Lost In Thoughts

Bead Soup Blog Party 8 :: REVEAL !

“I pray to the birds because they remind me of what I love rather than what I fear. And at the end of my prayers, they teach me how to listen.”

― Terry Tempest Williams

2012 | 2013

Hi, and welcome to my reveal of the 8th Bead Soup Blog Party ! Enjoy your stay !
As a reminder, the soup the lovely Sandra sent me is here. Sandra set me a challenge – to use yellow, a color which, along with orange, just isn’t a color I… dig. Or use. Or think about most of the time. She provided me with a few yellow beads for this purpose, and early on I ran into a setback. Not so much because of the color, but because most of the yellow beads she sent me, along with the pearls and the lovely coral I was so looking forward to using, had holes too small to be strung on 20 gauge wire. 22 would have compromised the strength of the pieces, so I pulled out what little yellow that I do own from my own stash and set out to work, finding creative ways to use the small yellow beads and the pearls in a different way.

 

 

 


This bracelet contains one of the focals Sandra sent me. I wanted to keep the top hole to hang from, as well as keep the bird straight, so rather than hook from the provided bails, I mounted (of sorts) the lovely bird focal on a round mother of pearl doughnut that another good friend of mine (also, aptly, named Sandra, but she will be represented as her online handle of Efte for purposes of clarity). The MOP links came with copper links that covers the inside of the inner hole, so it was easy to punch an hole though the decorative element, afix a wire to the back of the bird, then wire everything up neatly. To make sure nothing came undone, I poured resin on the backside. This bird isn’t flying away ! The heart with kanji came from Efte as well, though I used ice enamels to color it. Sandra sent me the flower bead caps separately upon realizing she forgot to send me some, and they worked perfectly in this lovely little bracelet !

The clasp is handmade by the lovely Lisa of Metal Me This, painted with lumiere paints and adorned with a tiny wire nest. Sandra sent me a trio of lovely egg beads, but they were a little big for this purpose, so I painted this smaller trio to match them. The bird spacers are from Sandra as well, but are guarding tiny nests of pearls and hearts rather than spacing anything ! Most of the gemstones on this bracelet were part of my soup, with exceptions of the smaller agate round, the wooden beads, and the round yellow stones, that came from my stash. The three strands were made separately and then I wired them together with jump rings to keep things tidy. this is a substantial piece, as per my usual, and a nice weight on one’s wrist. I made this within a week of getting my soup, and have been wearing it nearly constantly since !

But, Audrey, you mentioned three big egg beads, where are they ? Well…

There they are ! I first made this to be an element in the bracelet, but it was much too big to work well. Rather than cut the whole thing apart, I thought to make a ring with a spare bit of bookchain much like I’ve seen Harry of Oscarcrow do. This is very similar to how I mounted the bird on the bracelet – I used apoxie sculpt to fill the hole, then pressed the focal. I found that it wasn’t strong enough in the nest’s case, thanks to all the irregularities of the wire wrapping, but it left me an impression that made it easy to simply glue it back in place once the clay had cured. Bookchain is expensive, and having a good way to use up small bits and bobs is very handy !
But, Audrey, those who know me might say. Two whole pieces, and nary a necklace in sight ? Are you well ?
Worry not, my dears.
There’s a necklace, as one could expect from me 😛 The base is assemblage of three different brass pieces – the backplate with the holes, the winged cartouche, and the heart. The heart was painted with vintaj inks in a mix of garnet and black, then had iced enamels applied on. I painted the little bird with lumière paint for the golden, and the leftover red from the heart. I used crystal clay to fix the heart of the winged cartouche, and then went around it with the pearls Sandra sent me to hide how raised up it was. They worked perfectly for this purpose !
The base itself had some red painted onto, then I used tissue decoupage on top of it. Once the two parts were together, I put resin on everything, making sure to not cover the pearls. Then I put the backplate on.
I made the neckline while keeping in mind that the piece was going to be relatively bottom heavy – the sari ribbon on the back keeps the necklace from being harsh on the neck, where the beaded segments offer decoration on the sides. The clasp is the clasp Sandra sent me, though it gained a little birdy friend who made a nest upon it.
The lower part is definitively kitchen sinky. The sari ribbon adds a lot of volume to the bottom part while not adding too much weight. A lot of the gemstone beads that Sandra sent me ended up here, along with a little bottle full of coral. I made yet another little nest for the center tassel part, with a cloisonne bead Efte sent me. The rest came from my own stash. Here’s a better look of the whole bottom part pulled out :
And, as a finale, something a little more unusual (well, for me…)
These earrings all use the bead caps and the yellow beads Sandra sent me, as well as some scrap bits of sari and chain. These were actually really fun to do, and I plan to do more of them ! I love to use the little brass spoon Brenda sells as elements like this. They work very well for earrings, or elements in assemblage. Im sure to make a bunch more !
Well, that’s about it for me for this year ! Please make sure to visit my partner, Sandra, as well as everyone else involved in the party ! Have fun !

esperian

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84 Responses to “Bead Soup Blog Party 8 :: REVEAL !”

