Chainmaille Owl Pendant

After the previous post on my original chainmaille owlet design, I've been asked why that owl looks different than the ones we often see in paintings and movies...  Well, I suppose that's because they were inspired by the three baby barn owls on Cornell Lab's bird cams.

Barn owls don't have ear tufts.  That's why:-)

Now, what if I add a couple of more rings here and there, to highlight the ear tufts, and add depth to the eyes, wonder how that might change the overall impression?

Better now? :-)

Incidentally, this is also a bigger owl, about 1 1/4" across and 1 1/8" tall.  I bumped up the sizes of all rings, and switched all bright aluminum rings to stainless steel for a better weight, which took me much longer than making the whole owl pendant, oy......

Or, should it be "screechhhhh"?  LOL!!!

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My New Owlet Design

To celebrate the successful fledging of all three owlets at Cornell Lab's Bird Cam, I'm happy to announce the birth of my new chainmaille owlet design!!

It's been a long while since I first started sketching my owlet design.  It had gone from way big, to way complicated, some were too heavy, or too difficult to repeat, .... I looked at many other fellow maillers designs, and there are quite a few excellent ones ....

But it's not until I started following the three little owlets on the web cam, that I had a much better look at their body, the shape, the way they tilt their heads, move their eyes, flap their wings, preening one another, all kinds of antics, that I finally settled on this much stylized design.

Yes, this little guy's eyes, wings, and feet can all move freely, which was an important part of my "design requirement" :-)  I want it to be a "lively" creation, not so much a sculpture.

What do you think?  Maybe a pair of earrings to match?? ;-)

Update, July 16, 2014

It's been suggested to me that I should introduce you to the web cam darling owlets that inspired this chainmaille owlet design; so here they are!!

Aren't they just absolutely adorable?! ♥♥♥

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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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Silver Blue Ghenghiz Cohen Bracelet

A while back, I made a silver-gold tone Ghenghiz Cohen bracelet with bright aluminum and jewelry brass rings, and it was very pretty, plus the weight was just right, not too light, not too heavy.  Although it often was mistaken for a couple of other weaves, like Orbital Berus, Vertebrae, even Garter Belt...  All from the Euro family, but each with its own unique pattern!

Recently, I received a request from a visitor to my online store to make one of these bracelets but in silver and blue.  Not the typical dark blues which are popular with chainmaille work, but a medium to lighter shade of blue, such as aqua or turquoise.  Lucky for me and my customer, Blue Buddha has these prettiest turquoise blue rings in anodized aluminum, and in the exact size for this weave too!!

Isn't this gorgeous?!

These anodized aluminum rings are slightly larger in diameter than the jewelry brass rings that I used in my original piece.  That's why you see a clearer pattern here.

I continue the same toggle design for the closure as well as it offers a simple and smooth transition without much interruption in the weave pattern.

So happy I was able to complete this bracelet in time for all the fun activities that Manola has in plan for the summer!!

7 1/2" long, 5/8" wide, and 3/8" thick, fairly light weight considering its presence:-)

Complete views of the bracelet available here.

Want one of these for a loved one or yourself?  I'll be happy to make you one (or two ;-) in your color choice(s), just check it out in my online studio and let me know your color options.

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Japanese Polyhedron Nox Earrings - A Stargate-Inspired Chainmaille Creation

The other day, I was going through my long list of to-do's and one item sticks out again and again is "make more Japanese polyhedron earrings", with a big star marked right next to the note.  Hum....  right, I've always liked the architectural flair of this weave, can be elongated and soft, or very squarish and sturdy, it is fun and sprite-like, versatile and charismatic, shall we have a pair of these in shiny sterling?  With some colorful highlights, maybe?

These may look like the ones I made before, but this new design is a very tight and sturdy structure, each forming a bipyramid of sterling silver on the outer rim and natural titanium on the interior rim, held together closely with rainbow anodized niobium rings.

Oh yes, I made the niobium rings myself from raw wire, they're hand coiled, anodized with multiple colors, cut on my Ringinator, then tumbled to clean up the burs and residues from the cutting process.

I then painstakingly built the bipyramid shape with several different pliers, because the rings interaction was so tight, the sequence of weaving matters a lot.  A missed step often means a marred ring that had to be tossed and replaced :-(

But the results are very satisfying!!  My favorite is the way you can see through the polyhedron to take in the views and colors on the far side!  How neat is that?!

