Bronze Beauty

I recently completed another custom piece and sent it off to its new home. It seems as though this year is starting out as the year of the handflower since I've already received a few more requests for one -

and the backside -

A handflower was the first piece of chainmaille I ever got. My boyfriend at the time bought it for me on a visit to the Renaissance Festival one summer almost ten years ago, and I still wear it to this day. They're very elegant pieces of jewelry. This last one I made was a custom order since I usually offer it in a silver metal, but this customer requested bronze. I'm not sure why I didn't think of making a piece like this in Bronze before, but I'm so happy I got to make this one. I see more Bronze and Copper pieces on the horizon. Stay tuned.

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Project Byproducts

On occasion when I'm making a custom order and end up with a surplus of rings, I'll save them in hopes of using them (and sometimes never do..) or just scrap them out and put them in my big "Miscellaneous Jar Of Rings" (hey it looks pretty when the light shines through it). Once in a while I get just enough, or am inspired enough, to create something lovely with them.

I recently completed an order for a set of 8 Knot Wine Charms. They turned out fantastic, I think - I love the color choices my customer picked:

While I was making them, I had enough extra rings to probably make another 2 or 3 sets..but this pattern happens to be my favorite (It's called Persephone, created by Corvus Chainmaille), and I love linking the tiny knots into chains, so I thought I'd see what a pseudo-rainbow colored necklace would look like. Here's how it looks so far -

Quite the delicate little dish, don't you think? I still need to finish up the back side of the chain and clasp, but it will just be something simple. To be clear, the colored rings are the ones I had to cut myself. The silver colored rings I get from one of my awesome suppliers, and theyre made of whats called Bright Aluminum. It's my favorite material to work with, because it has all the shine and sparkle of silver, but without the high price -and- the BA doesn't tarnish. All plusses in my book.

It's a snowy day here in Central New York, but I have to brave the cold to ship orders and then come home and work on some more shiny new things. I can't wait to share more with you soon!

Fresh Stuff

Welcome to a new year! I hope everyone celebrated in their own satisfactory way. I ushered in 2012 with a quiet night at home with loved ones and I would not have it any other way. I've been trying to get back into the swing of things, and been lucky enough to start off the month with some custom orders.

One of my favorite recently completed commissions is this rainbow cuff that a friend ordered at the house party she held -

The colors vary through the whole spectrum - red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, purple and black. The ends are all bright aluminum.

This piece was a nice challenge for me - I used whats called a "Dragonscale" pattern (it's sometimes also called Mermaid Mesh) which is a little tricky to begin with, but I also altered the it into a sort of fringed, zig-zag wave too. This is my favorite weave and though to be honest I had to put it down a few times because it was making my eyes buggy, I just loved working on it.

I've got plenty of new ideas for SCC this year. I'm hoping to get a few bigger shows in, including one or two outside of NY state. Also in the works are some new designs and one of a kind items, plus some larger scale  projects I've been meaning to get to for a while (chainmaille belts, anyone?).

Keep your eyes pealed, as I'll be updating the Shop and the blog here with lots of shiny. I can also be contacted by email for any custom requests.

Happy New Year!