Since posting about my copyright infringement saga, a number of people have come to my defense, and the entire internet drama has really reached a clamor and come to a head. I want to repost a few things here for the record.

I really don’t want to get into the background of what’s been happening before and after I published my previous post in the mailling community (and I recognize there’s lots of other places other than the maille artisans site) but there is an entire thread on weave restrictions going on here, on the Maille Artisans site, which you can read if you like. I do want to point out a few things in this situation, and in so doing, I’ll just repost a post I made to that thread:

Oddly, I find myself coming to Legba’s defense.

[snipped links to her flickr stream]

In my opinion, I think there are three issues here.

Legal copyright, the maille community, and the strength of said copyrights.

One has nothing to do with the others.

Legally, I don’t believe that Legba (believed she) did anything wrong in registering her copyrights and enforcing them. These are all for pieces of jewelry which she created and she (believes she) holds the copyright on them, regardless of registration.

I think technically (and I am very sorry for saying so, Laura *hug*) Laura copied her design, even without the pearl drop, and as such, infringed on Legba’s inherit copyright. Laura obviously did not think it was wrong to do so and made this mistake in error.

The problem comes with the 2nd issue — the maille community. Over the past 2+ years since Legba posted the original weave, others have made the weave, posted their variations, & Legba herself has posted her designs. Due to the sharing nature of the site, it is quite possible for someone to mistake a jewelry design for something that they can freely make a copy of. In the recent past, from what I’ve looked through, Legba has even posted that such and such design are copyrighted. (Sadly, she turns around and deletes these comments at times.)

Probably the best route for Legba to have taken was to post something initially, saying, “hey I got some of my work published and as such I am going to need to start enforcing copyright on these pieces, just FYI. Here they all are! Cheers!” This would have alleviated much, if not ALL of this mess. There would be no hiding behind shadowy publishing companies and mystery on what is protected and why and “OMGWTFBBQ, can I not make stepping stones at all now? PANIC!?!” etc. Mass hysteria would have never been.

THAT BEING SAID! HOWEVER!

IN MY CASE, however, I believe that Legba copyrighted her design without checking to see if anyone else had actually made something similar, as I had. A simple enough mistake, sadly compounded by her present actions. I tried to point out the fact that my item(s) predate hers, and she sent me the cease and desist, fine. I am through discussing and reject her claims to the otherwise. The ball is in her court if she wishes to persue legal action.

Legally, I don’t think Legba has done anything wrong except in my case.

and now comes the second HOWEVER!

WOULD THESE COPYRIGHTS STAND UP??

Whether or not ALL of those copyrights would/will actually stand up in court is another question ENTIRELY. I think the ones with a lot of detail such as Athena’s Tears and the piece with the X and the pearl drop (again, sorry Laura!) would stand the best chance of that.

The others, including the pendant which she claims I infringe on, is a toss up. Not a lot of, as someone had stated, “artistic STUFF” going on there. This is the discussion that could have continued when these pieces were originally posted, if Legba had been willing to participate in them.

-amy

I just want that little piece “on the record” of my blog, as it were.

Finally, Legba/Sara contacted me again today, and I submit our following interaction.

I admit.. I was bitchy.

(I think I had a tiny right to be after all this, but there you go. Bitchy.)

subject: can we reach an understanding?

Your blogpost is very interesting but shows a lack of copyright understanding. You have actually used my photo from MAIL on it without my permission despite MAIL’s very clear copyright statement, this is another infringement, please link but don’t post my photo on your blog.

I see you have chosen to credit me with the weave design on Etsy, thank you, that was all I asked for in the end so maybe you can now stop pot stirring and post on MAIL that we seem to have reached an understanding (have we?).

If I choose to issue a take down notice against you on Etsy or Flickr, it would then be your job to prove my copyright wrong not my job to prove it is right. However I have no intention of issuing take down notices unless you continue to stir things up. So please let’s get past this and carry on with our jewellery work as ‘comrades’ rather than enemies, it is not healthy for either of us. I am happy with the credit you have given me and I hope you will be happy knowing that I am sorry for causing you stress over this issue.

I would appreciate some kind of acknowledgement to this email even if it’s to tell me to get lost.

She was correct. I removed the offending image.

My reply:

I acknowledge receipt of your email. To sum up: I intend to continue selling my items on Etsy, my own website, http://rainestudios.net, and on any other site as I see fit until a court orders me otherwise. I have no issue with stating, “based on Stepping Stones weave, created by Corvus Chainmaille.” — this verbage is, and has always been, in my page of instructions in the kits I sell (along with a direct link to the Maille Artisans site tutorial) as a courtesy.

I still reject any claim that my pendant/earrings infringe upon any copyright you have registered, any my inclusion of the “based on” language is not intended as any admission or acknowledgment of any infringement or as a settlement of any claim you have or may have later.

