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Apr 29, 2012

Pretty chainmaille!

I have just ordered a LOT of chainmaille for very cheap. I buy rings from a website called Blue Buddha Boutique, where they make cheap, quality rings. They have a page where they sell a variety of rings for even cheaper, because they didn't make the cut in order to be in regular packages.

When I get the chainmaille, I will definitely write a review about the quality, and if it is worth getting these cheaper packages. They are in different sizes, may have paint chipping off, or are slightly cut wrong, or a myriad of other things, but what I am worried about most is whether I will have enough to make nice designs. I figure I will, because they are measured by grams, so depending on the weight I will probably get enough. I got 50g of aluminum, which is a very light metal, easy to work with, so I should get about as many rings as the other two, 100g each of copper, and jewelry brass. Or more. Or less.

I have only worked with aluminum rings,  stainless steel rings, and copper wire. I am glad I didn't get any stainless steel, as it is very hard to bend open and closed. Of course, that way it's a lot harder to accidentally yank apart a piece. Aluminum and copper are much easier to work with. They bend open easily with pliers. Bigger rings are easy to open with your fingers, even. Aluminum is cheap and it is much lighter than other metals, but if you made a tunic with it, it wouldn't protect you very well.

Tangent: At Radcon 6, my boyfriend and I went to a panel that taught us to make chainmaille. Or, rather, gave us chainmaille and we simply started working before the guy had a chance to tell us how. At one point, my boyfriend tried on a chainmaille tunic. When I looked up, the guy running the panel was stabbing him in the stomach! With a real knife! He wasn't hurt in the slightest, but my god looking up and seeing that was terrifying!

I have a friend that could tell you more about metals, but I am telling you about chainmaille in this post. I don't make armor out of it, I make jewelry.

Source
I prefer simpler stuff, but I am trying to sell things to OTHER people who don't exactly match my taste. With these new packages coming in soon, I hope to try more weaves involving different sizes of rings in one piece. This creates awesome jewelry the likes I have never attempted before!

Now, making chainmaille jewelry is difficult to start. You have to choose whether to MAKE your own rings, which is APPARENTLY cheaper than buying them, like I do. I have tried this DIY ring making, and it is NOT cheap. I have friends who have read online that it is cheaper to make their own rings and have stood by their internet knowledge, but I have tried this and it is absolutely not true. There are so many things that you need just to get started, not to mention actually making them. The biggest problem is finding wire. If you are not incredibly serious about this, and attempt to find wire at hardware stores and craft stores, you aren't going to find any. It is either too soft, too hard, too easily chipped, or rubs off metal into your hands. You want nice wire? Good luck finding it. I gave up, because I knew I could buy rings cheap online.

CHEAP.
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If you want to start making chainmaille, I recommend buying rings first, instead of investing a lot of money and time into making rings and then finding out that you can't figure out how to weave them together. There are plenty of websites with tutorials, such as CGmaille, or M.A.I.L. Check out Spiderchain for more links to tutorials. There are also books, which I haven't looked for yet, that you can buy at craft stores, book stores, or online. You can buy rings online, (I suggest Blue Buddha Boutique, because it's much easier than The Ring Lord imo) or at craft stores. I have found them at Micheals, and a small amount at Walmart. You could also buy rings that are meant to be jump rings, but these are usually not as quality as actual chainmaille.

What's the difference between jump rings and chainmaille? A lot of people call chainmaille jump rings, and that really irritates me. Jump rings are not made with the same quality, they are thinner with a large diameter, bend too easily, and are made for connecting jewelry to clasps. They are ALL the same silver color. Chainmaille comes in different sizes, different colors, different metals, different thickness... etc.
Jump Ring Jewelry
Chainmaille is fun, frustrating, a challenge, with a beautiful outcome, whether it's armor or a piece of jewelry. It's definitely a recommended activity for those looking for some creative outlet!

Have any questions you think I might be able to answer? Go ahead and leave a comment.

Review - Tithe by Holly Black

I promised you all a review soon a couple of posts back, but of course my Nook Color's charging cable splintered in about 3 different pieces. Luckily, this apparently is a common experience, so Barnes and Noble is replacing it for free. Just have to wait for it in the mail.

However, I did finish reading Tithe and Ironside by Holly Black. There's a book in between those two that I also have on my Nook and HAVE read before, but I can't remember the name of it.

Basically, Holly Black wrote about Faeries. Faeries, in her description, are all sorts of creatures, from Ogres and Nixies to Hobs and Pixies. They are mean, they are cruel, but they cannot utter a single lie. The main character, Kaye, finds out that though she looks and was raised human, she is in fact a Faerie. She is about 15 I believe, and when she returns to the land of Faerie, she doesn't know much about mannerisms Faeries practice.

The 3 book series is undoubtedly dark and gruesome,  at least the first and last book, and a much better read than Twilight would be to a darkling. I recommend this series if you are interested in the Fantasy genre, especially if you enjoy books that have a perfect mix of real life and the fantasy world. These characters are set in the real world, yet they do not belong in this world. Iron makes Faeries sick, yet some are "banished" to live in the city.

They have a magic called glamour, in which they make themselves and other objects look like other things. When they need money, they pick leaves out of the gutters on the streets and make them look like any bill they wish too. They make themselves look like whatever they want, even down to their clothing. They can take a knife and glamour it to look like a pen.

Strangely, the glamour makes Faeries see what other Faeries want them to see. Regular people who have "the sight" can see through the glamour. They see that what Faeries are eating is actually old, rotten fruits and mushrooms. Faeries themselves don't see that.

