What is a Bead Soup Blog Party?
Each beader was paired up with another jewelry designer and tasked with sending the following:
~ A focal
~ A special clasp (not just a lobster claw)
~ Some coordinating spacers or beads
Using the focal and the clasp was mandatory, but we could use anything from our own stash to round out the rest, and choose to use the coordinating beads or not. The goal -- to push ourselves creatively by using beads we may never have used before, and to meet beaders from around the world. (See that map up there? That's where everyone comes from!)
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| Just a few of the things Susie sent me. |
I absolutely love Susie's style, but it's not my own. I WISH it were my own, because I love the vintage look. I'm a vintage hunter, love watching American Pickers, and have a bunch of vintage goodies in my home. But vintage jewelry -- I'm just not good at making it.
However, I decided it was time to give it the good ol' college try.
I chose the skeleton key as my pendant, and then dug into my stash of vintage buttons. And folks, when I say buttons, I am talking POUNDS of buttons. HUGE cookie tins of buttons. A bushel basket of buttons, too. Jars of buttons.
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| Just some of my vintage buttons, mostly mother of pearl. |
I feel like the Button Queen. Yet I've never used them in jewelry. Every year I've put this on my Jewelry Resolutions list, and every year, they stay in their tins and jars and baskets.
Until now.
Can you guess what I made? Can you guess what I did?
Well, here you go. My Victorian treasure, "The Key That Unlocks Everything".
When Susie sent me the copper chain, I was delighted to find that I had more of it in my stash. I cut a short length and attached it to the top of the key, and then attached the rest to that short length, making a "Y". I briolette-wrapped a LOT of buttons to the chain, two per link, working to make the weight and "fluff" take the shape you see here. And let me tell you -- while I was making this, I kept thinking, "This is awful, it looks terrible, this hath much suckage." Necklaces made like this rarely start to look good until they're almost done.
After I was done, the necklace just NEEDED something. "Can't go wrong with red," I thought, and added some brilliant 8mm Czech glass rondelles here and there. I then tried a bit of lace around the top of the key, but it looked awkward and forced, so I tied it up on one shoulder and added a few dangles of red along the bare copper chain around the neckline.
I made a pair of earrings to go with the necklace, keeping it simple since the necklace has so much going on.
Those are the first two pieces. I used Susie's chain, her key, and the filigree beads in the earrings.
The next piece features another skill set I'd previously not tackled -- wrapping Vintaj filigree around a gemstone. I found a filigree piece the PERFECT size for my jasper stone and with some gentle pushing, got the bead wrapped.
Now came the dilemma -- how to connect it to the rest of my bracelet?
I decided NOT to wire wrap or put a jump ring through the small holes of the filigree setting, as I didn't want to risk ripping through the metal. So instead, I ran the wire through the hole in the stone, and that left me with a stronger linkage.
Susie had sent a large smoky Swarovski crystal, and I had some smaller ones in my stash, so I added a few more to glam things up. I also added one vintage brass bead to make things a little unpredictable.
Something you might want to try with your Vintaj findings -- sand them! I gave this one a light sanding, and it gave more depth.
Susie's components used -- the gemstones and a crystal.
And now for my last piece, which is the polar opposite of my dramatic Victorian button piece. For this necklace, I took the Vintaj clasp Susie sent -- a large ring and a hook -- and separated them. I turned the Vintaj ring into part of the pendant. I found some lampwork beads in my stash, used the gemstone rondelles Susie sent, and went to town with a huge bag of brass jump rings. And here you go -- "A Walk in the Woods".
Lots of dangles, like the button necklace, but in a totally different format and presented in a totally different way! This time, I used a 9-10" length of beading wire, strung on about 12 tiny daisy spacers, and then my special soup blend of jump rings. I made double love knots by looping one ring into another -- easy peasy. Then I wire wrapped the gemstone charms onto the love knot rings.
The pattern is single, double, single, double, etc, ending with a single -- and make sure you have strung three sets of bead dangles. The mix of singles and doubles gives a lovely textural quality to the necklace, don't you think?
I finished the neckline of the necklace with red suede cording and the hook closure.
Once again, I sanded the toggle (or rather, pendant, now) and you can REALLY see a difference! Sanding brings out depth, just as if you hammered a piece of metal and used liver of sulphur and then scrubbed it with steel wool. Give it a try!
Items from Susie -- toggle ring and hook, gemstone rondelles.
I can't thank you all enough for visiting, and PLEASE visit the blogs below. There's a lot, but print a list, mark them as you go, and take your time! Some have giveaways, and EVERYONE worked very hard on their jewelry designs. Kudos to everyone!
(If you missed participating in this party and would like to be reminded of the sign ups for the next one, [Aug 1-3], then shoot me an email. And look for the book in 2012!)
(You are here!)