See? Bitchy. Lawyerish bitchiness – but again, I think I had a right to be on the defensive. Plus, I was DONE. I had done my research, wrote a blog post about it, drew my line in the sand and in my mind, it was up to her as to how she wanted to react. She could do what she liked, whether it be issue take downs, or talk to her lawyer, or take a nap, and it didn’t need to concern me anymore until I got a notice from Etsy, or papers delivered to me by a sheriff, because I WAS DONE.

Amy
I did state that the credit for the weave was all I wanted (not at first but later) in an effort to resolve this issue. That is what I’m trying to do, resolve this issue. If you are happy to give credit (not admit infringement) then I am happy.
Am I to understand that that we do indeed have an agreement? That being, that we both made this design independently. Am I to assume that you accept my apology? If so can you please post on MAIL and your blog that we have reached an understanding?
If the answer is ‘no’ to any of these then I will have to speak to my legal counsel again. This is not a threat of any action but you must realise that you have been discussing the issue between us publicly and that could put you in a poorer position.
Please respond.
Sara

She did state earlier that she wanted credit for her design.

At that time, I took that to mean that she wanted credit for her PENDANT design, and to be fair, she could very well have meant the weave in general. That’s fine. I had previously stated on all my pieces, “based on the Stepping Stones weave” and had added “by Corvus Chainmaille” when I re-activated them on Etsy – I have absolutely no problem with that at all.

I was still very much done and seeing red with the entire situation however, and did not see any reason for her to be emailing me, especially if she had the credit she wanted. So read my continued bitchiness below:

For some reason, you believe our mutual agreement will end this issue on the Maille site.

Whether or not we come to any agreement doesn’t mean everyone will say, “oh good, no worries everyone, it’s all OK now!” This is an issue that affects everyone in the maille community and it will continue to be discussed whether you do or do not participate, or if I accept your apology or not (which by the way, I’m not sure I actually ever heard? “Accept my apology, or I’ll tell Etsy/Flickr/my lawyer on you” doesn’t exactly sound like an apology to me.)

I have stated my intentions, and if you can live with them, that is up to you. No further agreement or non agreement is necessary, just your acceptance or non acceptance and your chosen actions thereafter. I will continue to post on the Maille site and my own personal website the details of my experiences and interactions as I see fit.

But since you seem to require it, we do seem to have an understanding. As for the rest, I don’t really care about your apology. Thanks anyway, feel free to tell your lawyer that we didn’t kiss & make up, or hug it out in the end.

Her reply:

Your attitude stinks, you are ignoring my apology which is quite clearly there below “I hope you will be happy knowing that I am sorry for causing you stress over this issue.” there were no buts or ifs after it.

She is dead right about my attitude stinking. It did. I still had a very large chip on my shoulder and was intent on driving my point home until there was a 10 foot hole in the ground. Ah well. She wanted a happy ending, and I was intent on drawing it out.

Oh high road, I bet it’s nice up there! I sure wish I had taken you!

So it is all over – I need to check over all my listings to make sure I have everything proper, but I have no issue with doing so.

I want to make a few things clear though. While I flew off on the defensive when accused of copyright infringement, I STRONGLY believe that designers should have the right of ownership over their designs.

I STRONGLY beleive that Legba SHOULD HAVE AND DOES HAVE THE RIGHT TO COPYRIGHT HER DESIGNS. Absolutely and forever and ever amen. If my previous post detailing this experience has muddled that up at all, I want to make it clear. Designers deserve rights to their property. That is why copyright exists.

Should a copyright exist on a weave? I don’t think it should, no, but far more experienced chainmaillers than I can weigh in on that one.

I think it was said PERFECTLY by CShake on the thread I mentioned above,

If anyone posts a weave to the weave library, it is explicitly there for others to make themselves, including variations. If the submitter wants to keep control over who is “allowed” to use their weave, it should not be in the library – the gallery is the place for that if anywhere, and with a note to that effect. Be aware that someone else may make the weave independently if you don’t post yours (there are only so many ways to connect a bunch of rings), and if there is no entry they can submit it, at which point anyone can make it without fear of being stopped.

But people, if you took significant inspiration from someone else’s piece when you made your variation – Say so! Say “inspired by so-and-so”! If you are so inspired that you want to make the same thing they did with no variations – ASK THEM! The majority of people here will be flattered and say “go ahead”, but then again you may run into someone who says “No, it’s mine, make your own” in which case that’s what you should do.

Very well said. In asking him if I could quote him, he did give me this addendum:

Sure, quote me, I expect that when I post in public

However, the official FAQ here states “All submissions to M.A.I.L. remain the copyrighted property of the original submitters. They just grant us the right to publish their property on our website. If you want to use their work, you need to contact them directly and ask their permission.”, so my part about explicitly granting the right to make the weave may not technically be correct. It’s just how I and many of the board of directors feel. I don’t want to be quoted as stating the official policy, just my opinion on the matter is all.

Well fuck! Oh copyright, how your tenants shall elude us all!

So anyway.

How could all of this been avoided?

I don’t know. I really don’t.

