One More Night at Denny's

Ha ha ha, yup, one more of these pretty little bracelets, One Night at Denny's!

This one is for my dear friend Margaret's mom's upcoming birthday celebration.

Selected by Margaret's two boys, the original version was a rather jingly one, with lots of bells, and it went to my friend Sara.  Now Sara is always ready for her next belly dancing party:-)

Margaret likes this bracelet for her mom with beads instead of bells.  Equally colorful and eye-catching, but much more quiet....

What do you think?  Comments/critiques welcome!!

I think I will make another one, this time with rings more inline with BrassAnvil's original specs on M.A.I.L., I like the contrasts between the different gauges of rings, and the way it gladly welcomes any beads, bells, charms, dangles, etc. along with the fun!!

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Helm Fuchsia Chainmaille Earrings

I'm often asked, "How long does it take you to make this?"

Well, how long is a piece of string? :-)

Sometimes, it's that long!

I started this helm half sphere design way back when, and the pair was for all intend and purpose done.  I even did a few rounds of usability test, and they passed with flying colors (pun intended:-)!  But in my mind, it seems to be lacking that final touch.... until I switched out the tassels with these stainless steel curb chain with diamond cuts.

Now, they're done!  Ready for their close-ups!

A total of 3 inches long, 3/4 inch wide, with mostly anodized aluminum rings, on surgical steel ear wires.  Totally vivacious!!

Available for special order via my online studio DaisyKreates.com.  Hope you'll come by for a visit!

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Blue Daisies Earrings with Color Coordinated Niobium Ear Wires

These blue daisies are not only bright and cheery, they are on a pair of handcrafted niobium ear wires of matching colors!

I made the pair of ear wires out of natural niobium wire, with added scrolls at front for some extra flair, shortened tail ends at the back for comfort wear, and then anodized the pair in two of the high voltage colors in the reflective spectrum: hot pink and teal blue, making them perfect for the big purple rings and the teal blue daisy beads.

These earrings are light weight, great for everyday wear; thanks to the niobium ear wires, they are hypoallergenic and will not irritate even the most sensitive ear lopes:-)

The Blue Daisies earrings measure at 2 1/2 inches long, 1/2 inch wide, weighs at a mere 0.1 oz.

Haven't tried niobium yet?  Wondering what it is?  Here's a little intro to this semi-precious metal.

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Niobium is a natural material, element number 41 on the periodic table. The color of unanodized niobium is a warm, dark gray. When anodized, a layer of skin forms on the metal surface and reflects colors of the spectrum depending on the thickness of the layer.

Natural niobium requires no maintenance, will not change state or tarnish in our natural environment, hypoallergenic even for those with most skin sensitivity. It has been my favorite metal to use in handmade jewelry.

This item is available for custom order in my ArtFire studio.  Customizations welcome.

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Cyberpunk Chainmaille Finger Ring

A challenge is good thing, specially when it comes to reinventing ancient coolness in a futuristic setting: Cyberpunk:-)

A stainless steel chainmaille finger ring, woven in European 4 in 1 on the bias, with brass trim, steel fringes, and blow-in-the-dark beads!  Yes, those beads glow in the dark!  Put them under a bright light source for a minute or so, take it into a dark room, and see the 8 beads (3 in front, 5 at the back) emitting pops of green light, reminiscent of fireflies in mid summer's nights!  Cute and fun!

Unlike most traditional finger rings, my Cyberpunk finger ring evokes motion as the chainmaille strip that forms the ring clearly steps up as it wraps around your finger, with offsetting ends and uneven fringes that are seemingly tapping into the unseen power flowing through the aether.

The inspiration of my design came from a gizmo called The AirMouse.  Ha ha, just as folks tease me about still tightly hanging onto my 7-year-old Palm Treo, I'm not big on the latest electronics, but I am fanatic about all things sci-fi!  Taking cues from the AirMouse (and the hand pieces created by the Ancients of the Stargate stories), my Cyberpunk ring design goes beyond just another mesh-like ring, its shape pointy, its style semi-organic, and its spirits practically out of this world.

It has been a pet peeve of mine that chainmaille finger rings must meet at least two requirements:  durability and comfort.  Let's face it, finger rings get probably the most abuse among all jewelry items.  Given the fact that chainmaille, as we construct them today, uses butted jump rings that are mostly unsoldered, I make my finger rings only with dense weaves, strong materials, and at the lowest possible aspect ratio without losing flexibility.  This ensures the ring will maintain its overall shape under your most daily stresses.

I also want my rings to be comfortable on the finger, not too bulky, not too pokey (well, unless pokey is part of objectives:-)....  Despite of its width, the wall of my Cyberpunk finger ring is less than 2.8 mm thick, that's under 1/8".  It will feel great on any finger that fits!

My Cyberpunk finger ring fits about size 8 1/4; at the widest, it measures 7/8"; on the back of ring, which is the narrower side, it's under 1/2".  The longest fringe is near 3/4" long, the shortest just over 3/8".  It is made of stainless steel, jewelry brass, and glass beads.

Available for order via my online studio DaisyKreates.com.

For more views of the ring, please visit my Picasa web album.
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Chainmaille Rapid Track Bracelet in Rainbow Colors

This is a fun bracelet full of motion and colors!

