Longing...

I am longing to get back to cutting rings and weaving, but at the moment, University assignments are chewing up my brainpower and my time.

My insane pile of textbooks - and this is only about one third of them!

For your enjoyment, here are a couple...

"Ivanic (2004) identifies six discourses of writing and learning to write that have influenced past and present approaches to the teaching of writing: a skills discourse, a creativity discourse; a process discourse; a genre discourse; a social practices discourse and a sociopolitical discourse.  Drawing on this model, consider the discourses that underpin the proposed National Curriculum for English in the K-6 years as outlined in the Shape of the Australian Curriculum: English (2009)"

or

"Through a critical analysis of the research literature, discuss the factors and practical implications that need to be taken into account when including a student with either an intellectual disability or a physical disability in the regular classroom."

Sit back, and enjoy the fact that whatever you are doing, is not answering these!


(For the record, I actually love Uni, and I don't mind doing these ... if only there wasn't such a (seemingly) short timeframe!)

Jens Pind and the Fifth Ring of DOOM!

Jens Pind. What a lovely weave, and quite easy to do... once it is started. Placement of the fifth ring in the sequence is the key - get it right, and you continue weaving merrily on your way. Get it wrong... the sky slowly darkens, thunder rumbles, and the piece in your hand begins to get ornery. You battle on, sure that things should be easier than this, but ... the weave begins to defy you. It slowly closes down the spaces, until you are halfway to Hulk transformation trying to jam that next ring through. It has turned into a Spiral weave, only at an AR that is much too small.

The piece on the top is correctly woven Jens Pind. The piece on the bottom is incorrectly woven Jens Pind. Why, oh why, does this happen to me (as you would suspect, statistically speaking) 50% of the time? 

(Please excuse my poor closure in the spiral piece. I was probably finding it difficult to get my pliers in there, BECAUSE I WAS WEAVING IT WRONG!)

Tumbler Love

I love my tumbler. I think it has been one of the most important pieces of equipment I've picked up along my jewellery journey. I don't love it enough to sleep with it, though!

This is my boy, who occasionally decides that cramming himself under the sideboard to sleep on a whole bunch of power cords is comfortable. Go figure.

Etsy Treasury - Get In The Ring

So what is an Etsy Treasury? It is a collection of items from Etsy, compiled by the users (in this case, me!) It may be based around a theme, such as dreams, or Spring, or caramel; it may be based around a colour scheme, such as robin's egg blue, or dusty pink; it may simply be an eclectic mix that appeals to the creator for one reason or another. Sometimes the treasury can turn into a piece of art on its own merit.

Below is my first Etsy Treasury. I was being subjected to UFC on television, so I decided to see what I could find on Etsy. Sure enough, there were items based around boxing, and fighting. I liked the juxtaposition of a "sport" where the focus is destruction of the opponent, with Etsy, which is all about creation.

You can see any of these items in greater detail here.

You can also see what other treasuries people have created, or even make your own. You never know just what you might discover!

Featured Artist - Rita Moehler

Snowflake Pendant by Rita Moehler

Isn't this piece just incredible?

This demonstrates a way of thinking outside the box while designing chainmaille jewellery. The centrepiece of the Snowflake is an icy, faceted rainbow moonstone, from which sections of Byzantine radiate out to form the flake pattern. Rita has managed to find the perfect combination of ring sizes, which is no mean feat! Not a ring is out of place, and the piece is woven tightly enough to hold its shape. I just love the perfect symmetry of this design.

Please visit Rita's Etsy shop to see more of her creations.

Sterling Silver - Only For The Rich?

The price of silver has just skyrocketed in the past few weeks.

Looking at the price per gram in which I purchase my supplies, I calculated that if it were to continue at this rate, a bracelet made at the end of the year will cost $50 more in raw materials than it would if made now. $50! I can't sustain that, and I'm sure most of you out there wouldn't see the value in it. I'd like to say "surely it can't continue like this", but I'm afraid I don't have history on my side.

“The silver price has bounced 27% since January 28, a huge advance for a measly 16 trading days. It's already soared past its 2010 high and was selling for less than $16 this time last year, a double in 12 months” Jeff Clark, Silverseek.

Will this push the price of Sterling Silver jewellery out of the reach of the average person? Is it time to look at base metals, such as copper, brass and bronze? These are now becoming more popular, driven by necessity based on the price of silver. What are your thoughts?

Second Batch of Rings Listed

Finally got some sunny hours, so it was straight out with the camera. This batch of jump rings have an Aspect Ratio of 5, so they are suitable for:

• European 6-in-1
• Queen's Link (also known as Box Chain)
• Double Spiral (also known as Rope Chain)
• Half Persian 4-in-1

Double spiral makes a solid chain, that holds the spiral shape. Single spiral has to be twisted each time it is worn. Although it makes a lovely chain, that's a little bit more than most people want to have to do!