Looking back at the entire incident and putting myself in Sara’s shoes, I really don’t know how I would go about informing someone they are infringing on my copyright. Whether I came up with it independently or not, she was doing her duty, and when you have to do that kind of duty you instantly put that person you are dutying in Super! Uber! DEFEND! mode, at least I certainly was put in that mode.

And honestly, I have not designed anything nearly as extraordinary as Sara has. Have you looked through all those flickr links I posted? Amazing. My modest little pendant is nothing special compared to her talent and I’m sure a ton of people would/will/have/whatever come up with that thing on their own. I wish her the best and hope she will continue her generosity with the mailling community.

I hope that someday I will be as innovative and as STUNNING of a designer as her so I will have to issue my own copyright infringements.

EEP, I hope not!

-amy

I find myself in the very interesting position of being accused of copyright infringement.

Specifically, these pieces:

I sell these finished jewelry pieces, and I also sell supply kits, complete with the necessary jump rings, findings, and a page of tips for construction. I was asked repeatedly by other chainmaillers for a kit until I finally did (seriously, if it weren’t for Jessica in Ontario, there would be no kits!!) I also freely give the ring sizes I used to others when they ask – no kit purchase required. I do not however, sell a tutorial, instead, I point to the Maille Artisans site, as I firmly believe that there are plenty of free chainmaille resources on the internet and why re-invent the wheel? (Also – I suck at tutorials.)

The accuser claimed that it is an infringement of her pendant on Etsy (I am not going to put her image here, you’ll have to click to see. Please do click through though, because this post will make much more sense if you see what I’m talking about).

INSERTED 9/1/2010 to add~~~~~~

I have been accused of being “one sided” which, I think is a stretch, but here is the conversations from Etsy, preceding our email interactions below.

Etsy time stamp: 26 August 2010 9:42am EDT
I’m sorry to have to contact you about this but this design is copyrighted. I invented the Stepping Stones weave and copyrighted 8 specific designs using it. This pendant and these earrings:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/36361488/shenandoah-earrings-sterling-silver

are one of those designs.
UKCS Registration Services © 323379
Please could you either remove these from your shop and anywhere else they might be or change the design slightly (e.g. if you replaced the bottom ring with one the same size as the top it would not be one of the copyrighted designs).
I would rather not get Etsy’s legal department involved as this would be stress for both of us so please take this as a friendly ask.
Yours sincerely
XXX

Etsy time stamp: 26 August 2010 10:16am EDT
Thanks for contacting me Sara. Could you please send me a copy of the copyright and the other 8 designs? I would like to see for myself please.

Etsy time stamp: 26 August 2010 10:35am EDT
OK I am not required by law to do this but here are photos of the certificate
[snipped]
with their address
[snipped]

and the 8 designs are
[snipped]
although this is copyrighted I allow people to use it

[snipped]
the one in question here and I have been assured by legal counsel that hanging the other way does not change the design enough.

[snipped]
[snipped]
[snipped]
[snipped]
[snipped]
[snipped]

XXXX

THe next 3 messages were the fact that pictures didn’t come through asking for my email, I gave it, and then she said, “On the way”

Thanks, I will look for them. The pendant and earrings are deactivated, and also the kits I sell in my supplies shop. I’m confused as to why the bracelet is OK? I just would like to read what the copyright is so as to better inform myself.

Thanks again!

