Even though that has nothing to do with chainmaille whatsoever, haha. Anyway, I've taken the time to go through the limited supply of jump rings and tools that I already have at home, and "limited" really is the best term for it at this point. While I may want to order more colorful niobium jump rings for later projects, I think I will have to go to Michael's this weekend to purchase some simple silver-tone ones similar to what I already have in stock. They are not the best quality, but they will suffice for the European 4-in-1 pattern that I will be demonstrating first.
These are the jump rings from the Michael's website:
These, however, are my preference to work with- higher quality rings made out of bright aluminum, anodized aluminum, or anodized niobium. They are more expensive, but easier to work with and they hold up better over time. Also, I personally think they just happen to look nicer:
When the time comes, I will be ordering these from
http://www.candtdesigns.com/, a site I have ordered from in the past and have had great experiences with. However, I think I will also have to take the time to stop into another store, located in downtown Milford, called "Manifest Beads". I don't know much about the place, but I've heard that they have a pretty nice selection of bead and metalworking items, and that they also teach classes in both subjects. If it isn't too costly, I might even be able to take a class or two there to help in my learning new patterns.