Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The Ringlord...

In my last post I alluded to some things I'd been doing over the summer that I have not yet shared.  Before I share this little project there's a back story that goes with it...

Two years ago, while making the Death By Chocolate cookie book, I found myself in need of a LOT of jump rings.  I needed to build paper Death ornaments and was using jump rings to connect the bones of his skeleton together.  (I know, what the hell (pun intended) was I thinking, right?) 

In my search, I found myself on The Ringlord's website.  Yes, that's what he calls himself.  You too can go there, www.theringlord.com , will take you right to his online shop.  His craft is making chain maille.  Yes, you read that right.  All you 'King Richard's Fair' knights of the round table wanna-Be's, take note.  He sells everything you need to make ANYTHING you want out of tiny metal jump rings, any color, any metal, any size.  It's jump ring Nirvana.  I swear.

I have, to this day, no idea what came over me.  I bought what I needed, to be sure, and then oh-so- very-much more.  It's a sickness.  I fully admit it.  I definitely need a support group.  When the box arrived I was aghast at what I had ordered.  I didn't stop at jump rings, oh no.  Not only did I buy a bag of every color ring, I added the matching color in SCALES too.  Why not, right?  Kill me. 

OK - fast forward to a couple weeks ago when the Oriental Trading catalog showed up showcasing all the fun Halloween lamp work beads.  Add to that the boredom of working 3rd shift and we have a perfect storm. 

The good thing in all of this is I finally cracked my box from The Ring Lord, added in the stuff I got from Oriental, broke all my nails and scratched quite a few links before I got the hang of it, but....



TA DA!  The Halloween Charm bracelet is born.  The chain maille weave I used to build the chain is called a Full Persian.  It made the chunky chain I was looking for to support all these beads.  I've got Franken-finger beads, bats, eyeballs, candy corn, mummys, crystals, and a host of seed beads and rounds that I've had in the arsenal for a long, long time.  The small jump rings that attach the charms are all lime green.  The chain is made from a mixture of purple and black rings. 

It's hard to take a picture one handed.  I tried to get a shot or two of the weave.  I added in some silicone rings for stretch at the back of the bracelet.  I'm not sure I like them.  I may take them out and add a clasp.  But for now...what do you think?  Would you wear it?  I know I will...but that's me! 





And, before you ask, yes, there will also be a Chistmas version in the making. Can't wait to see the lamp work beads they have for Christmas! And, let's not forget all those scales...still have not found a use for those things.

Somebody help me. Please? :)

Happy crafting! - AMK

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Windfall

It's back to school and back into the craft room - hooray!  That's not to say I took the summer off, mind you.  I've been hard at work on the cookie books among some other little things that you'll just have to wait to see. 

So - I was out on www.createforless.com and ordered some mini Velcro dots for use in the cookie books.  But what they sent me were these 12 foot long Velcro strips meant to be put up on the wall, with 20, 7/8th inch dots that can hold up to a 1/4 pound.  Well, obviously this is overkill for the little cookie book.  I called and let them know the problem, which they corrected immediately and to boot, they let me keep the stuff they sent in error.  Windfall!



What's a girl to do with all that Velcro tape? 

If you are like me, your craft room is nothing but little hidey-holes filled with treasures.  The biggest problem this presents is forgetting what you put away in this place or that.  Like my drawer full of embossing powders that I love, but don't use all that often.  So, I thought if I pulled them out of the drawer and put them out somewhere where I can see them, I'll play with them more often. 

In a previous post I showed you the shelf I built from bits from the local Home Depot.  I actually have two of them spanning the walls of the craft cave.  Each of the boards are 2" thick and that Velcro tape they sent me was 1.5" thick.  Sounds like a match made in heaven, right?  After running it along the edge of the wood shelf,  I stuck the round dots on the lids of the embossing powder and stuck them up!  Below you can see them running along the edge of the shelf. 

Did I mention I have 8 packages of this stuff?  I've used two.  If you don't want it, then I'll just have to find another hidey-hole for what's left.