Pig tusk jewellery

When I was chosen for a Sneak Attack a few weeks ago I was also contacted by Pigatopia Studios about making some jewellery made from pig's tusks.

My first thought... interesting! ... and odd!! LOL but definitely interesting. I love the concept of using natural objects in jewellery. I have a good collection of shells and sea glass that I will be using in pieces once I have enough materials.

Of course I was up for the challenge and PS sent me pigtures of the tusks she had as well as a beautiful tusk necklace she had made by an artist who used a wire wrapping technique. Very beautiful.

My mind went in a different direction. Some of the pieces were about an inch around and I thought if I could drill holes in them I could use them as beads in hemp bracelets or necklaces.

That had me wondering how I would get fine holes in these tough pig's tusks. Thankfully my husband is home this week and he brought out his power drill and smallest bits and after a rough start he was able to get the perfect size hole in one of the tusk pieces. Eureka! I was able to easily slide a piece of hemp through the hole. Not too tight. Not too loose.

So far we just have the one piece drilled through but I will be making a plan for each piece over the next day or two and will continue to update this blog for anyone interested in my following the creation of pig tusk jewellery.

Mobius flowers - chainmaille

Last year my sister got married and I offered to make the jewellery for her wedding party. One of her best friends was a guy that ended up being a 'bridesmaid' I made pink pearl bracelets for the rest of the bridesmaids but for him I was at a loss.

I searched the net for ideas and finally decided to do a boxchain chainmaille bracelet. It was so much fun and came so naturally. It was almost therapeutic as I wove these little metal links together. No one was nearly as impressed with my work as I was!

From there it started to spiral and I made more and more chainmaille adding a few different patterns here and there. I still consider myself to be an amateur but I really love it and I'm proud of how my work turns out.

A couple days ago I added the "Mobius Flower" pattern to my repetoire. First a pair of earrings and then a bracelet. I think they are just beautiful. It's hard to describe how they look and feel without seeing them in person.

Marilyn Gardiner has some excellent beginner chainmaille projects. She gives a thorough description of each project including pictures.

Chainmaille is so flexible and versatile. You can make a fine, delicate, pure gold necklace for a lady or a stainless steel bracelet for a man. You can use coloured links, and many metal choices. Some people even add rubber rings to give their pieces a bit of strech so no clasp is needed.

I think that many people don't know what chainmaille is all about imagine the armour that was used in the past. There are still people who still enjoy armour... but most of the chainmaille I see is jewellery or fun creations like baskets and candle holders.

You are really only limited by your imagination.

Goals

My mind is buzzing. I'm motivated. Especially after the Sneak Attack.

What I need it goals and I'm laying it all out here.

It's March 13 and I currently have 20 items for sale in my store.

I'd like to have 50, yes 50, items in my store by the end of the month. :o

Those items will include new gemstone, chainmail and hemp creations.

I'd also like to get ONE follower to my blog. That could be YOU.

AND I'd like five more 'hearts' for my etsy store. Currently I have eight hearts so I need a total of 13 by the end of March.

We're on our way... :D

Sneak attack

The last couple of days have been a whirlwind of activity for me and my store.

We just got up and running less then two weeks ago and things were slow... ok. Dead. I hadn't been on my store much as I was working on new items to add so I was very surprised when I logged on last night to find I had sold 10 items in a matter of hours.

Thoroughly shocked I messaged a fellow Etsy user ( http://hannahshands.etsy.com ) to tell her the news and she quickly figured out that I had been cchosen for a "Sneak Attack."

I'm new to the etsy forums and chat and didn't even realize what a Sneak Attack was. Three times a week a store is chosen and members 'attack' it by buying items and boosting their sales. I was one of those lucky ones and I'm so honoured that the powers that be felt that I was worthy.

Now, I'm busy packaging and labelling items, getting ready for the post office tomorrow.

Thanks everyone who participated! Especially www.blockheadradio.com for sponsoring the Sneak Attack.