26 August 2010 10:51am EDT

~~~~~~~ END INSERT.

I was at first aghast, but then grew a bit suspicious. You see, I learned the Stepping Stones weave right on the Maille Artisans site.

For the non-maillers out there, the The Maille Artisans site is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in chainmaille, and is self touted as “an international community of artisans and volunteers dedicated to the advancement of the chainmaille art form. We aim to encourage the sharing and spreading of information, archiving as many techniques and weaves as possible.”

A weave is a pattern of rings linked together in a certain way. The weave can be used alone, or it can be tweaked with different ring sizes or embellished as the weaver sees fit. Chainmaille weaves can be used for jewelry, armor, clothing, accessories – the list is endless. The Maille Artisans site hosts a weave gallery, free tutorials, member galleries of photos, and forums for chainmaillers.

I have seen the Stepping Stones weave used countless times on the site and off with no mention of any copyright or wrong doing, so when I made up my own Stepping Stones pieces, I had no thought of copyright violation. In fact, I prided myself in creating a piece that actually differs significantly in look.

Here is a picture of the Stepping Stones weave as is posted on the maille artisans site:

[Click to see the Weave Photo - removed due to copyright issues]

Here is a picture of my bracelet, based on the same weave. I do credit the weave itself in my product description (“based on the Stepping Stones weave”):

(linked to my blog post from my very first attempt at this weave. Later renditions show small changes from this one, mostly in the fact that the small rings meandering in between the large rings connect in TWO places instead of ONE, as is shown in this photo.)

You can see that the ring sizes I chose makes for a very different look to the bracelet, which I why I choose to name my piece “Shenandoah” – it has the look of a winding river. After I made the bracelet, I completed the earrings and pendant as well.

It is also worth noting, that my accuser had NOT tried to enforce her copyright against my bracelet — ONLY the pendant/earrings. This is NOT because she did not hold a registered copyright on them, but because she chose not to.

Back to the subject at hand, you can understand my suspicion when a weave tutorial is posted on the Maille Artisans site, freely available to all, and then the creator of this weave, all of a sudden begins enforcing her copyright. [9/1/2010 INSERTED] I am not claiming that it is not within her rights to enforce her copyrights, it just seemed fishy to me and it roused my suspicions enough to investigate rather than rolling over.[/END INSERT]

I asked the accuser to see the copyrights, and while I was waiting, temporarily took my Etsy listings down. She acquiesced, and sent them to me. She sent me the copy of the certificate along with photographs of 8 designs, including the Stepping Stone weave in general. Again, as I mentioned before, she stated that she is not enforcing the copyright for the generic Stepping Stones weave.

The UK copyright certificate was dated August 12, 2010, which she explained this way:

… The registration date is 12th August this year but intellectual property copyright is legal from the first recorded instance of the design which can be found on my Flickr account.

The [pendant] in question [is] here and I have been assured by legal counsel that hanging the other way does not change the design enough.

She included photos of the 8 registered designs, which did include the general Stepping Stones weave. (If one is curious as to which designs she has registered, they can look in her flickr stream as she has indicated the copyright on all the photos in question, as of this blog posting.)

The registration date was an instant red flag. The registration had just been done in the past 30 days. The weave has existed on the Maille Artisans site for over two years. What is up with this? She has registered her copyright on a weave that has been circulating on the internet for over two years, and then turns around and tries to enforce it?

Now, now Amy, hold on — while she registered the general Stepping Stones weave itself, she stated in her email that she is NOT enforcing that particular copyright, which she must know is impossible. Not only could it not be enforced without an army after all this time — it’s been made hundreds of times (maybe thousands?) by maillers internationally — but the question of whether the copyright would actually hold is in question. The Stepping Stones weave is based on the Japanese 12-in-2 weave, and has close ties to Hodo as well, what if someone had used different ring sizes as I had — is it really even copyrightable? She chose to sidestep all these questions quite neatly by stating she is not enforcing the copyright on the weave.

Well, very good then.

So what about the design in question? The other designs she included in her email were very specific, they were stunning, in fact, designs using the Stepping Stones weave. Some pieces had a very specific look and use gemstone drops. Surely these are copyrightable? I would venture to say (though I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV) yes, absolutely!

But what if someone else had never seen one of those designs?

What if someone used different sized jump rings?

What if her design is for 14 gauge rings, and someone else’s is 16 gauge?

What if, say, someone else’s pendant used 11 doubled jump rings around the outside instead of 10, as hers does?

What if someone else worked for hours piecing together, taking apart, and then reconstructing, trying one size, and then another, finally deciding on using TWO different sized connecting smaller jump rings — one size connecting to the inner big ring, and then another ring only .25mm smaller than the first to connect the outer jump rings, so that no rings bunched together from the rings being too loose, and so the pendant, when finished would be super stiff and not at all floppy? (Sorry for all the non-maillers that I just totally lost!)

What if that someone (OH, OK, I ADMIT IT, IT’S ME!) shed blood and tears over getting those pesky outer rings THROUGH those super tight connecting rings, causing frustration and profanity and I am not too proud to admit, the hurling across the room of said pendant/earrings?

