Unkamen Gifts, and Unkamen Supplies from a Very Un-common Family;

Living Outside The Box

The Helmrichs are not like any other family you'll ever meet. Ralph, Karen, and their two children, Leah and Byron, ages 18 and 14 live a nomadic lifestyle and own a family business which produces handcrafted jewelry and supplies, mostly specializing in chainmaille, and tools, kits, and supplies for its enthusiasts.

Although they call both Livingston, Texas and Rolla, Missouri home, they spend much of their time traveling around the USA in their RV hitting the show circuits to sell their wares. Traveling with them are two dogs; Ivey, a Doxie, and Hookah, a Basset, and two cats; Triangle, and a new kitten, Whiskey.

The children have always been homeschooled and it's clear that all this extraordinary life experience throughout their formative years complete with the daily love and attention from both parents has resulted in compassionate, insightful, and mature individuals with wisdom beyond their years!

The family belongs to Schooling At Home Etsyians Team.

They have taken the Handmade Pledge and in keeping with this philosophy make all their gifts for one another. They also belong to the Fulltime Etsy Crafters Team .

These are just a few examples of what can be made with some of their unique components!

Ring Made from Japanese Flower Weave

Earrings Created from Mobius Weave

Bracelet made with Inca Puno Weave

Each member of the family has an important role in making the business successful;

Ring Made in European 4 in 1 Weave



Leah handles much of the packing up of orders, preparing them to be shipped to the many happy customers who place their orders online and she creates some of the jewelry you see in the Unkamen Gifts etsy shop and on the independant website; UnkamenGifts.com. She began making basic jewelry in 2005 when a fellow RVing friend introduced her to the craft. She found that she loved this medium and then made pieces for herself and friends, and soon she began selling it locally. Her school studies keep her busy but she maintains her own Etsy shop filled with interesting and colorful designs, Favmoongirl . Last summer she attended a hiking course at NOLS in Alaska, adding to the lower 48 states the family has traveled in.

Most of the tutorials on various chainmaille weaves the family has posted on Youtube feature her. Subscribe to their Youtube channel for all kinds of cool step by step instructions on using your jumprings and other components to transform them into beautiful jewelry!

Necklace in Jens Pind Weave

Byron , her brother,began collecting and learning to polish various stones with his father Ralph's help a few years ago. He started marketing them as "Gratitude Stones" because he recognized that "the root of true happiness is being grateful for everything that you have". He expanded his line to include magnets, pinback buttons and keychains. He also sews little pouches and hand makes all the paper envelopes to be used for packaging every piece that goes to buyers.

Bracelet in Byzantine Weave (Created from Ralph's special square wire jump rings wound with edges pointing outward)

Earrings in Barrel Weave

Karen who was previously an RN, Registered Yoga Instructor and Certified Personal Trainer now works fulltime handling the back-end of the business. She does the bookkeeping, maintains the company's internet locations, photographs most of the items, and does research and development including testing out all the products offered for sale. She also helps come up with many of the jewelry design ideas you see in the online shops and at shows.

Ralph's passion for jewelry began when he presented a necklace he'd made to Karen about 6 years ago. Seeing her wear and enjoy this necklace got the wheels turning in his mind and he was inspired to learn more advanced jewelry-making techniques, and he became really interested in chainmaille in particular. Being an engineer the precise and mathematical principles of the technique really appealed to him. He is semi-retired from his previous line of work and currently does only occasional consulting and trouble-shooting for aerosol manufacturers to supplement his income from Unkamen Gifts/Supplies.
 
He winds and cuts all the handcrafted jumprings and solders some more elaborate components, and he has some items you can't find elsewhere.
 

Ralph is a two-time cancer survivor having beat prostate cancer about 5 years ago. Last summer doctors found a spot of melanoma on his nose, and he has had 5 surgeries to remove malignant tissue and reconstruct the affected area. He is in the process now of undergoing a 6th surgery and will be taking some time off to recover until March 20th. He's holding off on all making of handmade components until he returns. Commercial components he has in stock and wire will continue to be shipped on schedule as usual, but if you do not have a deadline you have to meet to receive your handmade components you can contact him for a custom quote, get in que, then enter Coupon Code: "SAVENOWSHIPLATER2011" at checkout. He will be available to answer convoes and will ship your custom-ordered items when he returns. He can offer quantity discounts for many of his items of the same kind/size.


Research has shown that the more support somebody with cancer has the better the odds of a good outcome, so send your good thoughts and prayers his way during this difficult time.

Better still, place an order in one or more of his shops. I am a firm believer that "luck" doesn't happen in a vaccuum and really involves decisive action. Well wishes combined with action is a powerful prescription. Not only can you  "wish" good luck you can be good luck for him and his family.

I know from when my mother had cancer that treatment is not only a scary undertaking but expensive, and insurance (especially in this day and age of budget cuts and rising healthcare costs) doesn't cover everything.

I have some beautiful components he made and hope to put in another order when he returns. I can personally vouch for the quality of them. His exacting standards and wonderful customer service make ordering custom components a great experience. He is even creating some findings for me from my own drawing!

To order supplies go to UnkamenSupplies

For finished chainmaille jewelry go to; UnkamenGifts.etsy.com or http://unkamengifts.com/
 
For Jewelry for Teens and Young Adults go to; FavMoonGirl Creations
 
For Keychains and Accessories go to; Unkamen Keychains
 
For Leah's other shop of sterling and gold designs other than chainmaille; Startphyre Designs
 
Find the Helmrich family on Facebook: www.facebook.com/UnkamenGifts
 
And follow their blog here; www.unkamengifts.com/blog/



Just Marbelous !

