What do you think?

What is this thing in my face and why aren't you petting me?

Okay, I've got a bit of a conundrum. I posted a little while back about a cat that befriended Scott and I when we moved into our house. I usually see her a few times a week either napping outside the house or even as I'm coming outside she runs over to me meowing to get my attention. We spend a few minutes hanging out and then we go our separate ways. This weekend I saw her two nights in a row near the house. On Friday night, she was by the side of the house trying to stay out of the drizzly weather we were having. Saturday night, she just broke my heart. I got home really late from work, but still spent a few minutes outside petting and talking to her before going in. I sat down inside near our front door to take off my heels (which I never wear, so my feet were frickin' throbbing) and through the glass panel next to the door I see a pair of eyes reflecting in at me. I went outside again for a little bit because I felt so bad; she stayed there looking in and watching me doing stuff around the house for a good 15 minutes.

I'd love to take her in, but the thing is, I have absolutely no idea if she belongs to someone. I can just picture some 7 year old little girl in the neighborhood crying her eyes out because her kitty is gone. Then again, if she does belong to someone, they aren't taking very good care of her. She's outside all the time and has been declawed. She doesn't appear to be starving and her coat is nice and soft and clean. Maybe she was abandoned and her coat looks so good because she's still young? I just wish she could talk so that when I ask her "who belongs to her?" she could answer. The other big problem is money. I can only imagine what vet bills and food and everything would be like and I don't know if I can afford to really take care of her right now. It certainly seems like she's adopted me, now I have to figure out if I should adopt her. . .

Custom DIY Necklace Kits

I've been playing around with the idea of listing some DIY Necklace Kits at my other Etsy shop: Beach Bum Creations. I finally listed one today for Scott's mom, Jean. A while ago, I showed her the basic bead stringing techniques and, needless to say, being the creative woman that she is, she got hooked. At her request, I put together a kit with Cameo pendants, enough strands of beads to make the necklaces nice and long, seed beads to match, gold findings, as well as some stringing tools (chain nose pliers and wire cutters).

2 Custom DIY Cameo Necklace Kits RESERVED FOR JEAN

Her interest in the kits, has prompted me to revisit the idea of listing these DIY Necklace Kits. They will include a strand of gemstone beads, matching seed beads, sterling silver findings, stringing wire, a instruction pamphlet with color pictures, as well as an opportunity to receive 20% off the purchase of a pendant with the kit. I'll start listing them soon! However, if you're interested before that, just drop me a convo through my Beach Bum Creations Etsy shop.

Who Are You? Who? Who? Who? (I love The Who)

A thread on the Etsy forums yesterday inspired me to really think about my shop's identity. The original thread post offered three questions to contemplate:
1. Who are you?
2. What do you do?
3. Why is that important?

First of all, I just loved reading through the responses and getting to know people, but I also loved just how much it made me think.

"Who are you?"
Most people answered with their name and their shop's name. But I felt like it was important to not only establish what my shop and I are called, but also a little something that explains who I am. My response:
"I am a strong, independent, take no sass woman who loves metal. Also known as Janine, the maillesmith behind Athena's Armoury."

"What do you do?"
I thought this was pretty self explanatory and just listed away:
"I make all manner of chain maille: jewelry, bags, armour, belts, wallet chains, candle holders, dream catchers, bikinis, clothing, just about anything I can dream up and figure out how to do."

"Why is that important?"
It's obvious to me why it would be important for me to create, but what interested me about this question is why it would be important to my customers that I do what I do. I realize that in business, it's important to know your customer base, but it's more than just knowing who would be interested in your product. Being able to identify what your product is by how it makes someone feel, the purpose of your product, all helps you identify your product, identify your customers, and therefore better market your product. I realized all of this before, but I don't know if I ever truly thought about it.
For example, I make chain maille. Obviously, people into scifi, fantasy, SCA, Ren Faires, etc. would be into it. That's a pretty broad spectrum and doesn't help me create a brand identity. But the more I thought about it, the more I tried to think about what I hoped people would feel owning one of my pieces:
"It's important to me because I have a drive not just to create, but also to be immersed in both art and history. To be able to make something beautiful out of something totally unexpected like the weaves once used for armour is extremely satisfying.
But I also hope that my customers get a sense of strength and confidence from what I create, particularly the jewelry, clothing, and armour items. I think that maille is a very bold art form and I'd like to think that my customers feel like a warrior goddess when they wear it."

I hope that my work helps people feel like a Warrior Goddess or a Knight in Shining Armour. How all of this translates into marketing and promotion, I haven't figured out yet, but it is inspiring nonetheless!

The Coif is Complete

In attempting to actually accomplish the goals I set out for myself, I'm finally giving an update on my coif (which I just listed at Etsy, by the way). I first started working on this coif way back in May and blogged about it here in the beginning of June when I had only the beanie portion of it done.

After the beanie was complete, the neck covering of the hood was added to make it into a standard coif (head and neck protection). Unfortunately, it had to be put on the back burner while I waited to receive more rings. I decided not to coil and cut my own rings for this project because I knew there would be so many and I had much rather spend my time actually weaving this time. I actually love the look of the standard coif: it reminds me of the kind of bob-like haircut you may see fashioned on Cleopatra. I plan on getting some enameled or anodized rings in maybe magenta to make it into a wig style for club wear. =)


Last, I added the mantle which adds protection for the throat and upper chest. The mantle, like the beanie portion is more expanding rows of Euro 4-1. It was so much fun to do this project. I loved making fabric out of metal, it felt so cool in my hands. It's also such an amazing dichotomy for metal to feel so fluid.


Historical methods of weaving were used in the creation of this coif, including expanding Euro 4-1. This piece represents countless hours of work with approximately 6000 bright aluminum rings all hand woven by me with seamless closures. Because it was made using bright aluminum (which is 1/3 the weight of steel), it weighs just shy of 2 lbs. Bright aluminum rings, 16 gauge, 1/4" ID: These rings are a good strength for use in combat grade armour and will work for SCA armour. Maille will protect against an edge of a weapon, however padding should be worn underneath for additional protection and a helmet is also commonly worn.