Pet Dragon with Fire Mix Scales

Meet Sharon H's new body guard!

Mr. Lil Smaug, the chainmaille version, that is :-)

Thanks to the beautiful scales from Blue Buddha Boutique and C&T Designs, this handsome dragon gets to wear the most shiny armor ever!

Isn't he the cutest?!  :-)

So far, I've made a number of dragons.  What's the same is that every one of them is a labor of love; what's different is their personalities; each is unique.  How amazing is that?!!

Want your own pet dragon in your favorite color mix?  Please visit my online studio DaisyKreates.com for more details.

Pet Dragon with School Color

I'm not a sports fan, never paid much attention to school colors either; but I recently noticed a lot of them chose maroon!  Interesting!  Never thought of this seasonal, somewhat muted color would be so popular among school teams.

Any how, I received a request to make a pet dragon key fob with maroon color scales.  Well, in our chainmaille world, we just call this color "burgundy" :-)  and many thanks to C&T Designs for supplying these fabulous scales!!

This handsome dragon takes after its older siblings in not only being totally awesome,

but super adorable too ;-)

Want one of these cuties with your school colors?  Please visit my online studio for ordering details.

Click here for more views.

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Pet Dragon Key Chain - in Purple and Black

Took me quite a while to get this new baby ready for its new home :-)

 Sporting beautiful violet purple and black, mixed with indigo and silver, this is a most handsome fella I've ever seen ;-)

Snuggling in my hand, the little dragon takes a nap before getting on its homeward trip!

Oh, how I'll miss you........

Specs update

Since my first chainmaille dragon, I've gone thru many, many ounces of stainless steel jump rings, from several different vendors, over quite a few orders.  Interestingly, the jump rings from the same vendor under the same material code comes out slightly different in size!  This is the one aspect that baffles plenty beginning maillers :-(

Of course, these jump rings are handmade too!  Sure, they mostly are made with some kind of machines/tools.  But the winding and cutting are still all made in individual batches.  All of these result in variations in the end.

What's more, my techniques in closing the rings, different pliers, modified construction steps, all of these factors add to very interesting results.

The original specs list 3 sizes of rings: 1/8", 5/32", and 3/16".  Boy, that was a tough one, with 3/16" stainless steel rings in some very tight spots... oy!

I now switched out some 3/16" with 13/64" on half of the HP3in1, plus a couple of 1/4" for sideburns.  And the tail gets 4 sizes of rings for a more gradual slim-down.  As for the neck connection, I skip a couple of rings so the head can move more freely.  Well, who knows what I'll come up with next time....  It's this never-ending process that makes chainmaille so fascinating, and addictive ;-)

For a sneak peek of the listing for this handsome dude, please visit my online studio DaisyKreates.  Interested in having a brand new dragon made just for you, please visit this listing.

A Dragon is Born!

Hey there!!

What's up? :-)

What's new?!

Coming down my hand for a visit?!

Or, maybe just one more snooze :-)

Now, a good stretch...................

OK, ready?  Go!! :-)

So happy for this little one; it had just arrived at its new home with Roland!  Have fun, guys!!

Each of my chainmaille dragons is custom made to order (like this one) with all saw cut stainless steel jump rings to ensure its long term durability, so it can accompany you on lots and lots of fantastic adventures!! :D

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Pet Dragon Key Chain with Blue and Green Scales

A very special little dragon, custom made to order for a very lucky girl!!

No pink or red; but blues and greens are the fave!!

Super curious;

Always alert!

Happy with belly rubs;

Or curling up for a nap:-)

For a similar dragon as this one, I'll be happy to custom make one for you via this Chainmaille Pet Dragon Key Fob made-to-order listing.  For my other chainamille creations, please visit my online studio DaisyKreates.

For complete views of this cutie, please visit my Picasa Web album.

Thank you for stopping by!!

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Moon Rabbit Key Fob

In Chinese folklore, Moon Rabbit stories are special. I've heard plenty stories of the rabbit in the moon since childhood; great starting point for lots of design ideas!

This is after several incarnations since the prototype.

I know, it's highly abstract.  But there's enough for the imagination to work with:-)

Made of thick gauge anodized aluminum and bright aluminum rings, the bunny is sturdy enough to hold its shape; but the head, the long ears, and the fluffy tail can all move along the body rings, giving the bunny different poses and looks.

And the little bell will charm just enough to help you find your key chain when it's sitting at the bottom of your purse:-)  I've always needed that!!!

