"Are You Alive?"

The first line spoken by Number Six in the 2003 Battlestar Galactica mini-series. The tight red dress, a callback to the red blinking light of Cylon raiders, gave me the idea of creating a line of BSG-inspired jewelry. Here's the first one.

This is a simple Jens Pind Linkage (JPL) bracelet in bright aluminum and anodized aluminum, both in 18 swg, 1.2 mm. By dramatically changing the AR for the last 2 rings in every other JPL, the look is totally different than traditional JPL3. Check out Zili's article, WHATIF - Variants of JPL, gives awesome insight to this often finicky weave.

Next in the BSG-line: 33. Stay tuned:-)

Edited, Sept. 1, 2010: I'm starting the BSG-inspired line solely as a challenge to myself to create with a theme. I'm fascinated by the storyline and totally enjoyed watching the entire series from day 1 back in 2003. These jewelry pieces are not endorsed by anyone related to BSG, and are not intended to infringe upon any of BSG rights. I'm just an admirer showing appreciation for the best TV program EVER! If any official BSG representative feels otherwise, please let me know; the last thing I want from this line is to upset the BSG creation.

Chainmaille Kabob

OK, so these are not really kabobs, they're Whirlybirds with odd size rings and frilly edges, but don't they look yummy on a stick?!!

Whirlybird is a fun pattern, lots of possibilities if you just let your mind go (which I do on a regular basis:-) Don't worry about the ring sizes, the metal, colors, or even the number of rings, you can always compensate with even more variations. Just wing it as you go:-)

In the picture, left to right: Rosetta edging, bi-cone shape with even rows on top and bottom, lop-sided by using different size rings on top and on bottom, HP 3-1 edging (this is a Persian Vortex by Clever Wench).

As we're talking making Whirlybirds, check out this video by FalloftheNoldor. Isn't that cool?! This is what got me started. The more I play with this simple European on the round, the more variations there are! Oh, of course, the tea pot by Clever Wench on Maillers Worldwide is my favorite; so adorable and totally out of box!

More Upcycled Aluminum Flowers

There are more aluminum cans than I have time to turn them into decoration for my hair and my garden:-)

I got couple of questions on if recycled aluminum flowers are sturdy enough as hair ornaments or for jewelry. To be honest, I can wear them OK probably because I'm fairly careful with these things. But just for fun, I tested folding aluminum sheet 3 times, kind of like folding table napkins, to form the base of each petal. They are for sure stronger and hold their shapes well even with me swapping rings back and forth to find the right sizes.

The neat thing about making your own petals (or scales, whatever you call them) is you can make them any shape you want! Leaf shape petals make tropical plumeria flowers, and heart shape ones make for lucky 4-leaf clovers, specially if you make them in all green!

Here are how they look as hair clip or barrette. I didn't file the edges on these either because I was so anxious to try out more shapes and more ways to use them, like on hair sticks, hair forks... Besides, I'm really planning to tie these to my trees out in my garden, trying to save some water!!! (hee hee)

Check here for more pix.

Don't just recycle, Upcycle!

Yep, Upcycle. Learn a new word everyday. No, I didn't invent it; read it in the new book Create Colorful Aluminum Jewelry by Helen Harle. Lots of interesting ideas; my kind of book:-)

No, these little flowers are not from the book. They are maille flowers; cute, aren't they? Want to learn how to make them? Check out these pages: here and here. Don't have any scales on hand? Why not improvise? Gather some aluminum cans, pair of steel scissors, hole puncher, some rings and pliers (of course), and experiment to your heart's content!

Here's what I got. Not the best made maille flowers out there, but they are "green" none the less:-) I'm so addicted to these little guys, I got a whole box of soda from Costco, that's 24 cans! And I don't even drink soda!

OK, if you're going to try this out, please mind the sharp edges of cut aluminum. If you can't be bothered with making your own scales, order some from Blue Buddha or The Ring Lord, and have a blast!