Weekly update. . .oh wow

Oh wow. . .July is all but over which means my months to prepare for that fall art show are just whizzing by and I still have not set up and tested the art resin on a painting. 😏 

The good news is I have completed the second dragon. 😁

He's cool and colorful and most of my testing worked out. I did not succeed with the leg idea this time, but I'm not giving up on it, it just won't be on this one. 😎 Overall I'm pretty happy with him, but there is still room for improvements and future modifications. 

I do like the tail flare, I plan to try again and repeat it in different sizes like barbs. I'm still trying to decide which patterns I like best in the tail, 2-by-2 seemed like cheating to me (at first) because it's so simple, but it is the fastest way to make distance with less rings. 😏 So for the curious . . .

Secondus is actually slightly longer than ReGol, even though his "body" is shorter and he has 50+ less rings. 

He does have a clasp hidden in his tail scales so he can be worn as a necklace too. 😉 

I think the third attempt shall be about half the length and have the legs, be a pure sculpture piece. In the meantime, I have to figure out what to do with these two I'm not sure how to store them or how I'm going to display them in the booth. 😅 But they gotta go somewhere because I need my bench back. 

Weekly update. . . Dragons!

 I am rather proud of my recent efforts. The first dragon was a learning experience with several "new" to me things but as I worked on it, I came up with several ideas on how to do things different maybe better, maybe not better but at least unique. 

I know that for most of my audience any chainmaille is fairly impressive because y'all don't make chainmaille, so chainmaille dragons seem truly amazing, which they are chainmaille dragons in any form are awesome, and they do come in many forms. I have known of the existence of the possibility for years, but the patterns looked advanced and tricky, and I didn't feel "qualified".  😏 I have spent a decade learning well over 20 patterns of chain and studying photos before taking this leap. 

Many of you may wonder why I waited so long or why I felt intimidated at all in the first place?  Well, there are some true masters out there, I have seen their work and they amaze and inspire me and yeah cause the Wayne's World "I'm not worthy" reaction. 😅 I won't name them all, but I must credit Amanda Sanford her work is truly stunning this one is hers and once you see it you will immediately rollback your admiration of mine because I'm still an amateur. 😇 

Seriously just take a minute to be amazed by this magnificent thing that is over 2 foot long, has a 2 foot wingspan and is made of so many rings and scales it makes my head spin. 😳 Honestly, I'm not sure I'll ever be this ambitious as it would take me months to create and the thousand dollar plus price tag would likely make it nearly impossible for me to sell. 😅 

So, my plan is to stick with smaller, simpler styles in hopes of keeping prices around or under the $150 mark. However, I do plan to test legs and different patterns in tails to make each dragon unique. 😎

Also, my last supply order included the larger rings in more/different colors, so they won't all be red in the future. 😉

Weekly update. . . new supplies

 My order of new scales and rings arrived yesterday. 🎉

5 colors of large etched dragon scales, 5 colors of smaller regular scales, more rings because I always need more rings. 😅Now I really need to get busy making stuff and then pray for some sales because I've invested quite a bit of money on frames for the art and expanding the ring inventory to include more sizes/colors and scales. I am super hopeful about the events I have scheduled this fall, if they go well all this should be worth it. 😇 

I am also pretty glad I didn't schedule any June/July events with this ridiculous record heat. I thought about it months ago, but it just didn't work out and now I'm like that's probably for the best. This way I get to spend all summer framing art and making new stuff in my air conditioning instead of dying of heat stroke at the farmer's market. 😎 

I am making progress on framing art, but I have realized that any of them that are/were already listed will have to be deactivated once framed because the listings will need updated with new photos and pricing to reflect the frames, so. . .  

Warning: Some of the art will temporarily disappear and eventually come back framed at higher prices, so if you have your eye on something currently listed, I highly recommend grabbing it now, unless you want it pre-framed and are willing to pay $20-25 more. 😉

In the meantime, more dragons will be coming and probably sooner than you thought. 

I already have a second body done I was just waiting on the large scales. The second dragon will have a color-fade down his belly that will be reflected in the scales on his back, he is slightly shorter bodied than Regol but overall will likely be close to the same length when including his tail. I plan to attempt legs on this version along with several other changes like half the number of scales and slightly different wings. 

We'll see how he turns out. 😉

Weekly update. . . I did it!

I am so thrilled and actually quite proud of myself. 😇 

I have finished my dragon project, my first ever dragon. 