This little cutie can be available for purchase by custom order.  Drop me an email for any questions on custom orders!

R&D - Bunny Rabbit

This idea has been floating around in my head for a while....  Many sketches were made (I so wish I knew how to sketch properly)....  Oh and googling down the "rabbit" hole.... LOL, pun intended:-)

Countless experiments later (and there were some fuzzy ones)....  I think it's finally taking shape....

I see it.  Do you?   *grin*

I've been told, "Simple is hard!"  It's true.  Weeding out the unnecessary, playing the negative space, that was hard.

In the end, as it turned out, it really doesn't take much.

This one is mine!!!

Ah, so many animals, so little time....

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Hishigata (Japanese Diamond) Key Fob

Hishigata (means diamond in Japanese) is a colorful key fob, made in the Japanese chainmaille weave on the loose end of AR, resulting in a fun diamond pattern that is not only pleasing to the eye, also flexible in form to fit comfortably in your palm.

The jingly bells help you find it just in case it fell off toward the bottom of your purse, back pack, shopping bag, and what not:-)

The key fob is made with anodized aluminum jump rings which are light weight, and in brightly jewel tones.  I triple-stacked the horizontal rings to give the diamond shape more substance and better secured to take on the pulls-and-tugs.

I paired the diamond shape with a crescent shape split ring to hold all your key-holding needs:-)  The juxtaposition of sharp corners of a diamond and the soft curve of the new moon!  Unexpectingly complementary!

The key fob measures about 5 inches long, 2 inches wide, 3/8 inch thick.  All color rings are anodized aluminum, with the split/key ring in plated base metal.

This item is available for purchase in my ArtFire studio.

For more views of the key fob, please visit my Picasa web album.

Fish a la Byzantine

A "Fish" in your hand.... :-)

Here's something whimsical to follow you everyday in your hand, your pocket, handbag, etc... Inspired by Scott D. Plumlee's designs, this fun little fish is outlined in chainmaille Byzantine weave, and connected to a moon shaped split ring. The fish is 2 1/4 inches long from lips to tail, 1 1/2 inches wide from fin to fin, and 3/8 inch thick, decorated with blue glass beads.

This cute fish fits perfectly in your palm, is not intrusive in your jean pocket, The metal used for the fish is bright aluminum, which is light weight and requires no maintenance. Another chainmaille example of form follows function! 

This key fob is available for purchase as custom orders on daisykreates.artfire.com.

My Pet Dragon

My very own pet dragon! Isn't he the cutest?!  This is my first try at multi-weave, semi-free form chainmaille.  Multi-weave for the combination of Dragonback (or Alligator), Byzantine, Box, and Mobius; semi-free form for improvising the neck and adding the paws.  I followed the fantastic tutorial by Derailed on MAIL.  The step by step instructions are easy to follow, lots of pictures and arrows pointing at where to add rings, that's how I like to read tutorials :-)

The tutorial describes the main body with scales.  I added the paws, because all the dragons that I grew up with (yes, I grew up with dragons, in movies, paintings, story books) always have paws.  They also have whiskers and antennas, but I don't know how to add those ...  I'd imagine some wire work would do it, like Corvus's dragons; look for her fantastic copper dragon in MaillersWorldWide!)

Oh, and my dragon also wears shoulder pads and hoop earrings.  Very fashionable:-)  Can you see the earrings?  Big old double hoops!  The shoulder pads/cape is a slight variation from the tutorial. I learned it from Derailed's other maille critters, seriously awesome!

OK, back to my guy; he's flexible enough to curl up for nap.  The neck moves very well; the body section from neck to belly is kind of stiff compared to rest of the body, my guess is because I fussed so much over the shoulder pads that I added a few too many rings.  Anyhow, he'll curl up all right, even chase after his own tail:-)  Awww, the poor thing is pooped from all the jumping and posing all day; it's a lot of hard work to look so adorable:-)

Specs:

All rings are stainless steel, WD 1.2mm, 3/16" ID from C&T Designs, and 5/32" ID from Blue Buddha (F18 SSTL); scales are bright aluminum also from Blue Buddha.  I did have to use larger rings (1/4" ID) to include the key ring into the box weave at his jaws.  That's it.  Not very ring hungry, but the stainless steel part put my hands totally out of commission for quite a while (Advils helped:-)

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Interested in purchasing one of these?  I'd be happy to make a brand new one for you as a custom made-to-order in my online studio DaisyKreates.com.  Thank you!!

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