OK, I’m not sure how much a courtroom judge would care about the throwing across the room part, but my point is — I worked hard at my pendant/earrings, I determined my own sizes, I used my own construction method, and this part is key —

I HAD NEVER SEEN HER PENDANT BEFORE, EVER.

I don’t claim to be a copyright lawyer and so make no claims as to whether these are legitimate legal grounds in a copyright case, but the fact that I independently came up with my earrings and pendant, having never seen HER pendant before seemed pretty compelling to me.

I had initially removed my listings when I received her copyright claims, and so the first order of business seemed to be to investigate further into the dates of each of our pendant/earring designs. Going by what she told me — that the copyright is from the “first recorded instance of the design which can be found on my Flickr account” — I went there to go looking.

Mine weren’t easy. I hadn’t posted my first instance of my earrings/pendant in my jewelry set, but I had uploaded a few crappy iphone photos straight to my photostream. A little careful looking in the archives by date and I had found my first earrings:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazymokes/3877310209/in/dateposted/

These are dated September 1, 2009 (taken and posted to flickr on the same day). I can also corroborate these photos with posts made during the same time frame to another chainmaille group.

Then I took a careful look at the pendant in her flickr account. The obvious photo that I saw was dated December 8 2009 (taken December 8 2009, posted to flickr December 9, 2009):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/redcrow/4170865099/sizes/s/in/set-72157611096575542/

This is several months after my own photographic evidence. Still, I had to go hunting in my own archives to find my picture, so I gave her the same benefit of the doubt, looking through each month carefully to see if any sign of this pendant had been missed.

I found nothing.

Many of her other designs were created in 2008, but this one, even with careful picking through the archives of her photostream, did not appear until December 2009.

After all my poking around, I grew more and more convinced that my pendant/earrings actually predated hers, and so I emailed her to that effect:

Thank you for forwarding [the copyright information] to me, I appreciate it, especially as I could not find the designs by the number you referenced in the UK design search.

I believe my pendant/earrings design preceded yours, as mine is dated October 2009, and yours dates December 2009.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazymokes/3877310209/in/dateposted/

Did you create this piece previous to December 2009? I see others dated in 2008, but not this specific piece.

Her response to this was a generic link to the Stepping Stone weave:

yes all the pieces were originally made in the same year as the Stepping Stones weave was submitted to MAIL. http://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/weavedisplay.php?key=803
Dated February 2009

She had not pointed to any proof that her pendant came before mine. Regardless, I really wasn’t sure what to do at this point. I thought about posting my dilemma to the Maille Artisans site, but I am not an active poster on the Maille Artisans site and was afraid of being lampooned as a relative upstart compared to the maillers who have been there for many years (my accuser included).

I thought maybe I could let it go.

I tried to let it go all weekend, but it festered and would not stop. She hadn’t answered my question. My pendant had been created first. Hadn’t it? Wouldn’t my copyright predate hers?

Finally, I decided I couldn’t let it go. Even if she had created her pendant before mine, I had created my earrings/pendant independently, with no reference to hers (which is easy to prove, since I couldn’t find any record of her pendant before December 2009).

I went looking on the Maille Artisans site also, where she has shown a history of posting her designs in the forum.

I think she may have initially posted this pendant in this thread:

http://www.mailleartisans.org/board/viewtopic.php?t=14641

But then afterward deleted the photo and her comments due to others wondering about the legality of using “Twilight inspired” in connection with her jewelry. This thread date matches the date of the pendant appearing in her flickr stream, as early December 2009.

This strengthened my resolve, and I emailed her one last time:

XXXX, I don’t see any photos of that specific piece made before December 2009. I’ve looked through your flickr stream carefully and the Maille site. If I am missing it, please point it out directly to me. If not, then my pendant predates it and you are violating my copyright.

I will be reposting my listings on Etsy.

I immediately reposted my listings on Etsy — both for my finished jewelry, and also for my supply kits — Again, please note, that I do not profit from selling tutorials of chainmaille weaves that are largely available for FREE all over the internet. I feel quite strongly about this. I instead point customers to these resources, rather than charging for my own tutorial. (I would love to take credit for this noble act to forward the art of chainmaille — (which I do faithfully believe), but the fact is I’m just too lazy to even make a free tutorial. There are gorgeously done tutorials out there if one would care to google cough cgmaille.com ahem.)

After my email was sent, she responded in kind:

Just because I don’t have a photo on Flickr of that date does not mean that it wasn’t made before yours. If you relist on Etsy I will be forced to issue a take down notice and inform my legal council.

I did not respond.

She soon emailed me a cease and desist form letter, giving me 30 days to act, or face dire consequences. I did note that she quoted U.S. law, whereas before, she was acting on a UK copyright registration.

[INSERTED 9/1/2010:

Here is the exact email she sent me:

It has come to my attention that you have made an unauthorized use of my copyrighted work entitled Stepping Stones pendant (the “Work”) in the preparation of a work derived therefrom. I have reserved all rights in the Work, first published in December of 2008, and have registered copyright therein. Your work entitled “Shenandoah pendant” is essentially identical to the Work and you have, by your own admission, used the Work as its basis.

