Wired! JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT ALL! Playing with design.

TORQUED!

Simple, VERY simple, wire torc - for the fun of it!

 FLEXIBILITY!

This way and that way and this way and that way! Six rings and an arm wrap, one piece of wire.

 I Call This One My Sept Bracelet. 

(Latin septem; seven bracelets in one)

Terrible photo, sorry. You can't really see it but there are seven loops snugged up against one another here. Again, it doesn't get any simpler than this. I just hooked the end loops and tightened them to fasten it.

This one is on me forever, unless I cut it off or pry it open and unwind it. 

I happen to like it a lot, and it's incredibly lightweight and comfortable, so I don't really want to take it off; hence the perma-fastening. I made rings to match.

WIRED FOR THE FUN OF IT!

Round and round and round we go!

The tight spirals are for chiton brooches and match the sept bracelet.

I'll also have a sept ring or two, but gave the ones I made away already so no photos.

All of these, plus everything else (lol) is absolutely simply for the fun and joy of playing with design.

My sister gave me some 12 gauge soft aluminum wire to play with and I ordered some more so I'll have plenty for whatever I can come up with. For my current purposes it's great - gotta love the flexibility of this stuff! Since I'm not shooting for fancy or permanent, it's perfect.

I wanted a 'silver circlet' for Mamm, right? Piece of cake. Took about a minute. Yep. It was just right!  Pushed it up off of the top of my forehead and had myself a wonderfully comfortable headband. 

I kid you not. You know how headbands ALWAYS dig in behind your ears and give you a headache? Not this one. Bend it into place, adjust it as necessary, and voila! I didn't take it off when I went to bed (kind of forgot it was there) and only found it when I went to brush my hair in the morning. 

Remember, all of this is for fun and design purposes ONLY. This wire is VERY flexible, which is a good thing for me - but it isn't going to hold its shape without a little pounding (and not much, sez my sis, or it will become brittle and break on you). But I just want some basic, simple, things right now. And I like the wrapping; it's way fun! I can do it with this soft wire, and just unwrap if off of my arm (or ankle, or neck, or ...) so it ends up easy-on and easy-off; I don't have to worry about fitting it over my hands.

I'm glad Sidhelagh isn't into fancy. She could be, and maybe should be, but she isn't and that's a relief for me! 

Tomorrow I might dig out my soldering iron and put together a fancier headband, though. Just because.

Oh.

The brooch spirals will get a pretty in the center - a gem of some kind, or glass. IF I were being particular, I'd have my sister make the fibula pins for me to back them with, but I'm not being all that particular and will no doubt just hot glue some safety pins on. These things are essentially stage props, you know.

BUT:  Here's a helpful hint just in case anyone wants to play with this stuff.

When you make the finger rings, do the wrapping around the bent knuckle of whatever finger you want the ring for and do not, repeat DO NOT WRAP IT TOO TIGHT. Just because you can unwrap it whenever you want doesn't mean it can't cut off your circulation in the meantime.

The same goes for bracelets like the one I'm wearing. My wrists are little in comparison to my hands; there's no way I could slide this thing off. IF you're going to do a finger and/or wrist wrap, be SURE to use your bent knuckles and flexed wrist for guides. Ankles too, for that matter. If I ever shave my legs again I might do some ankle designs and run some spirals and curlicues up my calves, just for the heck of it.

I have to make earrings too yet, and more torcs, and probably something for my hair.

And this really IS fun, and not expensive in the least. Twenty bucks will buy you plenty of design fun.

If you want your designs translated into sterling silver or whatever, I hope you have a sister like mine who is an artisan in such things.

If I can design it, she can make it - and without a doubt improve on it!

She says these designs are Elvish - but mine aren't the delicate fancy doo-dads of the elves, not for Sidhelagh. Some of the other characters would be more demanding, but I'll deal with them if/when I find people who want to play-act.

And now I'm gonna stop for the night.

Tomorrow will be soon enough to see how this stuff works with the copper wire I've got, go for a two-tone effect ... and maybe do a little sewing ... and hit the thrift shop looking for leather, wool, and linen - since I had to work the other day when I was going to do that.

And, while I'm tending to all of that stuff, my characters are going to be nagging me to get them through this battle that's coming up.

I have a feeling that's one reason I'm finding all these other things to do just now.

I have NO idea what will happen in that battle but the whole Tarnos cast is going to be in it and ... well ... look what happened in that LAST battle, the one in They Are My Song, I mean, which is more than a hundred years down the road yet from THIS battle, but - geez, I'm 1500 years in the future from that one and they're all FICTIONAL for heaven's sake!

These time changes are getting to me I think.