Make Something Beautiful - Day 48

It's done--12,000 jump rings, 6,000 scales, 10 leather straps and countless hours of work. Yes, I put the finishing touches on my scale mail jacket today. I feel a mix of relief at having finished something that consumed a good portion of my life and the sense of loss of no longer having that project take over my life. There's always the Tiamat dress...



Chainmaille armor
Chainmaille jewelry

Make Something Beautiful - Day 47

Before the day changes, a Japanese zig-zag bracelet!



Chainmaille Jewelry

Make Something Beautiful - Day 46

My eyes are officially hurting from working on my latest armor piece. With much reluctance, I put it down, just to pick up some jump rings and design a new bracelet. And now I will step away from the computer, because staring at small things all day has made my eyes feel very strange.



Unique chainmaille jewelry

Make Something Beautiful - Day 45

I'm feeling fairly nauseous because I sent out a package with four of my armor pieces tucked inside. Altogether, that's about 250 hours of my life in one box that the USPS will hopefully send to its destination, and not ship it to California by mistake like another package that went astray.

However, I am soldiering on and still working on new jewelry. Here's a Japanese bracelet I made today.

Make Something Beautiful - Day 44

There's a call for a contemporary beadwork exhibition at a gallery in Houston. Since all of my compulsive behavior has been channeled into making chainmaille and applying to shows/competitions/residencies/grants, I have to apply to this one, too. (It's like my version of counting ceiling tiles.) It gave me a good reason to make something that I had been thinking about for a few months.

It's called, "Unfoldings of the Enfolded Universe," and is directly inspired by David Bohm's Wholeness and the Implicate Order. In the book, Bohm discusses the notion of the undivided wholeness of all things, the connectivity of thought and matter, and the idea that all things are unfoldings of an enfolded universe. If you're interested in theoretical physics, especially the kind that challenges current paradigms, I recommend it.



Unique chainmaille jewelry
by Vanessa Walilko

Bead&Button News and Make Something Beautiful - Day 43

Best news last week: I found out that my chainmaille jacket was juried into the 2010 Bead Dreams Competition in the new Wirework category. I'll be shipping them the 30,000 jump ring, 8-pound piece of clothing some time this week. Considering that the rest of my armor pieces are going to Bead + Fiber for their wearable art show, I'll be chainmaille-deprived for the next couple months. At least my scalemaille piece is almost done.

Anyway, here's the piece I made today. I usually make things out of aluminum, but I wanted to try a golden design today. I quite like it.

Facere pulchrum!

Vanessa

Unique chainmaille jewelry
Handmade jewelry

Make Something Beautiful - Day 42

Here's a new necklace. Also, I was featured on Athena's Armoury blog as part of the raffle sponsor spotlight. Janine is doing the 3-Day walk to raise money for breast cancer research. Support her cause!

Vanessa

Make Something Beautiful - Day 41

For the past several days, I've been bingeing on Mythbusters episodes while working furiously on my new scale maille piece. Over 5,000 scales and 10,000 rings later, and I'm still not done, but so close...

I've also been designing new pieces, like these earrings:

Vanessa
Unique, handcrafted chainmaille jewelry

Make Something Beautiful - Day 40

Here's a ripple bubble necklace with huge rings. Frankly, I think if you're going to wear a piece of jewelry, it should be something that people can see from across the room.

Vanessa

Make Something Beautiful - Day 39

For whatever reason, I haven't posted anything in about a week even though I've been making things all week. It's strange. And since I'd gotten into the habit of posting, I started feeling anxious for not posting. So here's one of my latest bracelets. It reminds me of clouds.

Unique, handcrafted chainmaille jewelry

Make Something Beautiful - Day 38

If I weren't under the gun for show and class prep, I would write about this new talisman necklace, how I picked up the shell and coral from the beach when I visited a friend of mine, and how special that vacation was. For now, I just feel like uploading a photo.

Vanessa Walilko

Make Something Beautiful - Day 37

I guess the aluminum components just weren't jangly enough. I decided to add bells. Bells are supposed to dispel evil spirits... of course, I really just like making noise.

Vanessa Walilko

Make Something Beautiful - Day 36

I am busy making more jewelry for the Spring Show at Architectural Artifacts in Chicago, and I just came up with something that put a smile on my face. What good is a monkey bracelet without a matching pendant?

Facere pulchrum. And come to my show!

Vanessa Walilko

Make Something Beautiful - Day 35

Today's Make Something Beautiful project is a little different. Usually, I make a piece of jewelry. Lately, especially, I've been trying to incorporate materials that have been lying around for a while to make new designs. Today, I unveil some website work.

Ever since I launched my chainmaille jewelry site, I had a little notice in the upper right-hand corner letting people know that "Kali Butterfly Dark was coming soon." If we can assume, as Einstein did, that time is relative, then a year later is definitely "soon."

In any case, those of you who follow me on Facebook or crafthaus have seen these pieces before. However, I've also set up the index to include an exhibition schedule.

In any case, enough yapping, enjoy Kali Butterfly Dark!

Facere pulchrum!

Vanessa Walilko
Chainmaille jewelry, chainmaille clothing, beaded armor, and art

Monkey Bracelet! Make Something Beautiful - Day 34

I made a monkey bracelet. It makes me pretty insanely happy.

Facere pulchrum,

Vanessa Walilko
Chainmaille jewelry, chainmaille clothing, beaded sculpture

Make Something Beautiful - Day 33

I'm really into long necklaces lately. Here's a red one I put together.

Facere pulchrum,

Vanessa Walilko
Chainmaille jewelry, beaded jewelry, chainmaille armor, beaded armor, beaded sculpture, and art

Make Something Beautiful - Day 32

This is the consummation of an idea that I've had for quite a while. I initially made a bracelet with a bunch of beaded claws and when I hung it up, I had visions of a y-necklace. Here is the realization of that vision:

Hopefully between pricing and making inventory for the show tomorrow, I can squeeze in some experiments with gold leaf.

Facere pulchrum,

Vanessa Walilko

Make Something Beautiful - Day 31

I'll be honest, this sure-sign-of-the-apocalypse (but lovely) 80-degree weather has left me a bit freaked out. I continue to compost, recycle, and not drive anywhere ever, but I wish there were more I could do. (Alas, I do not yet have Dr. Manhattan-level powers.)

In the mean time, I got my phoenix back from the Shambhala Meditation Center. It's now back on its perch sitting next to the phoenix finger puppet I picked up at Kemah Boardwalk in Houston. I knew they'd look fantastic together.

I also designed another new necklace for the show on Sunday. It uses these stones (still no idea what kind) that look like smokey quartz. Some have bands of pink and others look like they're cross-sections of flames. With an enameled copper chain and some shell beads, they make an eclectic pendant.

Okay, back to work! I have jewelry to make and tax information to compile.

Facere pulchrum,
Vanessa Walilko
Chainmaille jewelry, chainmaille clothing, beaded armor, and beaded sculpture

Bead + Fiber Gallery and Make Something Beautiful - Day 30

Today was a good day. I got some last minute supplies for the show I'm doing on Sunday. And, I just found out that several of my beaded armor and chainmaille armor pieces were accepted into the Wearable Art Show at the Bead + Fiber Gallery. Pretty neat, eh? Made for a happy day.

Oh, I made a necklace, too:

Facere pulchrum!

Vanessa Walilko
Kali Butterfly - Chainmaille Armor, Chainmaille Jewelry, Chainmaille Scales Jewelry, Beaded Fashion and Art