Paper-Clip Chandelier: Step One

I have told people that I can make some cool house ideas for very cheap prices. One of these is a paper-clip chandelier. These do take quite a bit of time to start, but once you get going it is easy to finish and come up with your own designs. They are very elegant and by choosing right colors it can pass for an expensive decoration. There are 3 simple steps. While the steps are easy, it is a long process so be prepared to invest time into this, as you would in any art project. Before I start, I will say that this was my first paper clip chandelier. I had not made one before, so I can say with confidence that someone with no artistic experience can successfully make a chandelier.

I will be posting the steps in different posts so that I don't make a long drawn out post.

Step 1: Design and Experiment

This is the second longest step in this whole process. This step is where you will research different types of chandeliers. Do you want a circular one, pieces with hanging strips or more geometric closed ended pieces? Here you will also choose what colors you want. Normal paper clips are usually silver which is a color that works with every house. Black and Gold are also solid colors. Here are some examples of my design work when picking a chandelier. Realize that I not only looked at real life chandeliers but I have a large number of thumbnails. And if you can't draw, that's alright. Look at pictures you can find online.

       

These are from a simple google search of chandeliers. And you might be wondering how to make paper clips look like this. The simple answer is that in the metal will glint in light which gives it that glow. Also, you can add light bulbs or gems with hot glue to give it an elegant look. If it makes it easier just imagine that all the glass pieces is a paper clip, you can then see how they connect together to make a chandelier.

As you can see, none of the thumbnails have a lot of detail. Also, the images aren't an exact representation of what they look like in real life (e.g. the paper-clips).

These are not the only designs that you can do, these are ones I did while I was planning for my chandelier.

Dream Warrior(Dark Hunter #16)

Dream Warrior Summary:
We are the Dolophoni. Diligent. Vigilant. Fierce and inescapable. Servants of the Furies, we are the right hand of justice and no one stands before us.

The son of Warcraft and Hate, Cratus spent eternity battling for the ancient gods who birthed him. He was death to any who crossed him. Until the day he laid down his arms and was banished into exile.

Now an ancient enemy has been unleashed and our dreams are his chosen battlefield. The only hope we have is the one god who swears he will never fight again.

As a Dream-Hunter, Delphine has spent eternity protecting mankind from the predators who prey on our unconscious state. But now that her allies have been turned, she knows in order to survive, the Dream-Hunters need a new leader. Someone who can train them to fight their new enemies. Cratus is her only hope. But she is a bitter reminder of why he chose to lay down his arms.

Time is running out and if she can’t win him to her cause, mankind will be slaughtered and the world we know will soon cease to exist.

Dream Warrior Review:
This is the 4th book in the Dream Hunter Series. This means that we are introduced to a host of new characters. At this point lots of readers are scratching their heads wondering how to keep up with all this info. I'm in the same position even with the websites to help because it doesn't post spoilers, and I still can't find a solution. At this point I'm reading book to book, creating character and object descriptions to keep up. So readers could try doing that to see if that helps.

The story itself was pretty good. The action was there and it was paired well with sarcasm and just enough information/ background on the character's we're dealing with. It doesn't have large info dump sections, which some previous books have contained. I managed to keep up with the fast paced scenes and that added to the excitement of what was to come. There was never a dull moment and it was especially great to see previous characters. For example, we see Zarek and Astrid "discussing" their son's name. It was a great son, added some comic relief and brought back the good memories of the start of the series. The only problem I had with this book was the romance. While I don't read a book expecting it to contain a winning love story, I would hope that it was believable. There is insta-love and then there is Insta-Love. After a few days of meeting each other, paired with the fact that the book brushed over these days, they decided they were hot for each other and got married. It was too cheesy for my standards and it did take something away from the novel. On the other hand, together the two were well paired and the big secret at the end between the was exciting to read about.

The main characters were much stronger and more liked than Stryker and Zephyra. As I have never read about these two, I couldn't hate or love them and it benefited them. I didn't have an preconceived notions about them and that lead to me not judging them that harshly. On the other hand, they were not the most memorable characters. Don't get me wrong, they were great for this story and worked well together, but they were not an outstanding pair. We are into book 16 of the series and Ms. Kenyon uses the same abused hero and savior heroine formula. It does get a bit repetitive and that creates predictability to the characters which was lacking in the earlier books. You know the hero is going to be angry and mistrustful and the heroine to be angelic, and then together they will fall in love, heal all wounds and defeat the enemy. In the Dream Hunter series, this predictability seems to be more prominent, and others saw this. This could have led to a dislike of this series.

