Any fun events going on in your area?

I think one of the hardest parts of the chainmail business has been finding places to show/exhibit in person that are chainmail friendly and don't cost a fortune.  There are tons of local venues to set up at with affordable fees, but chainmail doesn't mix well with flea markets and country kitchen crafts.  A large event like DragonCon or a big Renaissance faire would be great and tons of fun, but there's easily several thousand dollars in expenses tied up in those.  I need chainmail friendly geekery venues that don't cost a fortune!

So I ask you, my chainmail fans and fellow lovers of the art, to let me know if there's anything near you (and hopefully me) that could use a dose of chainmail.  Faires, festivals, whatever... if chainmail fits the venue I'll take a look at it.  I prefer things in the East TN/Western NC/SW VA areas as that's closer home, but will look at other areas as well.

Thank you everyone for following Marci's Chain Designs, and I hope to hear about more awesome events from you!

I make chainmail, but I don't make it like they used to.

I had lots of questions from patrons of the show last two weekends about armor and the Middle Ages, and while the process I use is similar to what was done historically my butted mail isn't what they used.  Butted mail is created when you close rings so that the ends are butted against each other. This picture is a good example of a piece of butted chainmail.

If you were wearing armor for defense, you wanted riveted mail.  The ends of these rings overlapped each other, were flattened, and a hole was punched through so each ring could be riveted together.  This made the piece stronger and much less likely for the rings to unintentionally come apart.

This site gives a simple and interesting explanation of different types of armor and how they were created.  It's amazing how labor intensive it was, and still is, just to make a single piece of armor.

Local shows the next two weekends.

I enjoy traveling, but sometimes it's nice to be working closer home.  There's a lot less driving and expense, which leaves me with more time to create.  Fun!

Coming up this weekend is Art in the Park at Memorial Park in downtown Johnson City.  I'll be there on Friday, Apr 10 from 1-7 and Saturday 10-6.  This is free for you to attend and all of the vendors are juried, so there should be a lot of quality work for you to check out.  If you're not familiar with a 'juried' show, that means each vendor had to submit an application with photos and be approved in order to participate.  Juried shows are where you'll find the really cool stuff.

Next weekend is the Old Oak Festival at Tusculum College in Greeneville, TN.  This event is also free to attend, starts on Friday Apr 17 at 1:00 and continues through the weekend until Sunday evening.  Normally I'm in my tent outside at this show, but after the crazy weather of the last few years I've moved indoors.  So come on in, take a break from the weather, and check out the new and awesome stuff I have for you.

If you come visit me at either of these venues and mention this blog post, I'll give you a free gift with any purchase!  Who doesn't love free stuff?