Rapid Track, a lovely design by Kat Wisniewski of ElementalArt, takes the good old chainmaille weave Barrel to a new level with the addition of beads, allowing the weave to "grow" and "glow", figuratively and literally!

Here is my version of the Rapid Track!

It is also full of colors, but in a mat finish on both the beads and the anodized jump rings.

Thanks to the light weight of aluminum, this bracelet, being at 7 3/4-inch long, will not drag on your wrist.

A simple star toggle lets you put on or take off the bracelet with ease.

Not much else is needed to brighten your day when you put this delightful chain on your wrist!

My Rapid Track bracelet is available for purchase in my ArtFire online studio.

More views of the bracelet?  Come visit my Picasa online albums.

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Japanese Polyhedron Earrings in Indigo Blue

The blue cousin of my Pink Japanese Polyhedron Earrings

Also made of anodized niobium and anodized aluminum, the indigo blue is rather a chameleon under different light sources!

 

 The blue is further enhanced by the delicate anodized niobium rings in hues of rainbow.

Not to mention the AB coating on the blue beads casting a soft glow over  your shoulders.

 

Each earring measures 1 1/2 inches from bottom of the ear wire, and 1/2 inch wide. The ear wires are surgical stainless steel and hypoallergenic.

These earrings are available for purchase by custom order in my ArtFire online shop.

For complete views of my Japanese Polyhedron Earrings, please visit my online web album.

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Japanese Polyhedron Earrings - Pink

If you like hot pink, these cuties are for you!!!

Made of anodized niobium and anodized aluminum, this is a pair of eye catching earrings that will light up any outfit!

The Japanese chainmaille weave uses the right angle connections between rings, creating the modern, geometric frame for this airy, funky looking "architecture" for your ear lopes:-)

Each earring measures 1 1/2 inches from bottom of the ear wire, and 1/2 inch wide. The glass drop beads have a matching hot pink hue with AB coating for extra sparkles. The ear wires are surgical stainless steel and hypoallergenic.

Visit my online album for complete views.

Bollywood by way of Byzantine

If you already speak Maillese (yep, that's a word now, in my dictionary), you may think, "Byzantine? Where?"  Ahh, but they're there; see them?  This is a version of the Staggered Byzantine family that hit the sweet spot right in between Staggered Byzantine Halves and Sheet.  So maybe, a one-row sheet? Hee hee...

Even if you're not a maille-head, I hope you'll still find this bracelet a joy to hold and wear, just for the pure delight of the curves, the colors, and the gentle hug on your wrist.

Made of small, light weight bright aluminum jump rings, the frame work of the bracelet alone is no small feat, consisting of over 480 jump rings, while remaining flexible and almost elastic.

For as much as I believe less is more, sometimes, more is just so much better:-)  I could never resist adding pops of colors here and there.  And if you don't mind me saying, the random combination of red and gold beads adds an opulent, exotic flair.  Can you say, Bollywood?!!! :-)

Specs:

Rings: BA, from TRL, 19 swg, 9/64" ID.

Beads: Faceted glass cylinder beads, strung on SoftFlex wire.

Clasp: 3-point tube slider.

The bracelet measures at 7 3/4" long, just a tad shy of 1" wide, low side-profile at 3/16" thick.

This item is available for purchase or special order in my online studio DaisyKreates.com.

Custom orders welcome.  Please also note that use of different metals and beads may result in slightly different length and width, as well as clasp to accommodate the overall design.

More views available here.

Comments and critiques welcome.

Moorish Rose Cuff

Five days and five nights, that's how long it took me to finish this cuff, my first Moorish Rose, with beads!

Moorish Rose is a chainmaille weave that directly connects 6-ring mobius in sheet form, as first recorded by djgm on MailleArtisans.org.

A relatively straight forward idea, linking mobi to mobi, what's so difficult about it?  Not much, that's if you have a full understanding of mobius weave, which I don't...

But it's so pretty, and there's the detail, step-by-step, fantastic tutorial by Xander; I got to give it a try.  And that's over 5 days ago...

Here's what I ended up with, my first Moorish Rose cuff, with a red drop bead set in the center of every mobius.  Four-row, 1" wide, 7 1/2" long, closes with a 4-ring tube slider.

Not many other chainmaille bracelets took me this long to do.  Granted, a large part of the 5 days was about reading the tutorial, testing rings of various AR's and materials, taking rings apart, fixing mistakes, scouting the net for tips and tricks; but the tough part was the fact that there isn't many Moorish Roses out there; I literally had to piece clues together.

Ahh, but the result is worth it! I like the red beads, they always remind me of pomegranate seeds:-)  

Under bright lights, doesn't it look just like a work of stained glass?!

Specs:

Main body: TRL BA rings, 19 swg, 1/4" ID, actual AR is close to 6.9; a tad too big on their own, but perfect with inset beads; total of 20 columns, over 450 rings.

Clasp point: TRL BA, 19 swg, 3/16" ID, to even out the ends before attaching to the tube slider.

Beads: Glass beads, drop shape, top drilled hole, red with light AB coating, strung on SoftFlex wire.

OK, now that the prototype is done; next will be in stainless steel or niobium.  To be honest, BA is just too weak at this AR, but for testing purpose, works out just fine.

More pictures of the cuff?  Check them here.