Bits of Things

[bloodyrosemccoy]

There are some bottles of experimental Earl Grey cream soda settling up in the fridge. I'll let y'all know how it tastes. If it goes well, I may try some Pride of the Port soda next.

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Have been taking up jewelry-making again. Taking chainmaille a bit more seriously this time around. It's always difficult to get started with something, but this place has a few great starter kits. Plus, it's got colorful jump rings, and I am a sucker for colors. So far I'm trying a simple Box Chain rainbow necklace. I'm idiotically proud of how closely I'm managing to get the jump rings closed.

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In the meantime, I've come across some pretty nifty-looking images of handmade LED Zelda-style Fairy-Inna-Bottle necklaces, but none of them are for sale. So I went with the next logical course of action and decided to make it myself.

Problem is, my knowlege of electricity is roughly that of a fifth-grader working through Fifty Fun Science Projects You Can Do At Home: something something battery something zinc copper something something circuit something LIGHT! And, y'know, for some reason I've picked up the impression that a potato is involved somehow. So I called my brother, what with him being an electrical engineer and all,* and he offered me some tips. The rest has been trial, error, and a lot of Googling. Oh, and gathering components. Once I get that done, the rest should be easy.

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Mom got herself some roller skates, too. Now we just have to find a place to skate--outdoors, possibly, as spring gets moving.

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I have mastered the art of Fish'n'Chips. I'd make myself a medal, but I'm already making a few other necklaces, and that would just be redundant.


*On the one hand, this a running joke along the lines of asking a linguist how many languages they speak. "Can you program my TV? I mean, you ARE an electrician!" No, he's an electrical engineer. On the other hand, though, I figured he probably knew a LITTLE more about practical circuitry than me and my potato.

Comments

[beccastareyes]

Well, I think the second lab class they made all the physics and engineering students take covered 'how to make a light go on in a circuit'. And we had 'how to use a soldiering iron' and 'diodes: how not to screw them up' in there too (though that might have been other lab classes).

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I vaguely remember simple circuits from a (totally awesome) summer school class somewhere in like third grade. That's about as far as I ever got with that--I am completely lost as to what a diode might entail.

I learned how to solder in a jewelry class. I thought it was kind of fun, but this time around I'm trying to avoid bothering with it because I got some conductive wire glue. We'll have to see how that works out.

[beccastareyes]

I can't say I wouldn't mind not having to solder.

Wow, that's a terribly linguistically complicated sentence, and I think I used too many negatives.

[spiffikins]

Hee! I totally get the linguistics joke! My friend G. in university was studying linguistics, and had to CONSTANTLY explain to everyone she met that no, she doesn't speak a bunch of different languages.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

It's the one question everyone asks, and it makes a linguistics student's soul die a little every time.

[deathling.livejournal.com]

I am excited to see the results of the necklace. I've been trying to figure out how to get LED lights into things myself. Imagine the possibilities at Halloween!

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

It's coming along! I think!

Just as long as you don't wear "cool blue" LED lights. I mean, you can if you want, but I will summarily refuse to look at you the whole time they're on. They hurt my eyes.

I've found a couple of resources that might help. Lights for All Occasions has some battery-operated string lights that they specifically suggest could be used for costumes. (The fairy in my necklace is one of these; I just snipped the last one in the string off with wire cutters and sanded off the enamel on the wire itself.) And Adafruit has a whole section of "wearables," including conductive thread and LED sequins, along with some DIY instruction videos. I'd like to see what you come up with!

[deathling.livejournal.com]

What I'm hung up on is how you get the light to work in a delicate piece of jewelry without a big old battery pack dangling from your neck.

[deathling.livejournal.com]

I had tried putting lights in a furry hat as a gift for a friend, but the battery pack was too cumbersome. I also really love EL wire, but that has battery packs too.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

The pack on the string I got was fairly small--it's for two button-cells--but yeah, it's not negligible. I'm trying to get it to dangle from the clasp--the cord I'm putting the pendant on is pretty thick and stiff, so I can hide the wires underneath it. I've ordered a couple of different, hopefully smaller, single-button battery holders to try. Adafruit has one that can be sewn into clothing. I'll see how it works and let you know--but then, it also depends on your costume and how easy it would be to hide something on it.

[pixel39.livejournal.com]

The people I know who do fancy mail work go to this guy: http://theringlord.com/cart/ for supplies.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I'll check them out! Their site design could use some work.