  5. wow amazing pieces in here…you had quite a difficult/gorgeous focal to work with, but you nailed it. It is dreamy!

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  7. Awesome work! See? I KNEW you'd totally rock that darker yellow 😉 Gorgeous pieces, all of them, but I think that bracelet is my fave. You met my challenges head on and did a fabulous job 🙂 And I'm not surprised in the least that you glued the pearls rather than string them; I think your brain is automatically set to 'think outside the box' so that you can create such beautiful work and bypass challenges so easy 🙂

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  16. Oddly enough the focal wasn't difficult at all ! I knew what I wanted to do with it the second I saw it. Making all three strands work together was more difficult 😛

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  21. I just love what you have done!! you met your challenge brilliantly !1 Love how you have used the sari silk ribbon. One thing about bright yellow. it does make the blues really pop!! I used to dislike it as well, not any more!!!

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  24. Everything you made is eclectic eye candy. I really like the earrings with the little spoons – how sweet and creative. I can see why you would want to make more.

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  26. Love the creativity you have, the fibre works so well. A piece of beautiful art to wear. Those earrings are stunning

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  31. For someone who just doesn't do yellow, you do yellow very well 🙂 Love what you've done and I adore the bird focal in your first bracelet. I can see why you've been wearing it this whole time! Wonderfully done, all!

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  36. Oh. My. God. You've done it again. I would have gone nuts constructing that bracelets, with all those interlinking jump rings. I think this at least partially qualifies as a chain maille piece. Using the book chain for the ring was a very creative idea, and the necklace … wow, I'm blown away. What an opulent statement piece. Love the earrings too! Of course. You know me. Earring gal. XD

    Also, clearly, you know too many Sandras. I kept being confused. @_@

    xoxo
    Sandra

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  39. You've created some interesting pieces with your soup. I love how you were so creative with your bird focal in the first bracelet, fabulous – Cheers!
    Lori in Atlanta

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  41. You have seriously come into your own style-wise, girlie. Your creations are totally fantastic. I especially love that nest ring. Definitely a clever way to use up that leftover little bit of chain. And man! For a lady that doesn't wear earrings, those are some seriously bad ass earrings. Love them! Heck, I love all of it! I don't suppose you'd be willing to sell the purple earrings to me? 😀

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  49. I think you are not alone in liking yellow beads somewhat less than other colors. Even in bead stores they seem under-represented. Love your designs. They look reckless and organic, like a field overgrown with wildflowers.

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  52. I'm not usually fun of assemblage jewelry – but you make it work for me! The designs are so creative and unique, brilliant!

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  57. I LOVE that you & Sandra are partners! How wonderful!
    You created a masterpiece in your necklace & bracelet. I adore the spoon earrings too — simply gorgeous, and brilliant of you. The bottle of coral was an ingenious use of the gem after not fitting the wire, and the bird's nest are delightful and charming, magical. You created a splendid feast to take in and appreciate, as always exquisite work! Lovely! Happy Hopping! ♥ Rita

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  59. What beautiful pieces. It's a wearable collage… a wearable mélange of beauty (I hope I'm using that word correctly) lol It fits how I want to describe it. Great soup!

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  67. Very imaginative pieces and you got so inventive with your soup, adjusting and readjusting elements. That ring is a fabulous idea! I especially like the earrings and how you used that spoon finding & bead cap!

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  69. WOW. The purple earrings are simply beautiful. I mean, they are my favorite! But the rest of your creations is beautiful as well. I wish to be so talented! (:

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  76. WHAT AN AMAZING COLLECTION OF DESIGNS!!! Sorry for shouting [well maybe a little sorry…lol] I really love these Audrey!!! Have a Blessed Day!!!

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  77. Hi Audrey. You definitely have your own style. The bracelet is beautiful. Your nest ring is a clever idea. I have not seen one like it. I also like your kitchen sink necklace. Good job on your earrings.

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  79. I think 'kitchen sinky' is a new design idea! 😉 I think that the style you have going is so intriguing. There is so much to look at, so many interesting bits along the journey of each piece. Thank you for sharing your talents with the Bed Soup. Enjoy the day! Erin

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  83. All of your pieces are so, so great!! The kitchen-sinky portion of your necklace is awesome and those earrings are fab. I think your use of the yellow beads was inspired and gives each of your pieces such a fun pop of color! Most excellent work!

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