Last week’s live feed saw me attempting an idea I’ve had in my head for a LONG time. A silversmithed take on your traditional maille-wrapped pendant. Here are some examples that I’ve made in the past in the usual way that maillers make them.

They can also be sort of caged in a maille wrap, but as you can see, the weaves used are pretty limited. Ususally the chain is wrapped around, then self-leveling epoxy is poured onto the back of the stone, securing the chain. They can also be held in place with pure tension, but that’s iffy and again, there’s only so many weaves (like 3) you can use that’ll work.

So to alleviate the same old, same old, I’ve had this idea in my head to smith a pendant the traditional way, but with maille wrapped around and secured to the bezel. This means I can use whatever chain I want, and I won’t have to worry about the stone popping out of a tension setting or the epoxy failing. It’s also an excuse to play with fire!

Here’s what I came up with, after many hiccups and solder failings:

I took one of my “Mystery Stones” from my cabochon bin, then wove a short chain in sterling silver. Once that was done I made a custom bezel and base plate (slight larger than the stone to accomodate the chain), soldered those together, then attached the chain. I finished it off with a tube bail and gave it a nice polish before I set the stone. All of this was broadcast live, including the parts where things just REFUSED to work! Oh, well… I got it made in the end, and I’m happy with the result. If you want to watch the mailling mayhem, you can watch on my UStream Channel. Airings are late and random, but I usually annouce them on the Facebook page a bit in advance.

I get a lot of people at various events who wonder about what I do and how I do it, so I decided to make a Ustream channel! Rather than prerecording shows (which I would be tempted to spend many hours editing because I’m picky like that) I broadcast a live feed of me working at my bench. I’ve had two good shows so far, and I really enojyed it! I’ve been testing various camera and microphone set-ups, and I think I’ve found a camera that’ll work well for it. The others either had bad quality, really touchy autofocus, or were nearly impossible to position.

The broadcasts themselves are mostly late shows, as I have to wait until the Little One has gone to bed. I keep an eye on the chat window so I can answer any questions that people may have, and I have fielded some good ones! ^_^ I try to narrate what I’m doing as well. As for show content, I might be working on steel costume armor, or I might be using a torch on fine silver – You never know. I try to keep it interesting, though. Last time, I tried out a design for a ring that had been in my head, and the viewers got to watch the start-to-finish creation of this piece:

So if you’re into watching people practice their craft, give it a look!

Rabbit Dance on UStream

There’s no set schedule, but I announce when I’m doing shows on the Facebook Page. There’s no set length, either. I stop when I’ve done what I want to do on a certain piece, or when I finish something in the case of small pieces. If you guys like it enough, I wouldn’t mind doing a regular show once or twice a week!

Speaking of, I’ve got to get set-up for tonight’s broadcast! ^_^

Since I’ve gotten my silversmithing tools, I’ve been dying to get started on making the maille-specific jewelry components that I’ve been designing. With that goal in mind, I set out to make a simple prong setting for a gemstone cabochon. I’ve got a small hoard of cabs, and I honestly think that the first step – Picking a cab to use – took longer than the actual construction of the pendant itself!

Anyway, what do you think? I think it’s pretty good for a first try and no real idea what I was doing.

And of course, I ended up not using the cab that I initially chose. I made an album showing the whole process on the Rabbit Dance Facebook page so if you’re interested in the story you can hop over and give it a look.

Now to make a nice Byzantine necklace and a pretty clasp to complete it!

I know I told a lot of you at Tekko this, but in case you weren’t there… I’m taking BLACKSMITHING LESSONS next weekend! WOOT! *dances* As much as I love jewelry, I learned to make chainmaile so that I could make armor. Once I get the hang of smithing (and an anvil), I’ll offer riveted maille and, eventually, FULL PLATE. If the teacher allows pics at the workshop I’ll take them, but I might only be able to snap photos with my camera. At any rate, I’ll post what I can get here next week, even if it’s only shots of what I make/do.

Speaking of pictures, it’s been a while, so here’s a time-lapse video to make up for it. It’s a video of me making a red and black chainmaile dice bag! Next one I make I’ll try to position the mini-pod so you get a better angle. Hope you like!

I know it’s October, but before we know it November will be upon us, and you know what THAT means…

NaNoWriMo!

November is National Novel Writing Month, during which time aspiring (and professional) writers accept the challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel in the space of one month. Participants create on-line profiles and can post their word count, add other writers to their buddy list, and hit the forums for writing advice. The driving force behind it is The Office of Letters and Light, a nonprofit organization that creates and distributes creative writing materials to classrooms nationwide with their Young Writers Program, in addition to running NaNoWriMo and Script Frenzy in April.

A chainmaille necklace honoring Edgar Allen Poe - All sale proceeds go to the Office of Letters and Light

Well, a year ago for Edgar Allen Poe’s birthday I made this necklace inspired by his life and his works. Poe has a special place in my bibliophibian heart, so to honor his memory I will donate the entire $50 sale price to the Office of Letters and Light. Donors get goodies, but I will eschew those and list your name when I donate, so people know that you’re awesome! A mere $50 can do a lot at the OLL. If you or someone you know is participating in NaNoWriMo, I can add their screen name when I donate the money so that the donor halo is properly distributed. Just tell me in the “Note to Seller” box that’ll be up during checkout.

On that note, if you or someone you know is taking a crack at NaNoWriMo, add Brian to your friend list! He’s doing it again this year, and could use some writing buddies. He’ll also be setting up a sponsorship page like he did last year, so if you really like the idea of NaNoWriMo but don’t have $50, you can toss whatever amount you like at the event via that. It serves as motivation for him to get to his keyboard and get crackin’!

Have I perhaps inspired you to give NaNoWriMo a shot? In November I will make a Sticky Post where I will list Brian’s word count, along with his sponsors and goal. If you would like on that list as a writer, comment here or on that future post, add Brian as a writing buddy, and I will post your screen name with a link to your profile, along with your word count. If you’ve got a website or blog, I’ll link to that as well. Let’s see how many people we can get on the Rabbit Dance Writing Team! If you’re on deviantART, I can post you there, too. Just let me know.

Why am I doing this? I love books and writing, but right now, with chainmaille and the Little One, I have little time for both. So, I will encourage and enable the literary arts as much as I possibly can. This article about Kanye West where he declared himself a “proud non-reader” damn near gave me an aneurysm. And HE wrote a book. And it’s being published.

I think we can do better than that.

Leave a comment, join the team, and let’s show them how mighty our pens (and keyboards) really are.