it fills the whole pendant quite nicely now.
Listed a double spiral turquoise chainmail bracelet I made a while ago and never got to list until now. Sterling silver, as usual.
And if you are making greeting cards with stamps, I have a whole bunch of unmounted stamps that I need to destash. Haven't made greeting cards in at least 5 years, so I'm afraid I won't be returning to parchment and to stamping anymore, I'm too much wrapped in making jewelry :)
So you can get the whole batch for only 25 Euros here. I might list some other cardmaking supplies later on, once these stamps are gone.

Jens Pind bracelet with rhodonite

Jens Pind is the name of the latest weave I've learned today. It took me yesterday close to 2 hours of frustration after which I gave up, but today I started with full force and it 'clicked' almost instantly. Must have been very tired last night for my mind to blank out so much.
I made this bracelet within the hour (of course, not counting the time it took me to coil, cut and tumble polish the rings).

Turkish Round - for him

78 Euros

I've finally mastered another weave, the Turkish round. It is a beautiful weave, not difficult at all once you figure out the steps.
After all the weaves I've done, I must say this is the one that talks to me the most. Love making this pattern.
Here is a bracelet I made 'for him', as this weave is mostly suitable for men, particularly in the size presented here. 1.2mm wire in 4 mm ID. The whole bracelet is around 20-21 cm long, but it can be shortened upon request.
Over 50 gr of sterling silver, i.e. over 300 rings one by one hand-cut and woven to create this. Does it show that I'm mighty proud of it? :)

Btw, if you ever come to Cyprus, you'll find this weave under 'Cyprus round', *grins*.

Stairways to heaven - SOLD

No, it's not about the song, but the name of the weave I've learned lately. It is also known by another name, dino snorting drano, and although it's a gorgeous bracelet weave, I'm not sure what the person creating it was snorting when it gave this name *roll eyes*. Thank got it's also called by the alternative name, which is what I'm gonna use.
It makes a beautiful dainty and slinky bracelet, and the sterling heart in the middle just gives it extra spark and character.

Byzantine and herringbone

I was busy the whole week with this byzantine necklace, a piece on commision. Now hope they will actually buy it :)
Sterling silver with a gorgeous clasp bought on Etsy. AR 3.5 on 1mm wire.
I love the byzantine, it's a timeless beautiful weave which is gorgeous either on its own, or with beads in between. This piece took me pretty much the whole week as I had hundreds of silver rings to cut.

Tonight, after all this chainmail, I wanted to do something entirely different, but still something in my comfort zone. So I picked the herringbone weave, which I love so much. The beads are goldstone, they sparkle so much in the light, they're simply gorgeous. For the first time since I make herringbone, I've used thicker wire for wrapping, it has quite an interesting effect. I might use it again for larger beads.

Poppy necklace

Since I'm on a chainmail roll, here is my latest creation. Spent the better part of Friday evening and Saturday morning winding and cutting the coil to make the rings for it (two sizes, AR 3 and 6), and Saturday afternoon until late in the night I was working on the necklace. I pulled apart at times bits and pieces of it until I got the design the way I wanted it. Although it did turn out to be come something else than I first envisioned. Oh well...
I named it poppy necklace after the lampwork bead I bought from an Etsy artist, who named the bead 'poppy'. All metal, including the gorgeous heart clasp is sterling silver.

And what I'm doing as my next project? Well I'm just in the middle (ok start) of learning the turkish round mail, using bright aluminium (silver became just too expensive nowadays for learning).
Not the easiest weave to learn though...

If you're curious how to make chainmail jewelry, check out my previous post on it.

Zig-zag bracelet - chainmail

I had some leftover rings from the Aurelia set, so as they were perfect AR for a japanese pattern, I made this bracelet. I call it zig-zag, as the outer rings around on both sides, lol.
Pretty easy to make actually, just make a strip of 2-2 and then add the outer large rings attached with the small ones. One of the easiest stuff I've done so far, next to the shaggy loops maybe. However it was quite fiddly and time consuming.
All sterling silver.

