Cool techniques for wire-wrapping rings

After last night's success with wire-wrapping rings, I popped on over to Etsy this morning to see what's out there. There are a TON of inexpensive, simple rings (like mine), but there's some amazingly intricate artists, too. (Apologies in advance if I don't use correct terminology or if I describe things in a simple manner. I don't know much about these techniques, and it's early, and I haven't had my tea yet.)

This citrine ring from The Naked Parrot is so cool! It hadn't occured to me to make prongs out of the wire (although it makes perfect sense now that I think about it). The color choices here are fantastic.

This rose quartz and moonstone ring by cheli387 caught my eye. In addition to all the swirls and weaving, I really like how the moonstones are incorporated into the setting of the rose quartz.

I didn't know wire-wrapped rings could be fine jewelry like this Rivoli crystal ring from RutyDesigns. Some of the simpler wire-wrapped rings make you notice the wire wrapping first, and the stone second. This ring showcases the stone, and THEN you notice how amazing the wire wrapping is. This must have taken ages.

This Floating Pearl ring from KathyFrey is so incredibly unique, I had to call it out. The pearl rolls around freely within its cage. The structure of this ring is so interesting. I just know that if I wore it, I'd be tilting my hand all day to watch the pearl roll. I wonder how the pearl holds up over time, though?

This sculture ring from FrecklePatchDesign blew me away. Each ring is one-of-a-kind, and she uses different wire gauges to achieve this unique look. Now, I really want to try different wire gauges in my own rings to see what I can do (nothing as amazing as this, I'm sure, but I'm inspired!).

There's so many more I could prattle on about, but these were some of my favorites. I can't wait to get home and see what I can make tonight!

Wire-wrapped rings!

My best friend, Sang, bought me a beautiful wire-wrapped purple pearl ring several years ago. I love it and wear it all the time. Because I enjoy that ring so much, I've always wanted to be able to make them myself. I assumed it was really difficult (and probably expensive). 

Then, I read this awesome tutorial on wire wrapping. It didn't look too hard. Plus, the AC Moore near me was closing (sadness), but it had a ridiculous clearance on all its beads (happiness!). I picked up some wire (and a few more beads... I'm weak) at Michael's and found a sturdy cardboard tube roughly ring-sized, and I was ready to go.

OK, I went a bit overboard. But, each one takes maybe half an hour to make, and it's addictive!

This was my first attempt. I like how everything is clustered. These are just cheapo acrylic beads, believe it or not. I have piles of these leftover from a craft project I worked on with my mom in 6th grade. It's nice to finally use them for something.

Second attempt. These are all Czech glass beads (according to the label) that I got at AC Moore.

This one might be my favorite. The round stone is Jasper, and the others are also Czech glass beads. Lavender is one of my favorite colors, so I'll wear this a lot.

I'm not so sure about these two. I was trying to recreate the shape of the ring that Sang gave me, but it didn't quite work. The setting is really, really tall. Definitely wearable, but not every day. Oh, and those center stones are also jasper. I'm amazed how many shades it comes in!

So, that was my first adventure into wire-wrapped rings. It's unbelievably addictive, and I'm sure I'll be up to my ears in them before long. I already bought a ring mandrel so I can make more precisely-sized rings. I don't think I'll bother selling them on Etsy, since the market is already saturated with wire-wrapped jewelry. I'll probably just make these for fun and for gifts.

Kittyloaves!

New! Furry kittyloaves!

They're in the shop!

Tip!

If you're having an off day, go to a thrift store and try on the silliest hats you can find!

During my lunch break, I did just that. I tried on a canary yellow hat with a veil and an upside-down bow, a gold hat that looked like a halo in a religious painting, and a grey fedora with silver sequins. If you're wearing a silly hat, you can't help but feel better.

Busy!

I was on vacation for the past two weeks, but I'm back! I'll be posting a dozen or so new dolls later this week, so be on the lookout! :D

I also bought this MASSIVE lot of electric blue fur from a lady on Craig's List. It looks like I hunted down a herd of Cookie Monsters and kept their pelts. I don't have any boxes big enough to hold all the fur, so I need to make some stuff with it, and quickly!

