Moving along

I've decided to move my blog over to Wordpress.  You can check out my latest posts about jewelry, costumes, and everything else at kalibutterfly.com.

Scale Mail Halter Top - Part 3

Linking all those scales together can be a chore, but the result is so lovely, it's hard to complain.

Updates this week will be light and I'm building up inventory for Madison, but I'm looking forward to jumping into this project again when I get back.  Look at those cap sleeves!  I just want to spend all day working on this.

But for now, I'm making plenty of new designs, like little star earrings:

Scale Mail Halter Top - Part 2

This will be a micro-post, but these bronze scales are so yummy.  The muslin template is a nice guide for the work, too.

Vanessa Walilko
Handmade chainmail jewelry

Scale Mail Halter Top - The Beginning!

I'm lucky enough to know a lot of talented, interesting people.  One of them, MsPixy--burlesque hostess, performer, and producer extraordinaire--commissioned me to make her a scale halter top for GenCon.  After a couple meetings, we settled on a bronze/gold number with a fake leather back. 

I started working on this in June after teaching at Bead&Button, but here are some photos of my creative process so far.

I try to keep all of my ongoing projects in little plastic bins.  It's a small attempt at staying organized.

With scale projects, I always start by linking together many pairs of scales.  I get the quick feeling of accomplishment with every pair I link, and it makes the scale mail process more efficient.

Patterns... I don't know why for the first several pieces of clothing I didn't make any patterns.  I guess the struggle of putting on and taking off bits of scale mail was exciting to me.  In any case, when working on a piece for someone else, that's not possible.  Thankfully, Pixy had some muslin and cut out some pieces like a sewing ninja at our meeting.  Here are the shoulders:

I love watching a piece come to life.

I'll be posting daily updates until the piece is finished.  Stay tuned tomorrow for images of the front of the piece!

Vanessa
Handmade jewelry
Chainmail jewelry

Deadlines, chainmail, and all other things

I wish there were enough hours in the day.  While I was working on the costumes for Queen Amarantha, I wanted to make a chainmail headdress out of aluminum.  Sadly, because I need to eat AND sleep like a mere mortal, I didn't have enough time to finish it.  However, now that I've properly recovered from Bead&Button (and the unfortunate food poisoning I suffered from there, ugh), I was able to finish it.

Hopefully it'll make an appearance at Bristol Ren Faire.  Or, maybe I'll wear it while I practice belly dance moves to feel a little fancier.

Vanessa
Aluminum jewelry
Handmade chainmail jewelry

Stars of Empire Kickstarter

The fine folks at Hive, Queen, & Country launched a Kickstarter for the second edition of their RPG Stars of Empire.  They were kind enough to use some of my work in The World Beneath the Clouds, with my friend K serving as one of the Venusian Sky Wolves and with me in my chainmail shrug serving as an example of Venusian fashion.

Pretty neat, right?  Aside from creating a brilliant, fleshed-out world, they are also really wonderful and supportive collaborators.

So stop by their Kickstarter and pledge some money to get their second edition off the ground. 

Vanessa Walilko
Dynamic Chainmail Jewelry
Handmade Jewelry

Crochet Colonel Chestbridge

A friend of mine introduced me to Danger 5 last weekend and I immediately fell in love with the show.  I grew up watching reruns of the 60's Batman show and Green Hornet so this show was hitting all of my nostalgia buttons.

Inspired by the show, I decided to crochet Colonel Chestbridge.  Since they creators talk in interviews about how they had no money for the first season, I gave myself an extra challenge: I could only use materials that I already had.  Thankfully, I have a ton of odds and ends, some 17-year old Sculpey that worked for the Sit Down Gun, and yarn and felt in all the right colors.

I'm pretty happy with the result, especially since it forced me to design an eagle head and beak.  I'm happiest with the handmade bias tape I hand stitched to the felt jacket.  Chestbridge is a dapper colonel.