Oh and yes, the long, wing-like dangles are the result of an afternoon of moping around, thinking, sketching, testing, nearly giving up a few times, going back on the net surfing for ideas, heading out to the back yard watching hummingbirds zooming through my patio chasing one another..... then, a light bulb came on:-)

And I'm very happy with them!

These colorful and whimsical earrings are also available for purchase in my online studio.

~~~~~ So, why "Nox"? ~~~~~

Well, the fact that I made these on a Sunday afternoon may have something to do with it...  You see, I have a habit of catching the reruns of Stargate SG-1 on TV:-)  No, the Nox episode wasn't on any specific Sunday, but as I was watching the show and doing my "user testing" on these earrings, the way they swing, I see the shiny rings flicker on and off, echoing the little bling on the dangle, they all reminded me of the Nox.  Hence, the name!!

Oops Chainmaille Finger Ring in Rainbow Anodized Niobium

Took me long enough to finally finish this ring!!

Do you remember the coil of pure niobium from last post?  Right, that's what went into this finger ring :-)

6 rows high, 22 columns around, several anodizing dips from 15 volt to 107, zipped up end to end, and voila!

Niobium gives out brilliant colors without etching, is hypoallergenic, super friendly for the majority of the skin sensitivity.  I specially like using it in chainmaille for its relatively harder temper and nice medium weight.

Did I mention I like colors? (hee hee...)

This baby belongs to my dear friend Joy M.  Think I'll be making more of these, because it's so ..... 

what's the word?

Addictive!  LOL!

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R&D - More Cutting Rings by Hand

As I work on a custom order of a niobium chainmaille finger ring, I thought it's about time I document the process of going from wires to chains.  This is how I first started doing chainmaille back in 2008.  Lots have changed since then.  Now we have many excellent sources specializing in chainmaille supplies.  But once in a while, I enjoy going back to the way it had all started.  So, here it is!

I'm making a Oops finger ring in pure niobium, based on this ring:

 A chainmaille Oops ring in 20 gauge AWG sterling silver.  This one was picked up by my old friend Mary S. :-)  A little more about it in this post here.

This time, my friend Joy M., who's my partner-in-crime from two of my previous lives, wants one of these in anodized niobium to match her bracelet and earrings.  So here it goes!

I start with a bundle of niobium wire.

Cut a length of this wire; I cut about 98".  btw, I use memory wire cutter; don't use your fancy flush cutters for silver or copper; niobium will chew them right up.

Coil tightly on a 7/64" mandrel, I get two coils, each looking like this.

I learned to cut coils by wrapping masking tape around it, put it onto a saw blade, then saw cut from the inside.  This cutting method was introduced in a free tutorial written by Carolyn Allan on JewelryLessons.com long time ago; it's no longer available on that site; but I've been faithfully following her method.

I load the blade cut side facing downward towards my right hand.  Start cutting from inside the coil like this:

I like to draw a straight line on the masking tape just as a visual guide for the blade.  Then cut steadily, keeping the blade to the top of coil, aim for the first 4 or 5 rings.  For this length of coil, it took me about 20 minutes to cut through; the last few coils tend to be problematic; they can be cut, but will take more effort; I mostly leave them out and save them for other projects:

Open the masking tape, and I get these:

A whole coil of rings, neatly open up in a long roll:-)  The masking tape also helps catching most of the metal filing inside, that's a good thing for my lungs!  Oh right, I use Bur Life on both the coil and the blade, re-apply liberally.  Niobium gets warm very fast, seems more so than most other metals I've cut...

Open up the coil and let out the rings! Yay!!

I carefully pick them up and put into a small jar 1/3 filled with water, tiny drop of Sunsheen burnishing fluid, some stainless steel shots, then shake!

Shake shake shake!  Shake shake shake! :-)

This cleans the rings, knocks off small burs from the cut.

It's a little hard to see in this photo, but in that murky water are all the loose stuff that I don't want on the rings.  I pour the water out in the backyard at a spot where I don't plant anything.  Careful not to lose the rings or the shots:-)  According to Rio Grande's data sheet on Sunsheen, it's biodegradable.  I just don't want the metal bits accumulating in my kitchen drain.

Now we get the rings, nice and clean, ready to go!!

Not sure if you can see them, but I coiled these the "wrong" way, which makes them "left-handed", meaning the left side of the ring is closer to me when I hold up a ring with cut end facing up.

