January 29, 2014

R&D - Sierpinski's Triangle

Sierpinski's Triangle - What's is it?  I Googled it, still it's something I don't understand:-(

But, it looks pretty awesome in maille, don't you think?!


On one of those days when I had a serious case of mailler's block (like the kind I'm having right now, sadly....), I flipped through MAIL's weave library looking for inspiration when I came across an interesting triangle shape thingy created by ElementalDragon.  If you've not done any mailling, it may not be obvious to you, but achieving a straight line with round jump rings is not exactly straight forward (yes, pun intended!)

And triangles are made of 3 straight lines!  So how does this work?

Very carefully; like this!


These are tiny, at AR 2.3 for 18 swg rings.  Very hard to keep hold of.

How about with thicker wire?  Like this.


Then this.


Then back to the first photo on top:-)  

And from a different angle.  Interesting, don't you think?!


Oh, didn't mind the gaps; this is a just test:-)  But I see potentials in this!!  A dainty pendant, perhaps....  OK, will need to fire up my Ringinator to make some tight rings; AR 2.3 is not exactly common....

oooooo
ooo
o

------

January 19, 2014

Dutch Spiral is Cool!!

You're seeing this right; this is not chainmaille; it's seed bead weaving, one of my favorite crafts.  Been a while since I last did any...  For a new year, some new ideas brewing in my head, something mixed media...  First one to revisit is Dutch Spiral.

This odd-count tubular peyote weave is fascinating!  Yes, it's known as Dutch Spiral, but it's not woven in the typical spiral stitches.


It's done exactly as any odd-count tubular peyote, except it has a "floating bridge" added to each round.  This is where the magic beings!!

My test piece is just a short segment of size 11 mixed with size 6 for the ridge effect, followed by a string of 3-bead, size 15, "floating bridge".  The starting rounds can be a bit confusing, but not as tricky as some other spirals or tubular weaves.

Not too many chainmaille weaves that I know of can do spirals as dramatic and flexible; Markovian Helix may be one, but it's not exactly a quick weave to put together.


This short strip of test piece took longer than I planned; very tactile but still need work before production feasible.

So yes, more R&D, as always.  But I'm very excited about Dutch Spiral; I see lots of potential!!!

:-)


---

January 9, 2014

Byzantine Stars Earrings


There's something magical about anodized niobium.....


and sterling silver:-)


Light bounces of them giving off such brilliance few other metals can.


Words are unnecessary.......


Very happy these pretty little custom ordered stars are going to their new home, yay!!

Interested in custom ordering for my handmade jewelry?  Send me a note or visit my online shop DaisyKreates.com for more styles and options:-)

Complete views are also available in my online Picasa web album.