Vanessa Walilko
Handmade chainmail jewelry
Chainmail jewelry supplies

Belly dance

I recently started taking belly dancing classes at Arabesque Dance & Fitness in Chicago.  After a long, cold winter, I wanted to start moving again.  After seeing a friend perform at one of their haflas, I decided to sign up.

I absolutely love the classes so far, so much so that I decided to design a chainmail belly dance belt.  I had disks, rings, and chain, and when I got an idea, I quickly doodled it on a scrap of paper.

I started working obsessively on it immediately.  I finished it last night, and I'm so thrilled with how it turned out.

Now that it's done, I guess I'll go back to knitting that sweater I started a couple weeks ago.  If I finish it soon, I might be able to wear it once before it gets too warm.

Vanessa
Aluminum chainmail jewelry
Handmade jewelry

That Beaded Dragon and renewing creativity

Madeleine L'Engle wrote about how she played the piano when she felt creatively stuck.  For me, working on my stuffed dragon helped get me out of a creative slump.  I love it, although it will be a terribly heavy neck pillow when all is said and done.

Here are some shots of my progress:

Close-up of progress after day 2.

 My dragon just chills out on the couch between beading sessions.

Progress after day 3.  I love adding those gemstones down the back.

Stay tuned for more photos of the dragon in progress!

Vanessa Walilko

Aluminum chainmail jewelry

Handmade jewelry

Dragon plush necklace

There are few things more satisfying than working on a project that's been sitting in a box untouched for a few years.  I got it in my head the other day that I really should finish this dragon soft sculpture necklace/fancy neck pillow.

Some ideas pop into my head and I make them immediately, some need to percolate a bit.  This originally started out as a big sculpture that would wind around my body, but I settled on something bold but still wearable.

Now I just need to start working on the bead embroidery, which will take another few years, probably.  But the body is finally done, which makes me very happy.

Personalized jewelry
Anodized aluminum jewelry

Night at the Musem 3 chainmail

Last year around this time, a friend and colleague contacted me about doing a huge commission on a really tight deadline.  As soon as he said it was for Night at the Museum 3, well, I was in.

The next thing I knew, I was getting an overnight delivery for 20 pounds of rings that I had to link together and then overnight to Hollywood in a week.  I had some help, thankfully, or it wouldn't have gotten done.

Did I mention that this happened right before the One of a Kind show last year?  I still can't believe I got it all done while making inventory for the show.

Anyway, despite the rush, I had sense enough to take some photos.  They aren't the best quality, but I'm publishing them for posterity.

I wish I had taken a photo of the two HUGE bags of rings I received in the mail.  We all have regrets.  However, I did take pictures of the rectangles.  Here's the first one.

Then I took photos as I made more strips that I linked together into rectangles:

Finally, I had to get everything in the mail the same day I was setting up my booth for the One of a Kind show.  So I took a blurry photo at the book showing all of the pieces.

The most fun part of the whole experience was taking the package downstairs to FedEx.  When the guy at the counter saw that it was addressed to "Night at the Museum 3 - Costume Department" he asked, "Really?"  When I said yes, he then called over the other staff members and we all had a fun chat about chainmail and costumes.

So, go see Night at the Museum 3 and tell your friends you know who made some of the chainmail for the movie.

Vanessa Walilko
Aluminum chainmail jewelry
Aluminum costumes for stage and screen

Bernat Blanket Yarn Sweater

Super bulky yarn is the trick to making big, cozy sweaters in just a couple of evenings.  I've made this awesome piece out of Bernat Blanket Yarn.  I finished this with just two skeins and I couldn't be happier. 

Vanessa Walilko
Aluminum chainmail jewelry

Dragon crochet hat

It's winter.  Time to avoid the outside and crochet up a storm.  Pattern purchased on Etsy here.

