The Watcher

                The Watcher


The last of his kind on Middle Earth.
 His eyes have born witness to the battles of Men.
 His Armour handed down through the Ages..


This piece has been over one year in the design and making. First I had to convince the fantastic Polymer clay artist Lynn Reno of Desert Rubble   that her Polymer Clay Dragon Eyes were the utmost closest to perfection to be found. I knew I had to have one. She even made the eye (ball) the color of my choosing.


After the eye arrived I looked at it for months..Secretly opening the box,  unwrapping the tissue paper and gazing at this phenomenal work.  I have a boot at the Sarasota Medieval Faire and knew this Dragon had to be back in his own realm.


The finished product you see here is the culmination of 7 different design attempts until I was satisfied. The Watcher has European 6 in 1 Aluminum chain maille for the base, surrounded of all 4 sides by Helm chain. The Dragon's armour is Japanese 12 in 2 in Mint anodized Aluminum.
The Watcher also comes with a chain also handmade. I chose aluminum for the lightweight appeal.


Large Magatamas create the look of scales surrounding the Dragon Eye piece.

2400 Facebook fans-What can I say?

When I started this FaceBook venture I so wanted to be like a few of the fan pages I saw.  You know the ones that had 1500-3000 fans. I thought oh my how can I ever get there? I promised myself I would never forget what it felt like to be just starting out with 100 fans. And I haven't.  I like to help newly starting pages get more fans as best I can and promote other fans/friends stores through ArtFire Curator Collections and Etsy Treasuries.  This is a great joy for me. Giving back.

My greatest joy in all this? Without a doubt meeting some of the most wonderful, caring, sharing fans many of whom are now my dearest friends. Though we have never met face to face, I would jump to their aid in a heart beat. Those of you who have encouraged me personally as well as professionally I cherish. All my fans on my page are dear to my heart in ways they could never imagine.

How do I celebrate and say Thank You for all you've done for me? In a Giveaway of course!

My 2400 fans giveaway is for a Byzantine chain maille bracelet in multi colors of Anodized Aluminum. I wanted to giveaway something that celebrated every type of fan I cherish with every color I could find. The bracelet is not finished because you the winner will choose the clasp. Hand made hook clasp, toggle, or lobster claw.

To sign up for the giveaway just post your comments below... Please remember to leave a name so I can find you on Facebook- or check back here to see if you won and how to contact me..

The giveaway will run until Thursday morning..

Good luck and thank you my fantabulous fans!

Experiments can be fun!

While putting together jumprings to make a cross pendant, I realized I was using the wrong size ID to achieve my goal. I did however come up with these adorable cross earrings.

I want to give credit to Candy Degel for the Celtic Cross Tutorial which lead me to make these earrings.

Candy is a wonderful lady who deserves much credit.

If you would like to purchase her Celtic Cross Tutorial or one of her beautifully made pendants they are all on sale in her ArtFire shop.

So, my suggestion today is -play-experiment-you never know where it will take you.

And please visit Candy's shop, you'll be amazed at the work she does.

Thanks Candy, I'm now confident enough to experiment.

OSebastian

If you have the time you may want to visit  Karen Snyder's  blog.
Through the month of August she is giving away a pair of gorgeous  Sterling Silver handmade chain maille earrings each and everyday!

Just answer the question and be entered... simple -yes fun-definitely...

Here's hoping you win!

Trivia hint # 1

It seems the Templat questions are too difficult.
 The first question had a hint posted in the blog, so here's a small hint for the second question.

Question:
Describe the Templar seal and the reason it was chosen.

Hint:
Involving knights and horses...

Send your answers here

Good luck and remember to include which ear cuff you'd like to win!

New Contest for April

Put on your Medieval thinking caps, because here we go with the next trivia contest. The winner will receive their choice of one chain maille ear cuff pictured above. These cuffs are silver or gold plated with the following color rings (in order)

silver/gold, blue/silver, silver/black, gold/silver, silver/blue, and black/silver

Here are the rules:

1. You must enter your answer at this link

2. Choose what color ear cuff you prefer,

include it with your answer.

3.All correct answers will be placed in a

drawing to be held April 30,2010.

4. Winner to be announced on Facebook.

Here is your next  two part question:

We now know that, The Poor Fellow soldiers of Christ became known as the The Knights Templar.

Templars is a shortened version of the entire name. This name is the actual full name of the Templars.

What is that full name?

Hint: The year was 1099

Part two:

Describe the Templar seal and the reason it was chosen.

Good luck!

My latest adventure

I finally found the time to attempt this bracelet.
I made 3-strands of 4 row chain maille then braided it to make this bracelet.
I chose this clasp, but now that I've tried it on I'm not sure whether to wear it with the clasp showing or not.
Either way I now have 2 different ways to wear this bracelet.


It still needs a little work. I've discovered a little more to tinker with each day.

Japanese Chain Maille

I've researched the aspect of a chain maille "slave bracelet" for a few months. I wasn't really impressed with the ones I was seeing online mainly due to the fact I had a design of my own I wanted to try to make.
The movie Excalibur  depicts the Lady of the Lake wearing a beautiful gold chain maille slave bracelet. I keep envisioning this hand rising from the lake holding the infamous sword of "the one true king", and enslaving her hand from her finger to her wrist is a gorgeous chain maille bracelet.
This is the slave bracelet of my dreams.
The attempt seen here was designed using base metal gold jumprings of 2 different sizes attached to a "snake charmer" ring. 
I also didn't like the look of a piece of chain worn as the ring.
This bracelet took about 22-24 hours to complete. While it was time consuming I am thoroughly pleased with the look.
The type of chain maille is Japanese.
I am considering making it a little longer, but when I get the time.