He has been a real adventure and learning process, new weave, scales, trying to figure out how to taper the tail. 😶 I am pretty pleased with how he turned out. 😎 He's not perfect, I do have some ideas for improvements and things I would do differently, but overall, he looks great, and he sits well.  I considered adding a clasp in his tail scales so I could wear him like a necklace, but when I tested the fit he's not quite long enough (believe it or not). However, he does sit nicely on my shoulder so who needs a clasp. 😅

 For those interested parties who have asked, you might have noticed I mentioned possible improvements, so yes, I will make more dragons. 😉 Although, this one will not be listed for sale and future ones will not be exactly like this one, I think my price estimates have turned out to be accurate so they will not be cheap. This guy has about 60 scales (in 2 sizes) and just over 550 rings (in 4 sizes) so I'm sticking with the $150. I could make smaller ones for less or larger ones for more but as a baseline just know dragons are not cheap. 😅 

Also, I will not likely take custom orders for the dragons just because the scales would have to be ordered special and it would make it take too long from order to completion. I mean it already took me 3 weeks to finish this one, but if you add message discussions and ordering supplies (which come from Canada) to the beginning it would be well over a month at least and that is simply too long of a processing time for me to be comfortable with. 😏 

Worth noting though that I will likely be making keychain fidgets and bracelets in the pattern used for his back, so expanding product lines all the place. 😊 

Random mid-week post

So, much like last week's "weekly update" coming out on a non-Sunday was weird, I'm now following that up with a totally off schedule mid-week update. 😅

My husband is on vacay from work and there is a major holiday, so this is just a weird non-schedule conforming week. 😉 I'm not keeping up with my regular post schedule on socials, I'm not actually getting much work done in the shop, but I did update my blog header so that's something. 😎 I'm not sure I like the new header or maybe I'm just so used to the one that was there for years that it will take me a while to adjust to the new one. I have been meaning to update it for quite a while but just never did. Honestly, there are several things about this old blog that could use an update, it was established several years ago and options and settings have changed a lot over the last 8 years. 😅 However, I am an OCD creature of habit so big changes are not likely. 😅  

Weekly update. . .on a Friday!

Ok so this is a bit weird for me, I usually do my weekly updates on Sunday, but we have company coming this weekend so I thought I would do it early. 😎  

It has been a bit of a weird week overall and not as productive as I would have liked. 😏 I have made progress on my dragon, but he is not finished yet and there are some things I need to tweak. I'm not entirely happy with the head to body attachment, I mean it's attached but it doesn't sit the way I want. 

His head droops too much, it makes him look sad. I wish it would sit more level, but so far, I'm not having any luck getting that to work. 😅

I've tried multiple things like adding a ring here and there, trying to tighten the weave, reinforce the flex point between the two patterns.  I'm not giving up, but I am running out of things to try. 😐 I am determined to figure it out, I know it can work and I would like to make other dragons in the future so there is no choice but to solve this.  However, it won't be happening today, or this weekend as previously mentioned we have company coming and a cook-out planned, so I'll be busy cleaning the house and preparing for killer kabobs. 😎

Weekly update. . .Summer

It has been blazing hot all over the place lately. 😏 I know it's summer but good grief with the heat wave, heat dome, ridiculous record temperatures, it's only June so I am not looking forward to July or August. 😅 

Little Merlin has recovered well and quickly from his vet visit, he is happy to be free of the cone and back to running around. 😇 

I have finally decided to conquer a project that I have wanted to do for a long time but have always shied away from.  I've been doing chainmaille for years now, ok a decade.  I have learned many patterns over the years, mostly from studying photos of completed things. I have seen a lot of photos of a lot of versions of. . . Dragons.  However, almost every version is different, there is no real standard and I have always found them to be rather intimidating in their complexity, they trigger my imposter syndrome. 😰 It is kind of sad considering how much I love dragons, I literally am a dragon under the Chinese zodiac. 😅 So, in the spirit of continuous learning and conquering my fears, I am making a dragon!

Yeah, I've been working on him all week and he's still nowhere near finished. Yesterday, I spent 2 hours and multiple attempts just to get his head attached straight. 😅

I made the head and fringe first because it seemed like an easy starting point, but it has also been a good inspiration sitting there staring at me 😶 like come on. . . I need a body.

I am about 300 rings in, and I think I underestimated just how many rings it will take, considering he is currently a scale-less wing-less serpent. 😕 There are tons of rings left to go, to line his back with scales, to make and attach wings and then a tail. So yeah, he is only about half done right now, which makes it kind of insane that I am already thinking about making another one with different chain patterns and legs. 😅😄

The kit came with a limited number of scales, but I want to make his wings bigger and different from the head fringe. I'm going to have to order more scales, this is not going to be good for my supply addiction. 😎