In January, I was invited by family to attend a chain maille class at Poco to learn helms weave, and it has quickly grown into portents of things to come. 

I have tentatively landed on a path towards creating jewelry, along with continuing to explore the more traditional fine arts. This wasn’t my original intention, but it’s exciting nonetheless. One thing I have always dearly envisioned learning, has been knitting/weaving chain maille. It has also been one of those things that seemed too expensive to begin.

While waiting for my jump rings to arrive, I decided to scrounge around, using items I had, and turned this

into this:

I am fairly pleased with the results, although like most things I begin with little knowledge, I tend to do it backwards and the hard way! ::laughs:: I began at the end and made the bale last, but now run into the issue that they are a little loose in the back. There are steps to correct this, but I have been a little afraid to make the adjustments, lest I damage them somehow.

I have more I want to wrap, but those were the only pieces suitable to play with, and I feel bewildered gilding the stones I’ve adopted into my abode. I mean, who leaves behind a phoenix, or the murky depths of ocean?

There is something fitting that will become them… I just know not what, yet.

The first of my jump rings to arrive were copper.

This photo does not do them justice. I am waiting for copper clasps to finish them properly as bracelets.

It is my tentative hope that I’ll be fashioning many more, as I’ve sent off an inquiry towards the dealer’s room at KeyCon. I still have plans for an art table as well; if both ideas pan out, I shall be a very busy bee.

One striking thing my sculpture teacher asked me in exasperation once was, “Why do you work so small?” and yet, I feel lost when I begin to work on a larger scale. I have a feeling it may be the same way with jewelry. ::laughs:: Time to find out. I think, perhaps, an equally balanced answer is that I’ve always gravitated towards bracelets as an economical way to enjoy fashion, opting to wear the same chain and pendant for months at a time. Necklace fashion is a bit of a mystery I’m about to unravel, I suppose.

More to come… I’ve been fighting with WordPress all week, unable to add photos for some very odd reason, until now. So many plans and ideas to talk about.

À plus tard,
ElvenAssassin