September Challenge - Halloween

We are back again to see the fabulous creations made by members of the ArtFire Chainmaille Guild for the September Challenge. You voted for the theme Halloween, so let's see what they came up with.

Copper Mobius Chainmaille Halloween Charm Bracelet

HaffinaCreations

Deirdreas Nightmare

littlemetalmerchant

Chainmaille Bracelet Purple And Black Full Persian Ladder

barbsdesigns

Wonderfully work by all. Please remember to vote in our poll to the left of the blog and help us choose our next theme.

Stormy Weather Guild Challenge

The time has come for us to share with the wonderful pieces created by member of the ArtFire Chainmaille Guild in response to your winning theme for August. The theme you helped vote for was 'Stormy Weather'.
And here are our entries!

 

Cloudy Skies, Aquamarine Chainmaille Choker

Harmony In Metal 

 

Cloudy Skies, Hypoallergenic Aquamarine Earrings

Harmony In Metal 

 

Apocalypse Skull Chainmaille Bracelet

Little Metal Merchant

 

Rainy Skies Chainmaille Bracelet

Nightmaiden

 

Storm in the Winds Natural Copper Chainmaille Bracelet

HaffinaCreations

Wonderful creations from everyone!

Please help us choose our next theme by voting in the poll to the left of the blog. Thanks for visiting!

Question of the Week - What is your favourite wire gauge?

It is time for another Question of the Week. This time the question posed to the ArtFire Chainmaille Guild was 'What is your favourite wire gauge and why?' Let's see the answers we received.

Little Metal Merchant -
It's hard to choose because I think I get just as much out of one gauge as I do with another gauge. But with stainless steel, 16 is definitely easiest to open and close since there's more to grip on to than the smaller gauges.

Harmony In Metal -
I use several gauges for clasps and other things but my favorite gauge for my maille work is 20 gauge. I like how it gives a more delicate look to the various weaves.

Barb's Designs -
I like 18g. It is a good size for men and women, and the rings don't pull apart as easily.

Haffina Creations -
I love the density and chunkiness of 16 and 14 gauge, but I also love the fragility of making micromaille with 24 and 26 gauge.

Lampwork Showcases

Collection by Harmony in Metal

HaffinaCreations

Elaine J Hillson

Unkamengifts

Planets - July Monthly Challenge

It is that time of the month again, when we showcased pieces created by ArtFire Chainmaille Guild members in response to a theme voted for by the public. For July the theme was 'Planets'. We only received two entries, but they are both gorgeous and deserve to be spotlighted.
So check them out and the studios of the talented artisans, and please vote for our next theme over on the left of the blog.

Little Metal Merchant

HaffinaCreations

Elements Challenge

For the last couple of months the ArtFire Chainmaille Guild members have been contemplating 'Elements' as a design challenge. Here are the creations that have come about.
We also ask that you vote in our poll to the left to help us choose our next challenge.

 

Celtic Chainmaille Bracelet

Barb's Designs

 

Ocean on my Mind

Little Metal Merchant

 

Ocean Flower, Handcrafted Copper Necklace

Harmony In Metal

 

Chainmaille Waves Bracelet in Blue

HaffinaCreations

 

Chainmaille Ice on Trees Earrings in Blue

HaffinaCreations

Question of the Week - What sort of pliers do you prefer to use?

It is time for another ArtFire Chainmaille Guild question of the week. This week we asked 'what sort of pliers do you prefer to use?'.

Harmony in Metal - Hands down my Lindstrom RX. I use a flat nose and a chain nose. They are so much easier on my hands.

28 Sides Designs - I have some cheapos I got from Joanns that work pretty well...Don't know the brand but I really like using the round nose pliers since they have really fine tips so it's great for working with tiny rings and they have no edges to mar the rings.

Barb's Designs - Flat nose but don't know the brand...not expensive though.

Haffina Creations - I prefer to use my Baby Wubbers, they are the perfect size for my little hands. I have a pair of flat nose and a pair of chain nose.

Mother's Day

The monthly challenge for the ArtFire Chainmaille guild was to create something with Mother's Day in mind. Below are the creations submitted.

Little Metal Merchant

HaffinaCreations

HaffinaCreations

If you have any great ideas for challenges for the ArtFire Chainmaille Guild, then let us know by leaving a comment for us.

Spring Inspired.

In this blog post we are presenting a couple of recent pieces by two of our members that were inspired by the March into Spring.

Little Metal Merchant

 HaffinaCreations

The Fifth Day of Spring

The fifth day of Spring heralds even more blooming, fresh, green Chainmaille from the ArtFire Chainmaille guild.

The ChainMaille Lady

Cheli

HaffinaCreations

Mirricat

NotNillaDesigns

The Second Day of Spring

The second day of Spring brings with it more lovely fresh green Chainmaille creations.

BnB Creations

HaffinaCreations

HarmonyInMetal

MetalMeditations

NightMaiden

Byzantine with Mobius Connectors

When making chainmaille you are not limited to using just one weave at a time. There are many weaves that can be combined together to create interesting and beautiful pieces. One of my most favourite combinations is Byzantine with Mobius or Rosette connectors. Here are a few creations from members of the ArtFire Chainmaille Guild.

 

Tora Jewelry, Raine Studios, Harmony In Metal, Unkamengifts, Haffina Creations 

As you can see, the creations are beautiful and very wearable. You can see many more wonderful creations by visiting our member studios via the links to the left of the blog.

Love is in the Air!

As a bit of a fun challenge for our guild we created some pieces with 'Love' in mind.
There have been great pieces made - and here they all are.

There are lovely pieces from NightMaiden, ChainedToTheStrange, BarbsDesigns and HaffinaCreations.

We are asking visitors to vote for our next theme - there is a poll to the left of the blog.

Eclectic Earrings

We are back with another fantastic feature of the talents of our ArtFire Chainmaille Guild members.
This week we thought we would showcase just a few of the different earring possibilities.



There are so many different possibilities, just with a change of rings or the addition of beads. You can see even more examples by visiting our member studios by following the links to the left of the blog.

We will also take this opportunity to welcome our newest guild member, MetalMeditations.

For the Love of Maille

 Welcome back to another spotlight on the talents of our wonderful guild members. This time around our theme is Valentine's and Love, and the items we are featuring are full of heart and love. They would make fabulous gifts for that special someone in your life.



If you are looking for a special gift for a loved one, chainmaille is a fabulous choice. You are sure to find something special in any one of our member studios, so click the links to the left of the blog and browse our stores.

As always, feel free to leave a comment on the types of items you would like to see in the future.

Japanese Inspired

Welcome to the latest feature from the ArtFire Chainmaille Guild. This time round we are featuring some of the creations by our members that include or are inspired by Japanese weaves. Japanese weaves are quite versatile and look great in many different metals, and work well for the inclusion of rubber rings to make stretchy pieces.
So here a just a few of the many creations from our guild members.



If you would like to see more, just drop by our member studios. You can find the links to the left of the blog. If there is a particular weave or metal or type of piece you would like to see, then feel free to post a comment and will we do a feature soon.

Christmas Green Chainmaille

Here we are back with another feature of our talented guild member creations, this time with a Christmas Green theme.

In this feature we have:
BnB Creations ~ GirlieMaille ~ Not Nilla Designs
The ChainMaille Lady ~ HaffinaCreations ~ Cheli

You can see more of the work of our talented guild members by clicking the links to the left of the blog.