It is a good read and, while I haven't read other books by Holly Black, I think I would recommend her as a favorite author. Don't say you got that from me, (yet).

Apr 25, 2012

Making Jewelry

 These necklaces were kinda based off the Rosary necklace design. They will most likely offend some people because of that... They are for sale for $25.00 each. If you are interested, please let me know and we will set something up. I don't know anything about shipping yet, though. I will start researching that soon.


 Cat "Rosary", and a blurry closeup of the charm. Tree Agate.

Fairy "Rosary", and closeup of the charm. Purple Agate.

Key "rosary", and close up of the charm. Freshwater Pearls.

Skull "Rosary". This one is mine and is NOT for sale.Black Spiderweb Agate.

Turtle "Rosary". Unakite, I believe? The charm is also the same gemstone as the beads.

Other Turtle "Rosary". Maybe Green/Yellow Jade?

I couldn't get good enough closeups of the Turtle charms. These necklaces are all made with real gemstone beads, hence the pricing. When I bought the strands of beads, I put them all in zip-lock bags with their names and prices because that was how you kept track of the things you were buying, but when I got home I put them all in a beading container and have forgotten which stones they are. The agates and pearl beads were easy to remember, but the other two weren't. Next time I buy stones, I will label them somehow.

Anyways, I owe you an explanation. Basically, I have been sleeping in late and my boyfriend gets out of school quite early this semester. I don't usually blog when I am at his house-thing, but now that I have my camera and have run out of materials to be making things with, I have more time. I will be writing things down again for ideas to post! I actually have more of a plan now, that I can follow next month. Blogging will be SO much more easier!

Apr 15, 2012

CAMERA

I FOUND IT. Well, Brumeister found it. But it exists!


Will be posting more now! Hopefully will have some body mod posts up this month, I have plenty of friends with tattoos and piercings to see this weekend!!

Super excited!

Just had to post, but it's late. Bed time for now.

Apr 9, 2012

A knitted purse!

Yet another knitting project I definitely want to do! I have a friend who wants me to make her a "craft bag" so she can carry a ton of her craft things to school and back, since she has a ton of free time between classes. She already has a bag, but she wants one with pockets and and a nice closure and made specifically for what she wants in it. She bought some pretty fabric, but I have botched previous projects for other people, and I am REALLY not in the mood for sewing. Plus, I handsew, so the things I make don't come out very sturdy. For the type of bag she wants, there will need to be all sorts of things I haven't used before, such as interfacing and pockets. I have only made simple tote bags out of t-shirts before... Also, she would be carrying things that are more solid and heavy than what I carry in my own bags. I keep things to a minimum in my purse, but the straps are still straining.

Since I AM in the mood for knitting lately, though, maybe I can knit her a purse. It is likely to be a lot more better than if I were to sew it, even with my beginner knitting skills. So, I looked for purses.

Here is one (well, two...) that I really liked. It isn't exactly good for keeping crafting items in, but for myself. For my friend, I would just knit a solid purse, then make extra panels to attach as pockets.


The tutorial is here and honestly, I have really liked the ideas of the mesh knitting in general since I started knitting again. In the last post, I posted a link to a bolero that also has lace. I plan to cast on for my bolero tonight and possibly start working a few rows so that I have it for tomorrow after I leave for my boyfriends. After the bolero, I plan to work on one of these purses above for myself, in order to figure it out, because I plan on using the basic pattern on my friends purse (if she likes the idea of a knitted purse, that is.)

Apr 8, 2012

Change of direction?

So, since I do not have my camera, I guess I can just start posting some tutorials from online that can be easily gothified. This is NOT what I wanted for my blog, and I can't wait until I can find my camera. (It MUST be somewhere around.... NOT lost at a hotel!)

As I am particularly enamored with knitting at the moment, I supposed I will show you a recent find that I would like to knit in a plain simple black, at least for starters. It is called a ribbed lace bolero by the creator.


Isn't it CUTE??? There are more pictures on the webpage I linked to above, which also contains the tutorial.

I plan to do a simpler lace knit, but overall, I think it's going to turn out great! Now, to find out halfway through that I don't have enough black yarn....

So, I will start posting more often again. I plan to do a book/series review soon. Also, to post about my new diet! Since starting it, I got sick, and now Brumeister is sick, so we haven't gone to the gym yet, NOR have we donated blood plasma (which is how we weigh ourselves every week). The moment of truth will come sometime soon, I hope.

Ta ta, for now.

Did I really type that? I supposed I did.

Apr 4, 2012

Internship and lost camera

I got the internship! At least, I'm in the process of getting it. I will be going to Blue Mountain Wildlife in the early fall. I have a feeling that I will have the intern trailer to myself, because it sounded like they try to only keep one intern at a time. I'm super excited! I'm sad that I didn't know more about the stuff I will actually be doing, but as I said on my application, letter, and resume, I have only had experience with domestic animals, mainly cats and dogs.

The reason I haven't been posting is because I still have no clue as to where my camera is. When Brumiesters car was deemed totaled, he didn't find it when he went to go clean the car out. It isn't at his place, and it's not at his mothers. The only possibility is that it's in my room. Or, it's gone. I have no idea where else it could have gone!

All my posts that I had been planning kind of needed pictures. That my camera would have provided. I would love to show you that I've progressed from crappy knit squares to a crappy knit hat. I'm getting better! I'm really trying. It's hard. I'm getting really ambitious though, wanting to knit cami's and sweaters and stuffs.

So, when I find my camera, or lack thereof, I will continue posting then. Keep checking back! I guess.