Our Featured Product coming up for April is Swarovski® Faceted Round Crystal Beads in 6mm or 8mm, available on our findings page.  Integrating crystal beads into chainmaille is a trend that has been developing over the last several years; we love the combination of shiny rings and bling-y beads.

There are a variety of ways to include crystal beads in your work.  For this post, we pulled together lots of inspirational images of projects created by a wide variety of chainmaille artists (more information for each can be found by clicking the image and many can be found on our magazine projects page.)  You’ll notice that more often than not, the beads are added using looped wire.  We recommend using Wubbers Round Nose Pliers to aid in this task.

We hope these projects will inspire you to experiment with adding crystals into your own work – who knows, it could just earn you a $25 Blue Buddha gift certificate!  (Stay tuned to our blog for details.)  For even more inspiration, check out our past blog post matching the crystals to our niobium colors.  You may also find our post about caring for jewelry with fragile components helpful.

"Beaded Zig Zag Byzantine" by Rebeca Mojica

"Timeless Teardrops" by Karen Karon

"Niobium Crystals" by Rebeca Mojica

"Captive Pearls" by Lauren Anderson

"Lancelot Necklace" variation by Rebeca Mojica

"Rings of Saturn" by Lauren Anderson

"Chain of Command" by Arja Aalto-Viittala

"Floating Bead Pendant" by Rebeca Mojica

"Floating Bead Necklace" variation by Rebeca Mojica

"Beaded Romanov" by Scott David Plumlee

"Byzantine Crosses with Turquoise" by Lori Weidhuner

"Crystal Quad Cuff" by Lauren Anderson

"Cool Summer Breezes" by Lauren Anderson

"Spine of the Centipede" by Lauren Andersen

"2 by 2 Chainmaille Bracelet" by Gladys Botz

"Crystal Constellations" by Miachelle DePiano

Stay tuned to our blog to find out how you can participate in our “Featured Product of the Month Contest” and create some inspiration of your own!

chainmaille projects · jewelry project ideas · swarovski crystals

Our Chainmaille Weave Ideas posts are a great reason to bookmark our blog right now.  We recently added posts for all the sizes we carry in anodized aluminum, enameled copper, and niobium jump rings and will continue to add to these posts and create new ones to cover even more sizes.

By using our blog’s search bar, you can use these posts like your own little weave library.  Here are a few suggestions for how to find just what you’re looking for.

Search by Weave

Need ring size suggestions for a common chainmaille weave?  Type the name of the weave into the search bar and voila – you’ll be presented with the weave ideas posts that include that weave.  Let’s say you want to make a dragonscale bracelet.  Typing “dragonscale” into the search bar results in several posts that include images, ring counts, and links to instructions for this weave in a variety of sizes.

Search by Ring Size

Have a certain ring size hanging around that you’re not sure what to do with?  Typing the ring size into our search bar will pull up the weave ideas posts for that size filled with suggested uses.  You can type in the size using our ring names (letter and number such as F20) or type in the wire gauge and inner diameter in either inches or mm (i.e. 20ga 5/32″ or 20ga 4.0 mm).

Search by Aspect Ratio

Finally, you can search these posts by aspect ratio by typing in “aspect ratio” followed by the number (i.e. aspect ratio 4.7).  This means that even if we don’t have a post for the exact ring size you’re looking for, we might still have weave ideas that will work for your rings.  Learn more about aspect ratio and how chainmaillers use AR by visiting our FAQ.

Looking for weave ideas for a certain size that we haven’t covered yet?  Request a post by sending us an email at community@bluebuddhaboutique.com and letting us know the ring size or weave you are looking for.  If we get lots of requests for a certain size or weave, we’ll know to make it a priority!

chain maille weaves · chainmaille weave library · resources

Wondering what chainmaille project to tackle with those size E16 – 16g 9/64″ (3.6 mm) rings? Check out the post below for weave ideas as well as where to get instructions for each one.

Weave Ideas: Precious Metal E16

Wire Gauge = 16ga AWG (0.051″ / 1.291 mm )
Inner Diameter = 9/64″ (3.6 mm)

Hint: Use our Ring Picker tool to quickly see every metal and color we have available and in stock for this size!

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These samples use our niobium jump rings.

Aspect Ratio = 3.1

“rpi” = rings per inch.
Use this number to help you figure out how many rings you’ll need for your project. Simply multiply it by the desired length (in inches) for your final piece.

European 4-1

42 rpi

Mesh & Rosettes PDF + Hardcopy Instructions

DVD Vol 1
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Jens Pind

14 rpi

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chain maille projects · chainmaille weaves · E16 jump rings

Wondering what chainmaille project to tackle with those size T16 – 16g 3/8″ (9.5 mm) rings? Check out the post below for weave ideas as well as where to get instructions for each one.

Weave Ideas: Base Metal T16

Wire Gauge = 16ga SWG (0.62″ / 1.6 mm)
Inner Diameter = 3/8″ (9.5 mm)

Hint: Use our Ring Picker tool to quickly see every metal and color we have available and in stock for this size!

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These samples use our base metal jump rings (aluminum, copper, jewelry brass and anodized aluminum.)

Aspect Ratio approximately 6.5

“rpi” = rings per inch.
Use this number to help you figure out how many rings you’ll need for your project. Simply multiply it by the desired length (in inches) for your final piece.

European 8-1

17 rpi

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Full Persian

12 rpi

Full Persian 6-1 (Foxtail) PDF

(currently in sale section)
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Möbiused Rosettes

16 rpi

Möbiused Rosettes PDF + Hardcopy Instructions

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chain maille projects · chainmaille weaves · T16 jump rings

Wondering what chainmaille project to tackle with those size I14 – 14g 13/64″ (5.2 mm) rings? Check out the post below for weave ideas as well as where to get instructions for each one.

Weave Ideas: Precious Metal I14

Wire Gauge = 14ga AWG (0.064″ / 1.63 mm )
Inner Diameter = 13/64″ (5.2 mm)

Hint: Use our Ring Picker tool to quickly see every metal and color we have available and in stock for this size!

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These samples use our niobium jump rings.

Aspect Ratio = 3.3

“rpi” = rings per inch.
Use this number to help you figure out how many rings you’ll need for your project. Simply multiply it by the desired length (in inches) for your final piece.

2-Connector Byzantine (I14 + J14 SILV)

I14 – 6 rpi

J14 – 12 rpi

Box/Byzantine PDF
(currently in sale section)
CHAINED book
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Celtic Visions (I14 + S14 SILV)

I14 – 10 rpi

S14 – 6 rpi

Celtic Visions PDF + Hardcopy Instructions
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chain maille projects · chainmaille weaves · I14 jump rings