12.5mm charmeuse bag, lined in silk habotai with a braided silk ball and loop closure. Item measures 4.5" x 6.25" with a 41" strap.

Jodi Hughes of AkHotDoggies (Alaska Hot Doggies), based in Anchorage Alaska, marbles just about everything. Using washable, colorfast textile paint, she covers silk, cotton T-shirts, shoes, purses, resin, and plastic.

When asked how she got into this type of art, Jodi said, "I needed a creative hobby. I had stumbled on Dharma Trading’s website and purchased their Marbling starter kit. I can honestly say my 1st attempts did not turn out well but for some reason I kept experimenting. My friend got me hooked on thrift stores which really kicked up my inspiration. Thrift Stores are just treasure troves of ideas!!"

When dry, the finished product has some texture to it, unlike dye, as the paint sits on top rather than soaking into the fiber.

The process of how this effect is achieved is very interesting. "The marbling process for textiles takes several days," Says Jodi "sometimes more, depending on the results." The artist has outlined the instructions in her IndiePublic page using paper as an example, and it is paraphrased below.


1) First allum is prepared in an 1/8 cup per quart of warm water. Then with a damp sponge it is wiped on the object to be marbled. All areas must be covered to insure proper adherence later of paint. Then let dry completely.

2) Next, prepare the "size" either Carrageenan or Methocal (Jodi uses Methocal). This is the stuff that allows paint to float on top and swirl. 1-1.5 Oz. of this powder is stirred gradually into a gallon of warm water. After stirring for a few minutes, add 1 teaspoon of household ammonia per gallon of water. Keep stirring the mixture until it has thickened. After a few more minutes of mixing, then pour it into a tray and let sit for 15 minutes until all suds are gone. (If the suds take too long to dissolve then rake them with some newspaper).

3) Next float the paint: (Jodi uses Setacolor because it can be used on textiles as well as paper, and it is reasonably-priced.) Apply paint onto your item with a squirtbottle or eye dropper. Paint should spread when applied about 2-3 inches. If it doesn't then it is too thick and needs to be thinned. If it spreads more than that, it needs to be thickened. Use various items to swirl the paint around to get the pattern you want. Metal impliments work best because paint won't stick as much to them as it does to plastic and wood.

4) Place object upside down into the size. Make sure the whole area you have painted comes in contact with the size and that there are no air bubbles that will resist. If you decide to do other items, be sure to mop up excess paint from your workspace so that it doesn't bleed into your next piece.


Jodi recommends the book, The Ultimate Marbling Handbook by Diane Maurer-Mathison. It is a great basic beginners' guide full of information and great, colorful examples.

One of my favorite items of hers is the elegant little silk purse (pictured at very top).
It was hand-dyed bright pink, then marbled with blue and purple. At only $15.00 it is an excellent deal!

This silk tie was originally a silver gray color but after marbling it black and orange the blend of colors is quite rich but not overpowering or garrish. It looks kind of pastel Salmon, only more exciting than your typical pastel color.


And these shoes are just fabulous!


She even has marbled paper!


See all of her goodies for sale on Etsy at:
http://akhotdoggies.etsy.com/

A tutorial on marbling fabric specifically is offered at this site:
Quilting.About.com

Supplies for marbling can be bought here and further instructions:
DharmaTrading.com

More info from the artist can be found
on Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/akhotdoggies

and in her Blogger profile:
http://www.blogger.com/profile/07795616798348076736

To learn still more about the artist go to her blog:
http://akhotdoggies.blogspot.com/

Dream-weaver

Impressive and intricate are the words that come to mind when looking at the works of jewelry artist and author Linda Chandler. Her style is reminiscent of ancient Egyptian adornment, much of it, museum-quality with its fine detail, high karat gold, sterling and fine silver, with some pieces encrusted with jewels.

Linda has been making jewelry for over 20 years and has studied at Arrowmount, the Midwest Federation, Metalsmithing Society in Illinois, the Gemological Institute (GIA), Indianapolis Art Center, The William Holland School of Lapidary Arts and, has taught and taken classes at (SFMS) Wildacres Retreat in North Carolina.

She has taught classes both locally and nationally in a variety of jewelry-making techniques, including wire-wrapping and weaving, metalsmithing, and glass fusing. Linda is certified as a PMC (Precious Metal Clay) and Art Clay teacher.

She has developed and refined a number of original wire-weaving techniques of which she sells tutorials on her free-standing website, which is also where you can see much of her best work. She also has an online store on Etsy.

Her work appears in several publications, including The Wire Artist Jeweller Magazine, in which she was the featured artist of the month (November, 1999). Her work has also been included in the published book, All Wire Up by Mark Lareau. Linda co-authored books Woven Wire Jewelry and Getting Started Making Jewelry, and created the jewelry used for display and instruction. She also holds a degree in computer graphics.

As we speak, the artist is currently teaching Intermediate to Advanced Metalsmithing at William Holland (in October 2007).

In 2008 Linda will be publishing her third book on wire jewelry through Interweave Press which will include approximately 10 beginning to intermediate projects; bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and a pendant, made with silver and gold-filled wire, some with a variety of findings and semi-precious gemstones.

Linda also belongs to The Art Jewelry Collective.

To purchase exquisite hand-woven wire and fabricated jewelry, check out both of her online stores at:
http://lchandler.etsy.com/
http://jewelrybylinda.com/index.html
and to learn more about the artist, see her blog below:
http://lchandler.blogspot.com/