Grandmother's Bracelet For A Friend

Last week was a friend's birthday. Her third grandchild was due any day and she was so excited. I thought, what could be a better gift than a grandmother's bracelet. I made a shiny aluminum chainmaille bracelet of byzantine segments. The segments are divided by Swarovski crystals, each one representing the birthstone of a grandchild.

I just gave her this special gift and she loved it. It made me so happy to see how thrilled she was to receive it. As an added bonus, it is also a mother's bracelet. Her birthday and the birthdays of her 2 daughters are in the same months as her grandchildren. So this is a double duty bracelet.

Shiny Aluminum Chainmaille Jewelery

A few weeks ago I posted about the amazing aluminum rings that I bought. Well, this is what has finally become of them.

Thick Byzantine Bracelet

Shaggy Loops Bracelet

Beez to Butterflies Bracelet

All three bracelets are for sale in my Zibbet shop as well as a wide selection of copper chainmaille and bead crochet. Stop by and have a look.

Trying Out Aluminum

One of my biggest loves is making chainmaille. I had been coiling, sawing and tumbling my own rings. It takes time, but I loved being able to do whatever weave I wanted without having to order rings and wait for them to ship. (Different weaves require different ring sizes.)

Fast forward to today. I am back to work full time, my youngest son is involved in sports year round and I have a very old home that I am trying to maintain. The thing that fell by the wayside, besides cleaning, was chainmaille making. And I really miss it! So, I decided to try purchasing my rings. With the price of silver sky high, I tried to give aluminum a try.

My precut rings just arrived and they are beautiful!!! Keep an eye on my Zibbet shop shop to see what they become.

A Chainmaille Treasury

I woke this morning to find that I had been included in a chainmaille treasury. (Available for viewing until Monday, March 16, morning)

I love chainmaille treasuries, not only because I make and sell chainmaille, but also because it lets people know that chainmaille is not just about knights and armor.


Thanks to Avionmaille for including me in this beautiful collection.

I'm In 2 Treasuries This Week

This week I was in 2 treasuries that were created by members of a new Etsy team called Chainmaillers Guild.

To find out more about this great team of chainmaillers please visit our blog.

Byzantine - My Favorite Weave

Byzantine is a very well know chainmaille weave. In fact, it is the first one that a lot of mailers learn to make. I know it was my first. Byzantine quickly became a favorite of mine because of its versatility. It lends itself well to earrings, bracelets and necklaces as well.

Below you can see some examples of how different Byzantine can look.

These earrings are made from the Byzantine weave with Jasper beads dangling from the bottom.











This bracelet is a weave known as Beez to Butterflies. It is made from linking vertical sections of Byzantine together.











This shows another way to link Byzantine together. Full Byzantine segments are connected by rings in the middle.

Here is an example of Byzantine segments that are connected with larger rings instead of being connected directly to each other.











This version of Byzantine is known as Romanov. Segments of Byzantine are used to surround a bead or gemstone and are then connected with larger rings.










And lastly, this necklace shows Byzantine in its purest form. Byzantine segments are connected to make a long Byzantine necklace










If you are interested in chainmaille make sure you learn Byzantine. From there it is easy to let your imagination take over.

A Byzantine Variation

Byzantine is one of the most well known chainmaille weaves. It is the first one that a lot of people learn when they decide to give chainmaille a try. Byzantine is used for necklaces, bracelets, earrings and even key fobs. It is also easy to make variations of byzantine. You can do as I have done and add small byzantine sections to the main weave. You can also weave 2 seperate lengths and then join them together with smaller sections. Byzantine is one of those weaves that you can take wherever your imagination leads you.

Cutting Jumprings

I love making chainmaille jewelry which takes hundreds and hundreds of jumprings. I cut my own rings so that when I decide to make something, I don't have to order and then wait impatiently for my rings to arrive. I can wind, cut and create. Some people find the process tedious, but I really don't mind.

First I start with some wire.

Then I choose the size mandrel I need. I use knitting needles for mandrels.

The next thing I do is insert the mandrel and wire in my drill. I make sure they are in the chuck nice and secure and then I ever so gently press the drill trigger while guiding the wire with my left thumb and index finger. I use extreme caution as the wire comes to an end. It is very painful if the end of the wire goes through your fingers. (Yes, I speak from experience).

And this is what I end up with - a coil of wire.

I then saw the coil apart using my trusty jeweler's saw - which has a blade as thin as a hair. It is very important to keep the blade lubricated so that it doesn't break. I use beeswax for this.

TA-DA!! The sawing is done and I end up with a pile of rings. Ready to create.

Welcome

Hi. Welcome to my blog. I will spend most of my time here talking about jewelry making - beading, bead crochet and chainmaille and also about my adventures of trying to get a shop going on Etsy. I am in the process of getting together some of my favorite links - the places where I learned most of the techniques I use.

The earrings below were listed in my shop a few days ago. They really are a lot of fun. I have a pair myself that I wear at least 3-4 times a weak. They are nice and lightweight and go with almost anything. These are made from a chainmaille weave known as Shaggy Loops or Flip Flop weave - How can they not be fun with names like that?


Morning Sky Jewlery