As you neither asked for nor received permission to use the Work as the basis for “Shenandoah pendant” nor to make or distribute copies, of same, I believe you have willfully infringed my rights under 17 U.S.C. Section 101 et seq. and could be liable for statutory damages as high as $150,000 as set forth in Section 504(c)(2) therein. Violation of copyright law is also considered a federal crime when done willfully with an intent to profit as set forth in 17 U.S.C. Section 506(a)(1)(A) and 17 U.S.C. Section 506(c) therein. Criminal penalties include up to 10 years imprisonment and fines of up to $2,500 under 18 U.S.C. 2319.

I demand that you immediately cease the use and distribution of all infringing works derived from the Work, and all copies of same, that you deliver to me, all unused, undistributed copies of same, or destroy such copies immediately and that you desist from this or any other infringement of my rights in the future. If I have not received an affirmative response from you by September 20th, 2010 indicating that you have fully complied with these requirements, I shall take further action against you.
XXXX

I did not respond.

She followed up with this final email:

Just to prove my point I have uploaded the originally made pendant to my Flickr as you know the date of when the photo was taken cannot be changed (it’s a rubbish photo which is why I didn’t use it before), it is dated Feb 2009, predating yours and this is when the copyright came into being. The date of the registration of the copyright has no bearing on this.

I was instructed by my legal council to send the last email but I do not expect you to abide by all the demands set out in it. However if you are going to continue to post/sell the design and sell kits credit should be given to me for the original design. If you fail to do this I will take further action.

Here is the uploaded photo that she is referring to.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/redcrow/4944800152/in/photostream/

I do not accept this as any sort of proof, as EXIF data is easily changed through a myriad of downloadable freeware. Regardless, seeing as how she had to upload it to prove herself, it wasn’t on the internet anywhere September 2009, when I created my pendant.

The entire episode is interesting, especially in light of the 5 pointed maille flowers copyright fiasco — which I will not comment on.. Oh, how I wish to comment on, but I will refrain.

As for me — I won’t be responding to my accuser via email any further. Aside from this blog post (which I admit is a response of some kind) if she would like to prove her claims of infringement, she is welcome to do so in court.

-Amy

#2? What happened to #1?

Well, I didn’t post for #1. But better late then never, right?

Tonight was class #2 of my silversmithing class at the Art League in Alexandria. We did cuttlefish bone castings, which I have to admit, I wasn’t actually too excited about initially, but now I am SO in love with my piece, I got very excited!

Cuttlefish bones are made up of pretty much just calcium. They are very soft, which makes it easy to carve into it, or press shapes into it. You may have actually seen one – they are good for birds, and are often wired to the side of bird cages for the bird to snack on. We decided on the shape we wanted to cast and then carved/impressed the shape into the soft cuttlefish bone, then fitted another bone over it and cut out a little funnel at the topfor the melted metal to flow into the casting.

Cuttlefish bone also has a natural striation in the material that makes really interesting patterns and textures in the casting.

I decided to make a disc shaped pendant with the spokes of a lego gear emerging out of the disc at an angle. I figured with the wavy striations, it would look like a gear or a snowflake sticking up out of the sand.

You can see the striations quite a bit on the back.

It turned out very well! I wish I had thought to snap a few photos of my carving that I cast the piece from, but I didn’t. After I made my mold, I heated scrap silver in a crucible until it was molten, adding a bit of flux (boric acid I think) to help remove any slag (grossness. and yes, that’s a technical term). Then carefully, but quickly, I poured the molten silver into the void i had carefully carved out.

During the carving, the workshop smelt faintly fishy the whole time, but after pouring hot molten meltal into the bone, there was nothing faint about it. It smelled very badly of nasty burnt fish, blech!

A few students had some bad luck with their molds. Not enough material between the mold and the edge of the bone, and the molten metal would find a way to escape the mold and all was ruined. Once used, the bones could not be used again, as they were burnt to a stinky crisp. I was very happy that my casting turned out wonderfully, much better than I expected.

After retrieving my cooled metal from the quench pot and chucking the stinky remains of the burnt mold, I consulted Nick, our teacher on ways to finish this sucker off. On Nick’s suggestions, I filed the angled gear shape down smooth. This week I will need to decide whether to keep the edges as they are, or perhaps cut away around the edge of the protruding gear and into each little coggy protruberance. I’m not sure which I’ll do.

This photo is it’s current state, after a bit of filing.

Good thing I have a week to think it over!

-Amy

Ahh, hello blog!

It’s been busy around Casa de Panders. Monday was Columbus day, and I had it off… but no one else did. It was quite nice to lounge around the house doing nothing all day! I debated on what I would do, but with my car at the shop (it needed a new radiator, sniff) I was stuck at home and ended up cutting rings and chain mailling all day.

Here’s what I made:

Celtic Visions in copper

Jens Pind in 14 gauge (ie: HUGE) sterling silver

And here’s another Jens Pind, in 18 gauge sterling that I made last week. It’s listed in the shop now.

So, it was a pleasant enough day – unfortunately, I think I overdid it and the joints in my right forefinger and thumb are kind of aching – this is really kind of pissing me off, as I just bought new pliers that I really quite liked. I hope it wasn’t the pliers that did it.

