New Listings

My friend is back, so I staged two mini photo shoots for my Knight in Shining Chainmaille Cuff and my Owl Eyes Pearl and Chainmaille Necklace. I think they look nice in my Etsy Mini. Later this week I'll shoot some of my new garments on friends and family I force into modeling- my brother modeled the chainmaille cuff.
I really hope sales pick up soon. I've had another offer for a swap, but I've mostly stopped buying jewelry (the main products of the other seller) in lieu of only wearing my own creations. I also need some more supplies, I'm trying to think of projects that will use up fabric I still have, I'm out of most of my soap and jewelry supplies now.
Well, hopefully the craft show for the fall will come together. I want to do one more market before the summer is out, my friend Amy and I will probably team up and share a table again.

Works in Progress and New Inspiration

I'm still waitng to set up a photo shoot for all of my new creations, my brother has a friend taking belly dance classes that may be willing to model my gypsy skirt and belt for me. I also have people lined up for other recent projects. I managed to take a few decent photos with my remedial camera of some of my finished and still in progress pieces: My new chainmaille and pearl necklace- looks a bit like the face of an owl or something, doesn't it? It looks very nice on.

My men's chainmaille cuff laid out. I want to dabble more in men's clothing and accessories.

A segment of my gypsy belt. I think the tassels give the right amount of color and the gold bells contrast the silver links well.

This bundle is my almost finished gypsy skirt. It has great movement, I'm very excited to see it be danced in.

A simple unboned bodice made from black satin- it will be the ideal companion to my "Black Satin Lady Floor Length Skirt" on Etsy, in fact I cut it out from leftover satin shortly after I finished the skirt, but haven't gotten back to working on it until now.

My new inspiration is the mini-series Pillars of the Earth. I've never read the novel, but I caught the first few episodes of the series on the Starz website (it's upper tier cable, which I don't have the time or money for, so online is my only option). It's set in the 12th century during a difficult time in the English monarchy when Stephen seizes the throne from his cousin Maud.

The costumes and accesories are fantastic. I'd really like to make a few items, especially men's items, based off of the designs from the film. When it finishes airing in five weeks, there will likely be a demand for items inspired by it. In five weeks time I could have several pieces finished.

Gypsies and Chain Maille

I don't have any photos of my latest projects because I want th photos to do them justice, so I have to borrow a camera. I finally got a new stash of jump links so I worked all week on using them to the full and am now almost out again.
My first project was a men's chain maille cuff for the wrist. While I was selling at a local flea market a man admired one of my chain maille bracelets and asked if I made them for men. It seemed like a good idea. Creating this bracelet was extremely time consuming, it is two inches wide and about eight inches around. I was trying to make a pretty pattern with the links, but realized I had to be careful not to lose any of the width as I worked on the length. I ended up with a thick, somewhat primative mesh of links, but I think it looks pretty nice.
Since I had plenty of links to play with I next began work on a gypsy belt. The length of it it created by links occasionally accented by a triangle of links dangling from it as well as gold bells. I wanted to add some color to the piece, so using bits of ribbon and jewelry making caps, I created these sort of tassels that hang by the bells. I really like it.
Well, I had to make something to go with the fabulous gypsy belt, so I have started work on a skirt. It has a black drawstring waist band and panels of fabric in various colors and patterns, I'm leaving the bottom of the panels open so I can add flairs of other fabrics for extra movement and visual interest. That will hopefully be finished by next week. Photos will be forthcoming.

New Chain Maille Pics

I have discovered that this style of jewelry is extremely hard to photograph effectively (even with my slightly better borrowed camera). Perhaps it's the high level of shine or the small details, but I snapped a bunch and only got a few usable pictures.Here they are:

A double layer front with green bead accents.

A single layer of links with four rust toned freshwater pearls.

A bracelet with mauve bead accents.

My "Mixing Metals" Necklace- a mesh of links bib in the front with a pearlescent pendant, and a fine silver chain for the body of the necklace.
I might post one or two on Etsy, but in a few weeks I want to take a bunch of things down to the flea market to enjoy the fine weather and the spring crowds.

A few words about Chain Maille...

I used to work at a Renaissance Faire, but had to give it up in leui of adult responsibilities. Still, I love the culture and styles and try to vistit at least one or two faires every year.
So lately I've been experimenting with a chain maille style jewelry. Several vendors at the faire sold jewelry that used the basic principal of interlocking llinks, ranging in their degree of similarity to actual armor. Many people I've spoken to like the idea and think it's very intruiging, but are hesitant to actually try and sport some of the very intricate, armor like pieces. The pieces I've been making are very light and usually consist of a single strand of links that have decorative layering spread throughout it with beads or pearls. (One such necklace is pictured a few posts down, the bracelets are very hard to photograph I've found.)
However, I've been looking at various link configurations and have been thinking of doing something a little more authentic. Though this might be cheating, I've been buying my links from an adorable old man I know who sells jewelry making supplies. I've been too busy to actually sit down and make a batch of links, to make sturdy, even ones, the method I've read usually encourages a hot process for the metal, which can be delicate and dangerous work.
So, I'm going to pick up some more links today. I'll record my progress here.