Playing with color

I am finding myself enjoying more and more playing with the colors that anodized aluminum rings give me. It is a depart for me from the steady tone of the stainless steel rings. It makes me want to play with rings that are just as hypoallerenitc as stainless but that can be colored. mabye that will be one of my next projects.

Currently I am moved away from dragonscale and playing with Byzantine.

Have you ever started playing with a new medium before? Kinda fun isn't it?

So where have I been?

Happy belated 4th everyone. While everyone else was watching fire works and eating hamburgers I was in bed going threw five boxes of puffs with lotion. I am still not fully myself but i am on the med. I truly think that summer colds are possibly the worst thing ever.  But I should be able to work again.

I am going to try and finish this dragon scale that I was working on but had to stop because I couldn't even hold my tools with this illness. Tell me what you think?

Darker blue with a lighter blue inside.

Blessings!

Getting into a groove

Sometimes something happens to a crafter. You get into this groove where all you want to make is this type of thing. And it is a good thing.. but your brain is frying with just DO THIS and only this. It can also be a time of great creation or frustration for the crafter. I am lucky this time I am in a good groove.

Yet I have to be mindful that I don't spin out. So walking away even while in that groove is a good thing. Work for a few hours... then clean house. Go shopping. Take in a movie or read a few chapters in a book. What ever works to get your brain off the project at hand with out fully distracting you from it so the groove is killed.

My groove is Dragon Scale right now. While I prefer working in stainless steel, as i said before, I am currently working in anodized aluminum. You can play with the colors and what have you in interesting ways. For example I did this as a custom order for a friend:

Full Rainbow Dragonscale inlay.

 I just finished this one which is a bright silver with a bronze colored inlay. Both rings are Anodized aluminum.










Dragonscale is a fun weave and has an interesting texture. This is the new one I am working on.

Its a gradation of a pink lavander and icy blue tones. Please ignore the silver on silver at the bottom that was just to start it and will be removed later on down the stage.















So tell me, what do you like to get your groove with?

-Blessings!

Dragonscale

Well the rings are all sorted and I am working on another colored dragonscale bracelet. Let me tell you. Starting a Dragonscale bracelet is a down right pain in the .. *ahem* It doesn't want to start and it is floppity no matter what you do so it takes a few moments. And then... It starts doing everything it is suppose to with out pause.

For some it is a simple weave, but as I use micromaille more often then not. [Micro is anything 20g 21g and up.] it takes me longer then some. I usually find a show to burn out on streaming it and just go.

So here you go, this is one of the photos I took yesterday while I was weaving to give my hands a break.

It is aluminum in the colors of bright silver and an inlay of bronze. Okay back to it for now. Hope you have a great day!

-Blessings!

The not fun stuff...

When you are a crafter it is not all "Let's make something Amazing!" no matter how much we want it to be. There is the fight of how to store things. Sorting them. Add in that if you have furrie babbies then they all want to help you are in for a long while of getting things sorted.

So today and last night I have been sorting out rings. Tiny little rings that are no bigger then well showing a photo will be the better choice of action as they are tiny 1/8th rings.

Yes that is a quarter. So I am sorting all these.. into there right colors like so.

Welcome to the unsexy side of crafting and one of the necessary evils.


Blessings!

Morning times!

I like this time of the day to look at what projects I will be working on. No one is home but me and the cats so I can take as long as I want.. unless the cats are hungry and then I best tend to the needs of my small furry masters. I think today I am going to make another rainbow dragonscale bracelet.

Dragonscale is a weave where one smaller ring looks like it is patterned into a smaller ring, and how they lay makes it look like scales.

Here is an up close of the last rainbow bracelet I did. With the brighter colors being the smaller 'scale' you can really see the pattern in this photo. But it works amazing in stainless steel.

As you can see in stainless it still gives of that wonderfully complex looking texture while still being a nice and thin bracelet. Nor is it to hefty of a bracelet to wear on your wrist. You can see this one in more detail at my Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/listing/208759587/stainless-steel-micro-dragonscale

I would say this is an advanced weave. Its a pain the the butt to start but once you get going it is a quick weave.  Tomorrow I will show you how to make the most basic of weaves. The European 4in1.

-Blessings!

Why I like stainless steel..

So I have been asked more then once why I like stainless steel as a medium for my jewelry. Well it is one of the most hypoallergenic metals out there. Some mixes of the alloy more then others. It is also very very corrosion resistant which really helps with the longevity of a piece. Nothing is worse then haveing walked into a shower with out relizing you didn't take all your jewellery off. With stainless steel you are covered and really all you will do is easily clean the item. Which for me is a nice perk. I have an anklet I never take off, and knowing that it won't get ruined is a huge bonus for me. Add in its cost effectiveness and its a pure win.

When it comes to other metals I will work with them but I am not at all impressed by how they handle time. Copper will change colors over time so will Bronze, while amazing looking this change in color often triggers allergic reactions to many. Silver requires a lot of up keep as goes Gold to keep is nice and shiny. This is not to say I won't work with them. I will.

But what about colored metals?! Well I won't work with enameled copper. It is far to soft and the coating peals off far to easily in my book. Then there is anodized Aluminum. Yes I do work often in this metal. My only issue with it is over time the color will fade and the unprotected Aluminum will turn skin black. How long the color last has many variables. How was it anodized, how will a person take care of the item and so on. But the colors are really amazing.

Titanium and Niobium I like working with as well. They are great for anyone with allergic reactions to even a hint of nickle. And they can be colored. The colors are not as bight as with anodized Aluminum but I have found they stay longer over all. And the color fading doesn't turn your skin black. They are more pricey then Stainless and Aluminum. Niobium has the same kind of wight as stainless while Titanium has a much lighter wight like Aluminum.

Niobium Starburst in a rainbow pattern.

Aluminum festival bag.

Swooping Chains Stainless Steel Anklet.












You can find both the bag and the anklet on my Etsy store.