Oh, and here’s one more picture: Any guesses as to who Jocelyn is going to be for Halloween? Someone from one of my FAVORITEST movies!

-amy

It’s funny how one learns things. Sometimes, all it takes to pick up a lot of things is just immersion into the subject. But if one can’t immerse oneself, it’s hard.

I’m just thinking over how my course of jewelry making has taken in the last year. I decided about this time last year, that I was going to make jewelry for the females in my family for Christmas. I hadn’t done any jewelry making since high school, when I would do some stringing on fishing line, and then take a lighter and melt the knot so it wouldn’t SPROING apart. In case you don’t know, this is a pretty juvenile approach to bead stringing, however, it served pretty well, and I had several necklaces for many years before they broke.

So when I first started, I bought a bead stringing book, and some beads during a trip to Michaels. The book was a great start with the introduction of some basic stringing tools – the proper kind of material to string it with, crimping pliers, crimp beads, clasps, design elements. I knew that I couldn’t keep going to Michaels – I was still uneducated, but I knew it was over priced, and cheap. The first site I stumbled on was jewelrysupply.com and while it is a decent site, it’s not one of the better jewelry supply sites that I now know are out there.

So I strung a little and read my book and looked through the site looking through the various tools they had wondering what in the world one would do what THAT. I started scouring etsy for inspiration and also, some direction. Stringing wasn’t really for me, honestly. It was too easy and too hard, all at the same time. Too easy in that all you have to do is slip a bead onto a strand over and over until you have your piece. It’s too hard in that you have to decide WHAT to string and WHERE and in what order and how long and multistrand? and does this stone look good with that one and… It’s harder than it looks.

But I did make jewelry for all the females on my list, and I think back on them and still think they looked pretty good. In the meantime, I had taken a wire working class and learned how to wrap a bead, make some figure 8 connectors, twist wire in new and fun ways. The class was actually kind of an accident, in that if I knew what it was about, I think I would have passed, but in fact, it was exactly what I needed. I took in the language, the terminology of the wire work and yearned for more. I discarded what I didn’t like about the class and honed the skills it taught me.

I found a few of the jewelry supply monoliths out there and again pored over their catalogs and built wishlists. I went to local beadstores and bought way too many beads. (And never too many!) I joined a yahoo group for wire wrapping and continued to track and absorb. I looked through galleries, I knew what I liked, I knew what I didn’t like.

Somewhere in there, I found a few chainmaille sites. This is where I think I may have gone a little haywire. I think chainmaille is fantastic for many reasons – in the right material and sizes, it almost never fails to impress. It’s so intricate and meticulous and yet one can do it while they sit on the couch watching TV. (What’s not to love?) One can adorn it with beading or leave it plain and it still looks jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

I was a smitten kitten. I bought my first (last? I know james hopes so!) jump ring cutter and my love affair with sterling silver was fully underway.

I scoured forums, chainmaille weave tutorials, added super sale dates to my calendar so I could be sure to buy my expensive sterling silver wire at the best price, cursed my jumpringer, smooched my jumpringer, wove and wove some more. I branched back out from time to time, to make some wire wrapped beaded items that I was proud to see had a unique design to it, something I could proudly point to and say, “I designed that.”

Another class, this one on soldering, light up a big compact flourescent bulb over my head. I was on the search again, this time, poring over torches, solder, flux, pickle, and let’s not forget disc cutters, doming blocks, rolling mills, flexshafts. More groups to join, more forms to explore, more words, this time on smithing, to hang on to every one.

There is a great jewelry artist community out there that has given a lot to me (whether they knew it or not) just from my careful observation. Just from my reading every word I could find on the subject. Almost just through my proximity, my hovering around to hear every morsel, every drop. almost, one could say, through osmosis.

Still, I guess there comes a time where even learning through osmosis needs actual instruction. And so I’m very excited and absolutely giddy that I am taking a class in the fall term of the Art League, on silversmithing. Nine glorious weeks of bench time with someone to watch and hang on every word. Though this time, not in virtual space, but in real space.

I start mid September. Very excited.

-amy

Last night after we got home from a lovely birthday BBQ at our friend Liz’ house, which is always so fun, I decided to finally make another square linked bracelet, like the one I’d made in my soldering class. Here it is:

I’d been watching out for anything long and square that I could use as a mandrel (mandrel = something on which to shape / wrap wire or sheet metal) and finally decided to just wing it with my pliers.

I also realized I still had some links from my class that I hadn’t used, and a ton of already soldered jump rings, so the whole thing came together really fast.

Here is the new bracelet next to the old one (sans chainmaille).

After I snapped this, I put it in the pickle pot. The “pickle” is a highly acidic solution that removes oxidation (coloration) from precious metal. It’s usually heated to work faster My pickle pot is a little 1.5 qt crockpot.

Here it is after it came out of the pickle. It’s funny how it comes out completely white and matte, very unlike how you think of silver.

Then it was way way past bedtime. Next I need to finish it, which means sanding it down with finer & finer grit sand paper, a little polishing, and finally, a tumble with some stainless steel shot in my tumbler.

After that, I am not sure whether or not to put the same bits of chainmaille links in each square as the original, or some other element. We’ll see.

-amy