However, the secondary characters definitely made up for this. We have out comic relief with Zarek and Astrid. And once again, the mystery of Jared and Jaden. If you have read the CoN series you can kinda see who Jaden is, but to a DH reader he is a complete mystery. Sav, Ash, Urian, Medea, Madoc, Nick and a bunch of others helped to support the main characters and eased the plot a little. They also did a great job to help ease readers with the additional world building, and trust me there's a lot. This quote below is one that I has referred to twice and the other is to show that Nick is getting himself back!

“Psycho-ass? You're bringing psycho-ass back?" (Nick)
"That's Mister Psycho-ass to you, punk.” (Zarek)

and

“Menoeceus is a great name. (Astrid)
"For an old man or a feminine hygiene product. Not for my son. And next time I get to name the kid and it won’t be something that sounds like meningitis." (Zarek)
"You keep that up and next time you’ll be the one birthing it, and don’t mess with me, bucko, I have connections in that department. A pregnant man is not an impossibility in my neighborhood. "(Astrid)

Overall this book was pretty good. Could have been much better, but after reading One Silent Night, it had a much needed fix of believable leads. This was a 4-4.5 star read!

One Silent Night (Dark Hunter #15)

One Silent Night Summary:
While the world carries on unawares, Stryker, who leads an army of demons and vampires, is plotting an all out onslaught against his enemies—which, unfortunately for us, includes the entire human race. To avenge his sister, Stryker prepares to annihilate the Dark-Hunters. But things go awry when his oldest enemy returns. Enter his ex-wife. Zephyra. Just when he thought nothing could stop him, he's now embroiled in a centuries old war with a shrew who gives new meaning to pain.

One Silent Night Review:
This book was amazing, just based on the fact that I could like person who I thought was so evil before. While I read this book, I liked it well enough. Compared to the high of Acheron, this book was not that good, but it was great for world building and introducing new characters. The biggest problem I had were the two protagonists. Stryker had killed Urian in a previous novel, and the biggest problem fans faced was why he killed his last son. I could get past his hatred of Ash and the betrayal he felt from Apollymi, but I couldn't understand how he could have killed his son. Zephyra was another problem. While I can understand someone being in love for 11,000 years, it was hard to understand that a person hated someone for 11,000. She focused her whole immortal life on getting revenge on Stryker. That seems almost impossible to me because she has wasted her life trying to kill this man instead of healing.

Edit: Zephyra also has kept and tortured a man for a mistake he made thousands of years ago. I can't forgive this, but she is redeeming herself through the series. SO...she's not the best heroine in this series.

Once I got past this, the book was not too bad.

The secondary characters were much stronger and well built. Urian is a very sarcastic and hardened character, that I hope we'll get to see a lot more as the series goes on. He still has issues about his wife, which is very easy to understand, but we also get to see him taking strength from other relationships. For example, with Ash or Davyn. Medea was another character that we were introduced to. She is the step-daughter of Stryker and the step-brother of Urian. She is a character that I could like. Betrayed by the people that she was protecting she has a reason to be as hardened as she is. But she managed to keep her head high, and hadn't fallen into a pit like her mother. And she has a large secret that I hope we will soon discover and she will continue to play large part in the upcoming books. We got repeat characters such as Ash, Davyn, Apollo, Artemis, and many, many others. The character seems to constantly be increasing which makes it a lot more interesting but a lot more harder to keep updated. On it can get very confusing as some readers are finding. A good website to keep up on this is the Sherrilyn Kenyon website or Dark-Hunter Groups on Goodreads.

The story started off kind of stupid. Stryker went to War to basically commit suicide because he was so angry at Ash, Apollymi, Apollo (Lots of A's there) and everyone in between. Luckily, Stryker realized his mistake and then the story really started for me. The plot was there, the action was spot on and electrifying. And the romance was there, no matter how weird it was. In addition, the sarcasm was on it's own level. Ms. Kenyon got this book right by putting in the right combination of everything. I'm leaving you with this quote that just shows how good this book was.

“Enough, children. In case you haven’t noticed, we have a major situation playing out. We have to find and stop War, corral the gallu, protect Apostolos, and get Savitar out of here." (Apollymi)
"Why the later?" (Jared)
"Because I hate his guts." (Apollymi)
"I hate you, too, precious." (Savitar)

and

“Gods, how I’ve missed you". (Stryker)
"I hate you with every beat of my heart." (Zephyra)

Overall it was a 4.5 star! Great world building and a necessary read for the books to come!

