Link It!: Colorful Chain Mail Jewelry With Rubber O-rings

by Susan C. Thomas

Jewelry enthusiasts, metal workers, beaders, and general crafters have fallen in love with the elegant lines of chain mail. And with this attractive resource, they have a wonderful and easy new way to mimic its look and make unique, eye-catching necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. All it takes are flexible, colorful neoprene O-rings, woven together into basic units, then joined together with metal jump rings. The 26 projects are bright and imagine playful blue and yellow earrings dangling from French wire, an intricate bracelet in lavender and white with a charming floral focus bead, or a bold copper wrist cuff. Of course, each project features superb close-up how-to photography illustrating the various stages of construction from start to finish.

Genres: Jewellery, Reference, Crafts

104 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 2008

Reviews

[Katrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

just not my style with the colored rubber o-rings

[Punk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Crafts. Twenty-eight projects -- necklaces, bracelets, and earrings -- made from the repetition of three basic units. Pairing metal jump rings and neoprene o-rings is novel, but the resulting pieces look too childish for my taste. They remind me of lanyards, plasticy and unsophisticated. The bright colors that Thomas uses only enhances that impression.

On the other hand, the wide cuff on page 66 really appeals to me. It looks modern and adult and suggests that with the right colors and balance of rubber to metal, there might be something to this technique.

Two stars. An interesting idea, but I only really liked two or three of the pieces. As far as the book goes, it has lots of pictures and a nice layout, so if this is your kind of thing, you should find the instructions easy to follow.

[Bethann Gasparini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Step by step instructions in making jewelry from rubber rings. Was excited to read but turned out to be something I would recommend for pretense.