Chainmail bracelet featured at Yahoo chainmail group

One of my chainmail bracelets was added today as the homepage picture at the Chainmail Ring Yahoo group. I'm a bit overwhelmed as there are real chainmail gurus lurking in there and I'm such a chainmail newbie...But it does feel good,so yes, I'm boasting about it :)

Aurelia necklace and bracelet

This is what I've been working the whole weekend. Yesterday I was busy cutting the rings with my jeweler's saw, and today I made the necklace and bracelet in sterling silver and larvikite beads, based on the aura weave.
Once I figured out the weave, it was very easy. It's just like a part of byzantine with the rings flipping back. I used 1mm wire 6 and 3 mm ID.

Cute little silver chainmail earrings

I have some rings from my previous cut, which are not enough to make a bracelet, so I used the two size rings to make two pairs of earrings. One is a moebius flower attached to sterling silver earstuds, and the second pair is a 2 in 2 chain with some interesting ear wires that I made yesterday. I have added them to my Dawanda shop very reasonably priced for chainmail.

My first chainmail necklace

I've worked on this sterling silver with rhodonite necklace during the weekend and only today I had a chance to take a picture with me modeling it. I like it quite a lot.
I've put the necklace last night in the tumbler and it shines now so nicely :)
Before putting it in the tumbler, I checked first about the hardness of rhodonite, as some stones (like turquoise, or pearls) do not fare well in the tumbler for a long time (say longer than 15 minutes, others nothing at all). But rhodonite has a hardness of 5.5 to 6, so I though 'all is well', as they say it's safe to tumble any stone with a hardness of at least 5.5. And safe it was, indeed :)
Here is a good place to check for the Moh's hardness of your semiprecious (or precious) stones if you're not sure you can tumble polish them or not.

And here is the matching pair of earrings. Handmade square earwires as well.

My journey into making a silver chainmail bracelet...from scratch

I've been asked a few times why chainmail jewelry is so expensive. For a silver bracelet in various weaves a chainmailer can charge up to $100 or more (or 80-100 Euros if in Europe).
Also I have friends in Cyprus who have absolutely no idea how this type of jewelry comes to be about. No wonder. Two years ago for me 'chainmail' only ment the armor wore by European soldiers in the Middle Ages.

My bracelet today will be in the Byzantine weave, a beautiful weave designed for jewelry. This is the final design.

This piece took me pretty much the whole day - except the time I prepared and had lunch, and had a cake and coffee with hubby.



First step - coil the wire. Set up the coiling equipment and start coiling. I actually enjoy this process as it doesn't take long and it's quite relaxing...







Finished coiling. Hm...it could have been neater...oh well, next time...
The coils are rather small as the mandrel is not large enough. It takes approximately 1.5 m of wire (1mm wire on 3.5mm mandrel).






Next step, cutting the coil into single rings... I'm using a jewelry saw which is relatively easy but also slow to work with. But it cuts the rings neatly flush.
And don't forget the finger protection as it's very easy to go with the saw through the fingers...ouch.
Half of my rings have been cut. A small break and then continue...




Finally, all my rings in this batch are cut. Took a while...
Paper is full of rings, silver powder and candle powder. Why candle? The saw needs a lubricant, and beeswax is just right for it.
Have a ton of candles at home, so I took one to use with my saw.
Now rings need to be cleaned nicely and then the jewelry weaving can begin... I don't have (yet) a tumbler, so I'm cleaning the silver with water and soap. Tumbler and stainless steel shot is already ordered, it should come within the next 2-3 weeks...


Approximately 100 rings in that cup yielded by the mandrel size.
Nice, clean and shiny. No idea yet how many I will need for my Byzantine bracelet, so I'll finish these up before making more rings.









And here are the first two segments of my Byzantine bracelet using the rings just cut and cleaned.








Hm...finished up all the rings, and I hardly have half of the bracelet done...
Which means off to coil and cut some more...but in the meantime for a break I wrapped this beautiful lampwork bead (made by an American artisan), as I intend to use it with the bracelet.



Here is my second coil. This one is beautifully uniform and all!




.....after cutting the second coil in rings (another batch of - give or take - 100 rings) and weaving in with the rest of the bracelet, tada...I present you The Bracelet...









Hm, on second thought...I don't like where the bead is...so after undoing that part, here is the final (hopefully) version of it with a nicer clasp and a small extension chain as well...

Now just to take a nicer picture of it and it should be done...






And based on Laura's input, I modified it yet again to make the beadie a clasp... (picture is at the top of the posting). Oh and yes, the silver clasp is also handmade by me, done in one of my small breaks from cutting and weaving silver. How to do that is a matter for a future post.