The return of the Parking Lot Monitor

I just wanted to note that the PLM personally visited my cubical-neighbor to inform him that he was parked in a non-spot. Except it wasn't my neighbor's car. So, PLM sallied forth to find the true culprit.

Did I mention PLM has a real job here that ISN'T monitoring the parking lot? I think it's great to volunteer for extra assignments at work, but this is... strange. Still, for the sake of being a team player, I wish PLM the best of luck with the quest.

(I'm still parking in the non-spots, though. Bwa ha ha.)

The Parking Lot Monitor (a typical moment in my life)

I work in an office that’s a warehouse converted into a cubical farm. Since it was build to house wares and not people, there are a limited number of parking spaces.

The portion of the parking lot closest to my desk has maaaaaaybe 20 “real” spaces and several loading zones that aren’t technically spaces, but since a car can fit in them, we park our cars in them when the other spaces are full. (There’s another 15 or so “reserved” spaces that we aren’t allowed to park in, even though no one ever parks in them.) Did I mention that 200+ people work in this building? Yeah. Most have to park in another company’s lot out back and walk around the building. This is intimidating if it’s dark out, since we work in a sketchy area.

Anyhoo, one of my coworkers is our self-appointed Parking Lot Monitor. Whenever someone parks in a reserved space or loading zone, PLM ensures that justice is served.

Yesterday was recycling day, so all the bins were out in the parking lot. They're conveniently placed on the ramp so as to (mostly) not impede the walkway or block anyone from parking.

Around noon, I went out to get lunch. Not unsurprisingly, when I returned a mere 10 minutes later with my food, there were no “real” parking spaces open (someone snagged mine really quickly!).

(CRAP!)

So, I parked in a loading zone, since it was the only space I could find.

When I left the office two hours later, this is what I found:

Yes. PLM saw my car parked in the ONLY AVAILABLE SPACE in the ENTIRE parking lot, got pissed that I was in a loading zone, and took the time to move the recycling bins so they blocked my car in.

It wasn’t hard to move them back out of the way, but WTF?

Cheap! Cheap! Cheap!

I lowered prices in the shop by $5/item. I was planning to do it last month, but then I sold an item, and I didn't want to make the buyer feel like I ripped him off. He still hasn't left feedback, which worries me--did he not like the kitteh? I hope he did.

But yeah. I need to move some product, so fleece kittehs are $20, and furry kittehs are $25 (cuz the materials are more expensive).

I have several in-process kittyloaves, so look for those in the next couple of days.

New items in the shop!

I added three new varieties of fleece kittens to the shop!

Berry-pink! 

In 11 different eye colors!

Grapey-purple!

In 5 different eye colors!

Aaaaand two more black kittens!

These eyes were listed as "amber" on the site that sold them. I think they look wonderfully creepy with this black cat. I'll have to make a batch of these around Halloween with demon wings or something.

Gooooo! Buy my stuff! Help me buy a lawnmower!

Yay! I sold something!

Yay! Yay!

Thank you, birdratm, for your purchase!

You know how some people frame the first dollar they make through their new business? Well...

I'm a giant dork.

Also, all I have is Paint. But that's ok.

Long time, no post

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted! I got married April 29, and things were pretty crazy the week before and the week after. Who am I kidding? They're still crazy.

I've got about two dozen items that I need to add to the shop, but I haven't had time to take pictures. Uggh. Workin' on it.

More stuff in the shop!

I've added four more furry kittens and all the white fleece kittens to the shop! Click on the ad to the right to go to my shop and check 'em out. The white fleece kittens are my personal favorite... their heads are so plump and round! Tee hee.

I'm thisclose to finishing the latest batch of kittens, but I spent most of last night editing pictures and posting items, so I wasn't able to work on them. But soon! Soon, they will be posted.

Progress..

I retook some of the pictures of the items I have posted in my shop using a brighter light. They're a little better, I think. I also took pictures of the rest of my plushies, but I'm still working on editing them, since the colors are kind of off. I wish I was home during the day so I could take advantage of natural sunlight--it's pretty dark when I leave in the morning and when I get home. I'd take pictures on the weekend, but it's going to rain all day Saturday and Sunday. Boo! I'm using a bright desk lamp right now, and it's just not the same.