Vanessa Walilko
Aluminum chainmail jewelry

Chainmail for Pippin--recap of the week's work

When I got an email from the people at Pippin to order a new chainmail tunic for their new lead actor, I was happy to take on the project.  Making chainmail for a Tony-award-winning show is one of the highlights of my career. 

So after sending the invoice, I ordered 22,000 rings and got started.

Starting a huge project is daunting, especially when you're working with that many rings.  There were enough rings to fill more than a 14" x 11" x 3.25" bin. 

From working on the chainmail wedding dress, I learned that the only want to get through a huge project was by making lots of little squares and then linking them together.  As soon as the rings arrived in the mail, I got working.  After 2 days, I had made 45 little squares.

After day 3, I had linked 70 squares:

After day 4, I had linked together 95 squares:

 Posting lots of little squares doesn't really give a sense of scope of the piece, so I made another 25 squares and started linking them together into sheets.  (The pliers are for scale.)

Tonight or tomorrow I'll start linking all the sheets together and work on the shaping.  It's amazing how a piece like this comes together.

Vanessa

Handmade aluminum jewelry
Aluminum chainmail jewelry

Throwback Thursday - Shi action figure

Comics were big when I was in junior high and high school.  And, like every self-respecting young nerd, I devoured them.  As someone who grew up watching Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman, and since my hero was Catwoman (Julie Newmar is the coolest person), I was drawn to tough warrior women.

Shi was one of my favorites.  Back in junior high I was customizing action figures.  This one used to be Psylocke.

I found a box of old art/craft projects.  I'll try to show one off every Thursday.

Vanessa Walilko
Aluminum chainmail jewelry
Handmade jewelry

Make Something Beautiful - Butterfly Necklace

When I first started my business, I made a point of making something beautiful every day.  I got caught up with business stuff and forgot the simple joy of creating something new.  Well, I'm starting that habit again.  I'll probably post on Mondays for the alliteration.

For now, here's the butterfly necklace I made today.

Vanessa Walilko
Aluminum chainmail jewelry
Handmade chainmail jewelry

The creative work ethic

This morning's Twitter feed brought this article to my attention: The Aggressive Work Ethic of Highly Creative People. 

While I've seen the importance of having a schedule, and doing the work, I also have found that my best work comes from moments of inspiration.  What do you think?  Do you follow your muse, or build your creative muscles another way?

Vanessa Walilko
Aluminum chainmail jewelry
Handmade chainmail jewelry

Hyperbolic crochet

When I'm not working on the chainmail wedding dress, secret chainmail-related projects, and chainmail jewelry, I look for other creative projects to pique my interest. 

I'm a little late to the party, but I've been having fun with hyperbolic crochet.  For those of you who don't know what hyperbolic crochet is, I encourage you to visit the website for the Institute for Figuring.  If you want to make your own hyperbolic crochet, download the PDF here: Hyperbolic Crochet instructions.

I made my own pseudosphere the other day, out of some yarn I bought on clearance.

Since I had some yarn left over, I made a scarf.  It's sort-of hyperbolic.  It's a fancier version of a ruffle you'd see on a clown, but I love it.

What do you work on to relax and recharge?

Vanessa

Aluminum chainmail jewelry

Handmade chainmail jewelry

Pre New Year news

I try to theme my years.  It gives me focus.  When I started this whole chainmail-making pirate adventure, I called it "The Year of Fearlessness."  This year is "The Year of Following Through."

Any idea, creative or otherwise, that has been rattling around my brain will be finished (or progress will be made towards finishing it) this year.  My year starts a little early, and so has my work.  I recently made a reversible jacket that I'd been thinking about making for over a year.  I also just launched my new website.  It's not perfect, but I'm really happy with it.  Sometimes I feel limited with the coding options of IndieMade, but I like the service they provide.

What are your plans for the year?  What will be the theme for your 2014?

Check out the new site and let me know what you think kalibutterfly.com.

Happy New Year!

Vanessa Walilko
Aluminum jewelry
Chainmail jewelry