Acheron (Dark Hunter #14)

Acheron Summary:
The most anticipated story in the blockbuster Dark-Hunter series. The never-before-revealed story of the Dark-Hunter leader, Acheron. He was made human in order to escape death, but in death he was reborn a god. . .

Eleven thousand years ago a god was born. Cursed into the body of a human, Acheron spent a lifetime of shame. However, his human death unleashed an unspeakable horror that almost destroyed the earth. Then, brought back against his will, Acheron became the sole defender of mankind.

Only it was never that simple. For centuries, he has fought for our survival and hidden a past he’ll do anything to keep concealed. Until a lone woman who refuses to be intimidated by him threatens his very existence.

Now his survival, and ours, hinges on hers and old enemies reawaken and unite to kill them both.

War has never been more deadly... or more fun.

Acheron Review:
Finally the book that DH fans have been waiting for worldwide! Luckily for most of us, it lived up to it's expectations.

Acheron was divided into two parts. The first, which was the longest, was Acheron's life before he became a God. This whole story was heartbreaking. Someone who is ease to tears or gets creeped out quickly by gore might want to skip this. While it useful to learn about Acheron's past it can prove too much to some people. If skipped, most readers will not be too lost when they read the second part. The second part was more upbeat, what readers are more used to in the DH world. Heartbreaking in it's own way, it was great to finally see the leader of the DH fall in love and accept someone into his home.

I'll talk briefly about each part below.

The first part, roughly eleven thousand years ago, Acheron was born into a world where he had no friends. He was hated by everyone and every time he reached out it was slapped away brutally. It was horrible event after horrible event. And I was near tears for the majority of this book. It is useful to note that most of this is told through the diaries of Ryssa, Ash's sister. She was the saving grace in this part because she stood by Ash no matter what, and did her best to help him. It was astounding to realize that Ryssa was younger than thirty and Ash and Styxx, barely over 20. So much shame and humiliation to people who have barely joined the world. On the other hand, it was great to the true character of Ash. The fires from which the enigmatic and mysterious Ash came from. It was great to see the layers peeled away from Ash to find what he is beneath.

The characters in this part had so much depth and side to their characters, that I was left spinning with the revelations of characters. I write this review after I have read Styxx, so I know his side of the story. But not looking at his, I was aghast at how one man could do so much to shame his own twin. While, Ryssa was kind to Ash she was also incredibly naive and stupid at times. I love how she stood up for Ash, but I wish she thought things through to realize the bigger picture at times. And to stop being so childish at times. Xerxes, Ash's father and mother and a host of characters were evil to their core, and I was glad when the destruction of Atlantis. Finally, we were introduced properly to Apollymi. It was incredible to see her love for her son and the bounds she would go to protect him. Overall, this part was heartbreaking and torturous but it was necessary to take apart the layers of Ash, to understand what him how he is today.

The second part was much shorter, filled with action and sarcasm that DH fans have come to love.

Tory was a perfect match for Ash. She did not let Ash take control of her and stood up for her own rights. She was always one step ahead of Ash when he was trying to court her, but knew when to let him go ahead when her life was in danger. It was through Tory, Ash could open his eyes to the wonders that he has shut himself out of. And to accept the torture that he has faced, to accept the people who did so that he could move on. One part that really stuck to me was Tory throwing a toy hammer at Ash's head! Imagine anyone doing that to Ash! From there she one me over.

A lot of readers complained that through this book, Ash lost his mysterious exterior. Well of course he did! We are seeing into the heart and soul of this character, watching as he fell in love and lets someone into his heart. If he managed to remain mysterious, I would be surprised. It was this loss of facade that helped to understand what made him who is and where the story will go on from here. Ms. Kenyon did right by Ash and Tory in this wonderful story!

This book ends the first arc. We are now on Jaden's arc and then we will be Sav's. This book revealed where this series will go and what character we can hope to see in the future!

*SPOILER WARNING* One scene that stuck with me was when Tory was captured. Ash was being convinced not to go into Katertos after her. When Kyrian, Julian, Talon, Zarek and all the previous characters came to stand by Ash no matter what, and fight against the common enemy. This made my heart soar and after this I wanted to slap Ash on the backside of his head. I still can't believe why he think that his friends will turn on him when he reveals that he is a god *END OF SPOILERS*

Overall this book was amazing!! Definitely 5 stars!!