But! I will hopefully be posting a bunch of stuff tonight. I've also got two dozen or so works in progress, and when they're done, I'll be rolling out a mess of kitty loaves in different colors. Whee!

Kitty Loaf--updated design!

I just wanted to share my new kitty loaf design. I had to scale it up a little bit, because I wanted to include a prop:

New kitty loaves come nestled comfortably in a 4"x6" mini loaf pan!

Otherwise, the design is pretty much the same.

My only concern is that the colors don't look so good in this pictures. They looked fine on my monitor at home. I noticed that all the pictures in the shop are a little too dark. I'll have to retake them using a brighter light.

Squishy and cuddly, just like a real kitty loaf!

Naturally, the kitty loaf can be removed from his pan. If you wanted to, you could bake real bread in the pan. I don't know that it would be a comfortable bed for the kitty loaf afterwards, though.

It took me a very long time to find mini loaf pans in bulk, and the 4"x6" was the smallest I could find that was reasonably priced. I did find some smaller 3"x5" pans at Giant, so I might be able to offer the kitty loaf in regular and mini loaf sizes. We'll see!

And of course, the kitty loaf is available in the shop now!

Etsy shop is a go!

The madness has come to a head, and I have opened my Etsy shop:

Nekomancy Plush

Go on. Click. You know you want to. Curiosity and all.

This is only maybe 1/8 of the plushies I've made. But, I only just made a uh, whatsitcalled, light box? in which to place items for pictures, and this is as far as I got before my camera's battery died.

Work and pants

I'm still running behind on those plushies because my real job keeps getting in the way. Boo! I'll try to post at least a couple this weekend.

In non-plushie-related news, I feel the need to say that my pants are inexplicably looser this week. I'm able to pull them up and down without unfastening them with no trouble at all. I don't feel like I've lost any weight, but I must have. That, or all of my pants are stretched out. I haven't been actively trying to lose weight (although I should be), so this is strange to me.

Still here...

I'm still here! I've been working on a huge batch of kittens for the past few weeks, so I'll hopefully be able to post them soon. They just need ears and tails....

Black Kitty Loaf

Anyone familiar with cats--or even just LOLcats--should be familiar with this pose!

It's the infamous Kitty Loaf! When somehow, the kitty absorbs her legs into her body, and she just looks like a loaf of bread. 

I decided to make the body much larger than my previous design, since this is how my kitties look when they're all scrunched up into a loaf. Plump, soft, and squishy!

Some kitties also absorb their tails when they're loafing. I decided to give my Kitty Loaf a tail, just for fun. 

This particular Kitty Loaf is extra special because I hand-colored her eyes using a silver Sharpie. I think it makes her look mysterious--as if she's thinking deep thoughts while meditating in the Loaf position.

The great thing about this design is that it has fewer parts and seams, so I can sew it much more quickly than my "Big Headed Kitten" (for lack of a better name) design. That in turn means that I'll be able to offer it at a lower price. Everybody wins! Unless you prefer kitties with limbs. In that case, go with my standard design. ;-)

White Fleece Kittens

After a week and a half of working on these guys, they're finally finished! Eleven kittens at once! Whew!

Since I love odd-eyed cats, I gave them a variety of different eye colors:

• Blue
• Yellow
• Green
• Blue/Yellow
• Blue/Green
• Yellow/Green
• Yellow/Blue
• Green/Blue
• Green/Yellow

This kitten is pretty representative of the litter. Average-sized felt-and-fleece ears, odd eyes, and that nice, big, round head that characterizes my designs.



I did have some moderate trouble with visible stitches. I prefer to sew tightly enough that stitches aren't visible, but it wasn't quite possible with this fabric. You have to look really closely to see them, so I'm happy that they weren't too obvious.



The fabric was interesting because it was hemmed at the end--if that's the right word. It actually made my live WAY easier, because I was just able to cut off strips of the hem, flip them inside-out, and quickly stitch up one end of the strip. Voila! Insta-tails!

Since I made them all at the same time, they follow the pattern pretty consistently--with minor variations, of course, since these are hand-sewn. The ears are a little different because I cut them free-hand from scrap material. (One kitten has exceptionally large ears, all the better to hear you with, my dear.) Most are around the same size and shape, though.

