Presenting Little Metal Merchant!

We are back again with another ArtFire Chainmaille Guild member feature. This time around it is another new member, Little Metal Merchant. Let's see how they answered our questions.

1) How long have you been a Chainmailler?
I started in the middle of last year(around June 2009) after my attempt at ceramic jewelry pretty much sailed the fail-boat. I wasn't happy with what I was making, it was messy and I just didn't like doing it after a while. Wanting to keep to making jewelry, I tried to think of what I really liked and wanted to do and remembered how much I liked the type of Jewelry at Renaissance Faires, bought two how-to books, ordered my first set of rings to start out with and the rest follows from there. 

2) Why do you like Chainmaille?
I love how the weaves look and you have so many different options to work with. It can be made for everyday wear or for special/formal occassions. And I've always been a fan somewhat of chains, especially styles that borderline a punk/goth look. 

3) What is your favourite type of ring? 
Stainless Steel all the way! I'm harsh on my stuff and the metal doesn't need any special care like sterling silver does so it's just perfect overall and I find it useful for other things. I fixed a tank top with them..hehe.

4) What kind of items do you prefer to make?
It's hard to say. I like making necklaces, bracelets and earrings equally. I don't think I have the patience to make anything larger like clothes or belts. I tried making a bag once. As of this typing it's still half a bag...makes a nifty ornament on the front of a small bag...sorta...

5) Which weave would you like to learn that you don't currently know?
Not so much I don't know the 4 in 1 weave but it bothers me I can't get the hang of it. For what takes me three hours to do a simple rubber/steel 4-1 bracelet, I could have a dragon scale cuff finished. 

6) Which piece are you most proud of?
The one I recently made with the charm of Saturn, skulls and drops. I write and wanted to do a necklace with one of my characters in mind. The character is a reaper and the setting is near future, post apocalyptic so I wanted something to reflect those elements. I love how it turned out and was pretty close to how I planned and designed it originally.

7) What advice would you give to someone who was considering doing Chainmaille? 
Definitely go for it. There's loads of tutorials online and some good books out there to self teach yourself. The Ring Lord's site is extremely helpful in types of metals, gauges and whatnot. If you decide on working with stainless steel rings, get two heavy duty pliers and fingerless padded gloves. Those rings mean business and after a while it takes a toll on your hands.

Thank you very much for answering our questions, it is a great way to get to know fellow maillers.

You can see even more of Little Metal Merchant's creations in their ArtFire studio.

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.

Presenting Chained To The Strange!

We have recently gained some new members in the ArtFire Chainmaille Guild, and so this week we are featuring another of our new members. The person I would like to introduce you to is Jennifer from Chained To The Strange. We gave her our usual list of questions, and what follows are her answers.

1) How long have you been a Chainmailler?
Not very long at all! It was only about a year and a half ago that I
had even considered trying chainmaille. A friend of mine received an
inlay for his birthday and I was fascinated. He told me where his
friend got his supplies, and in August of 2008 I ordered a sampler
from The Ring Lord. I looked at them, hemmed and hawed, and almost
exactly 1 year ago I ordered a set of pliers and the 1814 AA jewelry
kit. February 19th, 2009 it arrived, and I took to it like a duck to
water!

2) Why do you like Chainmaille?
It's unusual and creative, two of my favorite things. I can't draw my
way out of a paper bag, which severely limits my creative out lets. It
requires a lot of creative problem solving for some items, which works
both sides of my brain. It also allows me to match my jewelry to any
outfit, on the fly! I like that when I finish, I have something
concrete to look at and say "I made that."

3) What is your favourite type of ring?
My most used would be Etched Aluminum, 18g, 1/4" ID. I think part of
the reason for that is because that is what I started with, and what
I'm most used to. I'm starting to experiment with different sizes, but
I'm still fond of the aluminums because of their low cost and range of
colors.

Favorite I've used so far though has to be either the silver or the
niobium I've worked with. Probably niobium, the colors can't be beat!

4) What kind of items do you prefer to make?
Mostly jewelry. I don't have the patience to make clothing, though
I've got some pre-made chainmaille cloth coming to play with so I
might cheat. Just realized I forgot to order rings to go with it
though... that would make 3 orders in one week... oops!

I like anything involving glow rings, just because I love glow!
Juggling balls are also fun to play with as I'm making them.

5) Which weave would you like to learn that you dont currently know?
There's a bunch! JPL for sure, dragonscale, HP3, and Full Persian are
on my current to do list. Some are just a case of not having the right
AR on hand, HP3 is a case of getting annoyed and going back to byz
LOL.

6) Which piece are you most proud of?
Hard to say. None of mine so far have been particularly hard. If I
have to go with anything it'd probably be the tie.. which I
unfortunately have no pictures of. The "knot" I did for it keeps
getting mistaken for an actual half-windsor knot, it looks very close
to the real thing! I'll try to get a picture of it in the next week.

7) What advice would you give to someone who was considering doing Chainmaille?
Just jump in! Nothing gives you a better idea of what it's like than
actually trying. The kits at TRL are a great place to start, the
chainmailling community is super helpful (as long as you are polite!)
and can give you any assistance you might need.

Thank you Jennifer, and welcome to the Chainmaille Guild. You can see more of her wonderful creations at Chained To The Strange on ArtFire.

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.

Something for Everyone

Chainmaille is amazingly diverse and adaptable to different uses. Jewellery is a common creation using Chainmaille, and pieces can be made for anyone with any tastes. Pieces can be brightly coloured and funky, or sleekly elegant and refined. They can be delicate and feminine or chunky and masculine. Here are just a few pieces that show some of the diversity possible.



You can see and even wider range of ideas by visiting our member studios to the left of the blog.

Introducing MetalMeditations!

Instead of our usual themed spotlight, this blog post is an introduction to one of our newest members - MetalMeditations . We asked Josh, the talent behind MetalMeditations to answer a few questions and here are his answers.

1) How long have you been a Chainmailler? Roughly 2 years

2) Why do you like Chainmaille? It gives me something to focus on, as well as the fact that it's a creative outlet that I've turned into a business. I love my job! 

3) What is your favourite type of ring? Rainbow Anodized Niobium

4) What kind of items do you prefer to make? Anything jewelry-like, and anything that I can get creative with colour patterns.

5) Which weave would you like to learn that you dont currently know? I'm learning new weaves every day, I can't think of anything specific I'd like to learn right now. 

6) Which piece are you most proud of? My Dragon Keychain, hands down. It's one of two pieces I've ever made and claimed for myself, and actually stuck with it [the other being a rainbow anodized niobium HP4-1 finger ring that I wear constantly]. 

7) What advice would you give to someone who was considering doing Chainmaille? Start with Aluminum, and buy your rings from someone, don't try to make them yourself, especially starting out!

Thank you Josh! And welcome to the guild! You can see more of Josh's fabulous creations by visiting MetalMeditations on ArtFire.

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.