I never did follow up and post how my soldering class went. It went awesome!

Here is a photo I took with my phone halfway through the class. The bracelet is only half done, I just draped it over my wrist.

Here are is a picture I took after I got home. I plopped everything I came home with (finished and unfinished alike) into my light box and took some shots with the Canon 30D.

You can see 2 square links that have not been soldered, one that was soldered, but I didn’t need, a few little bitty clasps I made, and some balled headpins — which I strung a pretty lucite bead on to show how I plan on using them. And then of course, the bracelet I finished in class.

As you can see, when you put the torch to silver, it oxidizes the metal. The oxidation is the black and goldish colors you see in the torched pieces. In order to remove the oxidation, when you’re finished, you place it in the “pickle” a solution that removes a very fine layer of metal, including the oxidation. The finished bracelet went into the pickle at the end of class, thus it’s nice and shiny. It had not yet been tumbled, so the silver is still a kind of matte finish rather than a shiny finish. I have a tumbler at home, so I didn’t worry about tumbling it in class.

And here is my finished bracelet.

When I got home, I added (unsoldered) chainmaille pieces inside each of the square (soldered) links. I absolutely adore it – The organic asymmetrical-ness of the squares makes it looks kind of retro to me. Very mod. I am going to make another one with a little less hammering of the squares…. once I can find a square mandrel to use!! I’ve just been keeping my eyes peeled for anything but I may have to ramp up efforts, head to a hardware store and actually actively look for something.

My pyromaniac sale is over, and I sold 2 items, which in my book, is a SUCCESS! I received my torch and soldering supplies, and let me tell you – it is FUN! I’m hoping to finish some earrings this weekend to list.

Also, I may be teaching a chainmaille class August 1st! I am kind of excited! If you are in the northern VA area and are interested, let me know and I’ll keep you up to date! It will be a byzantine class, and participants will be able to finish this bracelet in class:

-amy

Me: Can i see your new birthday spy tool?
Ethan: Sure.
Me: Oh cool, a compass.
Ethan: I know.
Me: Whats this? Oh, a whistle!
Ethan: Yeah i know.
Me: and tweezers.
Ethan: yeah.
Me: …that come off!
Ethan: I have ALREADY established that.

Let me just repeat that last one.

“Already established that.”

!!!

James and I just looked at each other and repeated it about a zillion times the rest of the day.

Seven going on thirteen!

(Here is the afore-mentioned spy tool:)

So birthday-ness was celebrated. This year we did not do any fancy parties. I took cupcakes in to Ethan’s class at school, and he got to choose where to go out to dinner. He choose Chuck E. Cheese, where as soon as he found a fake ID machine, all tokens were unceremoniously fed into said machine. And then, he got Jocelyn and she did the same thing.

Basically, child poses in front of camera, machine takes child’s picture, machine prints picture on 1 of 4 different ID badges. Boy badges were skateboarder, firefighter, policeman, and some other one. Girl badges were rockstar diva, princess, and 2 other ones. (Oh boy what a good memory Mommy has!)

I am not kidding — Ethan posed for about 20 cards. And every single picture of him on the cards is almost the same, except perhaps that he tried his darnedest to look MORE and MORE menacing in each one.

Jocelyn, on the other hand, tried to look more and more cute and adorable in every shot:

Um, yeah, LET’S LOOK AT THAT ONE AGAIN:

I fear the teenage years ahead of us.

Along with the spy multitool, he also received a spy safe (complete with access code and voice saying “ACCESS DENIED” if you get it wrong), a spy scope (can look around corners), a skateboard, legos, and SPORE for the DS. Can you tell that we have a little secret agent spy man on our hands? In his free time? He likes to construct… not a FORT, like we did in MY DAY.. but a secret hideout.

It was a nice birthday.

Mother’s day was very nice too! Jocelyn brought me the toast that Daddy made. Ethan poured the OJ and brought it up himself, and then cleaned my room and made his bed. Ethan’s card had handmade paper flowers, and after seeing them, Jocelyn promptly went and made some of her own. Too sweet! I took Jocelyn to her ballet class, and then we went to Sweetwater Tavern for a Mother’s Day lunch. Very nice. I told James to please, PLEASE not buy me anything, because I have ordered enough in the sterling silver wire and lucite bead department to last several Mother’s days! I got my lucite beads in time for Mother’s Day, and so worked up a few pairs of earrings.

Here’s one pair:

I looooove them — but I’ve actually had a second vision and will be making some adjustments… will work on them this week!

-amy twiddles her fingers waiting for the sterling silver WIRE to arrive!

Oh my god people! I have UPDATED MY BANNER!

You do realize, that this now means that black = white, and white = black.

So.

You know, …

Sorry about that.

BUT WHAT DOES IT MEEEEAAAANN??? (the banner, I mean. What does the banner mean. Was I being cryptic? Sorry.)

It means that since christmas is over and I no longer have an occassion to give my jewelry away from, and also because I keep placing $80-$100 orders at various bead stores both in the real world and in cyberspace, and since I can no longer actually have any chance of WEARING all the pieces I am making¹, and I have opened an etsy shop!

So, you know, please go check it out! And by all means, buy something! Because I have a bead order I want to put in already! Clicky clicky!

OK, so actually, there’s not much there yet. I’m having product photography issues. It’s hard, man, like, really hard! But I’m working on it, and hopefully will have some more stuff in the etsy shop soon.

Oh, and in the banner? On the left – the necklace I made my sister, which I really kind of wanted to keep, so it sucks she actually loves it, and on the right, the necklace I made for my mom, which she told me with glee she wore on her birthday² on Monday. So! Success! I’ll show you the others soon.

So in the meantime! Go here! And feel free to buy something! Mommy needs a new set of hammers and anvils.³

-Amy

Just one of the things I’ve been working on..