Competition For The Sunny Window

I like to photograph my jewelry in natural light. After a lot of hit and miss with the lighting and the time of day, I finally found what works the best for me. I use the window in our family room in the mid-morning for the best photographs with the least amount of photo editing needed. Well, as you can see from the photo to the right, that is also Emma's favorite morning sunny spot. It's not so bad sharing when I'm trying to get a good shot of a bracelet or a necklace, but it can be quite the pain when she joins me when I am shooting earrings. I use a picture frame without glass to dangle my earrings from. Some days it seems that they take forever to stop swaying. And most days it seems that the moment they are done swaying is the exact moment that Emma decides she needs to be in the window. I guess it could be worse - she could be in the box with the earrings.

It's Spring In Northern New Jersey

After what seems like an endless winter, Spring has finally sprung in Northern New Jersey.

Daffodils, my favorites, from my garden.

My Magnolia tree in full bloom.

A lone Tulip that pops up every year for the past 20 years.

I can't wait for all my perennials to start to bloom!

In A Crocheting Mood

It seems like I go through phases. For a while all I want to do is chainmaille and then all I want to do is beaded crochet. Right now I am in a beaded crochet mood. I have added these 2 bracelets to my shop, I'm working on another and I have an idea in my head for one more.

Byzantine - My Favorite Weave

Byzantine is a very well know chainmaille weave. In fact, it is the first one that a lot of mailers learn to make. I know it was my first. Byzantine quickly became a favorite of mine because of its versatility. It lends itself well to earrings, bracelets and necklaces as well.

Below you can see some examples of how different Byzantine can look.

These earrings are made from the Byzantine weave with Jasper beads dangling from the bottom.











This bracelet is a weave known as Beez to Butterflies. It is made from linking vertical sections of Byzantine together.











This shows another way to link Byzantine together. Full Byzantine segments are connected by rings in the middle.

Here is an example of Byzantine segments that are connected with larger rings instead of being connected directly to each other.











This version of Byzantine is known as Romanov. Segments of Byzantine are used to surround a bead or gemstone and are then connected with larger rings.










And lastly, this necklace shows Byzantine in its purest form. Byzantine segments are connected to make a long Byzantine necklace










If you are interested in chainmaille make sure you learn Byzantine. From there it is easy to let your imagination take over.