Nothing really "wrong" about them, but many maillers reported right-handed folks work better with right-handed rings when it comes to threading them into a weave, specially in tight spots.  I'm right handed, but I'll take them anyway they come :-)

So, this is just an example of how I make a small batch of rings by hand.  If it seems tedious, then making rings is probably not your thing, LOL!  I quite like it; there's a zen to it that helps me focus.

Here is after they're added to the Oops weave; it's almost there... !

Oh and yes, those are two pairs of my favorite pliers, Xuron 475.  My go-to pliers about 80% of the time!!

Whew, this is a long post for me!  But it's well worth it, even for myself!

Glad you stopped by!

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R&D - Saw-Cut Niobium Rings

This is something I had wanted to do even before I got my Ringinator :D

Specs

Niobium (yes, my favorite metal), 20 gauge AWG, half-hard, 0.2 oz, 144 coils on 3/32" mandrel, quick dips 3 times in anodizing bath, voltage 102, 85, 60, run thru Ringinator on 0.010" blade, with only soapy water and Rio Grande's Bur Life stick, loose rings anodized again at 35 volt for cut ends.

Counted 96 good ones.  Not bad for a first try.

What have I learned?

1. Get some real cutting fluid for the Ringinator.  Niobium loads up very fast on the blade, even at this thin gauge...
2. When cut by hand with a jeweler's saw, 8/o blades will do.  But do it in short coils, wrapped in masking tape; they heat up fast!
3. Use low speed on the drill.  Gauge for gauge, temper for temper, niobium is harder to cut than bronze or sterling silver.
4. Up the last anodizing voltage before cutting, to above 63, maybe, so that the final dip after cutting have more choices.
5. For large volume of rings in common sizes, it's still more economical to buy them!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this experiment, and will definitely do it again.

What do you think? ;-)

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Ruffly Ribbon Strangemaille Pendant in Golden Fuchsia

Yes, this is a pendant that I created a while back, but never quite finished the whole piece, until now!

I really like this weave, Strangemaille, created by lorenzo of MAIL.  Seemingly random, but strangely consistent; I like the little wonkiness (is that a word? :-), and the softness both in look and feel.

But when it's centered on a delicate ball chain, it's totally prim and proper, be it on a white blouse....

or that cute little black dress!!

Pendant is 2" long, 5/8" wide, on 18" plated ball chain, with a 1" extension.

Make this your go-to necklace for the long, lazy summer to come!

This pretty pink pendant is now available for purchase in my online studio DaisyKreates.com.

Oh, and you are also looking for a something to go with this necklace, a finger ring perhaps?  Be sure to check this out as well.

Tibetan Mandala Pendant - Chainmaille Style

I don't stand a chance when it comes to colors.

The more, the merrier!!!



A circle of all inclusiveness, as a symbol of compassion for all.

More pix?  Come visit my online albums on Google+.

This cheerful pendant/necklace is now available in my online studio DaisyKreates.com.  Come by for a visit!

R&D - Triple Layered Scale Maille Flower via The Ring Lord

Pretty cool, huh?

Want to learn how to make a triple layered scale flower?  Watch this TRL's video tutorial by Bernice.

I saw it a while back, but never had all the parts on hand, until now:-)

The only detail I added are the additional 18 swg 1/4" rings that go thru each punched hole of the middle layer large scales and the center of the flower; without these extra rings, the top and middle layers tend to shift freely; with these added rings, the scales remain in place and the whole piece stays well in flower shape even when thrown around or dropped.

Oh btw, if the plan is to make a triple layered flower, I'd recommend weaving the rings as such from the beginning, because when fiddling with those 18 swg aluminum rings one too many times, they tend to get marred, and the scales get scratched:-(

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Genie Bottle Pendant in Raven Black

One of my favorite Genie Bottles in monochrome black.

It's difficult to photograph black on black ....

See what I mean?
But this black beauty is totally versatile.  Be it raven black, jet black, onyx black, or black galaxy, it's a little bit of everything, reserved, goth-looking, mysterious, unexpected, still goes perfectly with any outfit, in any occasion, day and night!

I'm glad my friend Joanna asked for one of these; I might not have tried this color scheme on my own, mostly because I already wore so much black, LOL!!!

Took me way longer to prepare photos for this pretty pendant than to make it.  One day I'll figure this one out.

Available as customer through my online studio!!

More pix?  Please visit my online album.