All in all, they turned out well. I will be listing each one separately in my shop, simply because they almost all have different eyes and ears.

Next up: more fleece kittens in several different colors! Plus, the grand opening of my shop next week! Tune in tomorrow (hopefully) for more Nekomancy Plush! Same cat time, same cat channel!

Elly the grey kitten

Elly is a short-haired grey kitten with amber eyes.

She loves to chase bits of dust--which, to the average person, means it looks like she's chasing nothing at all. Some kittens are like that--they want to play with anything and everything, even invisible things. 

During the chase, she darts from room to room, tail held high.

If you give her the chance, she will happily tell you about her hunting adventures. Mew, mew, mew. All the time. Unless you dangle a feather toy for her to chase--then she plays and purrs away!

Nekomancy Plush will open its doors in just a few short weeks. Maybe then, she can come home to play with you!

Twin domestic long-haired cats: Puff and Tuft

This was a very busy week at my "real" job, but I finally managed to finish these two guys. Like the winter twins, these kittens were cut from the same swatch of fabric.

The dark brown faux fur has a lovely sheen to it, and the shade varies throughout the fabric, making it look more natural.

Like my other dolls, they stand about 4.5" tall, and they are way fluffy.  They sport jade green eyes and little grey noses.

Puff loves grass. He likes to run outside and roll in it, and then eat it. Then, he runs back inside and leaves a present in his person's shoe. But it's just to show how much he cares. He's the kind of kitten who likes to curl up under the covers with his person and puuuuuuurr until he falls asleep.

Tuft's favorite thing is stalking leaves. He'll watch them from the window for hours, eyes wide and tail swishing in anticipation. When he gets the chance, he darts out the door and pounces. Score! Then, since the leaf has stopped moving, he gets bored and comes back inside to take a nap.

This is Tuft's fluffy tail. He has sooooo much fluff!

Status...

I'm running way behind on getting plushies out because it's been such a busy week. Hopefully, I'll have something to post tomorrow!

I did finally get the furs in that I ordered... I have all kinds of colors and textures to play with now. Everything from short and grey to long and bright blue! So that's exciting. :-)

Preview...

Coming soon:

• Long-haired brown kittens
• Short-haired caramel-colored kittens
• Cuddly fleece kittens

Coming in the future:

• Grey kittens
• Black kittens
• Dinosaurs! (I found a couple of fabric remnants that are PERFECT for this. I just need to work out the pattern--and find time to sew them, of course.)
• Puppies? I need to work out a pattern for this. Who doesn't love puppies?

Man, I just need a couple days off to work on this. Each doll takes 3-4 hours to complete, so it's tough to fit crafting around my "real" job. Grump grump grump.

Twin Winter Kitties

These two girls are twins--they're cut from the same swatch of fabric. However, since I'm not good at following my own patterns, they still turned out unique. I named them in honor of the record-setting snowy weather that hit Maryland just weeks ago.

Flurry and Blizzard are two quirky kittens. They feature odd eyes (one blue and one green) and out-of-control fluff. They both tilt their heads quizzically, as if they're studying exciting new prey--a laser pointer, perhaps?

I've always loved how odd-eyed cats look. There's something mysterious about animals with eyes that don't match. I find them very beautiful.

Blizzard is a wild child. Her fluff is out of control, and she looks like she's about to pounce on something exciting. 

Flurry is much more reserved. As you can see, I opted not to finish fluffing out the seams on her paws. I like the look--it makes her look like she's wearing little socks! It also makes her look less like a big ball of fuzz.

Flash Cat, updated

So, I looked at Flash Cat again this morning, and I decided he looked way too much like a Care Bear. So, I added a couple of enhancements to his costume.

Much better!

I made his booties and the lightning bolts on his arms removable, since I was tired of sewing into his body.

I was worried that adding more decorations would overwhelm him--he's only 4.5 inches tall, after all, so there's not a lot of space to work with. But he turned out ok. I keep picking him up, looking at him, and giggling like a maniac. :D

For non-geeks, here's a pic of The Flash for reference: