Saturday, May 10, 2014

BSBP#8

And here we are again, for another round of fabulous partnerships and beady goodness, hosted by the incredible Lori Anderson and her hubby Rick :)

Despite having an incredibly rough year, Lori has once again dived in and set up another great, world wide party, with close to five hundred participants! :)

This year, I was partnered with Audrey Belanger, a fellow Canadian. Audrey sent me a fabulous soup that I managed to stretch my wings with ;)

As a refresher .. here's the fabulous soup she sent me to play with...



And here is what I created while playing :D



To start, yes I know I said I'd push myself with the spiked to NOT do earrings... tough. I did however, take the two largest to make these, and I LOVE them. I've worn them several times now and they are officially among my favorites :) 

 Next I'll show you some of my foray into very minor chainmaille... and *gasp* 'mixed metals' >.< Which I ended up loving , I might add. Here is the little bird brass stamping form Audrey that added a touch of colour too. A bit of nail polish in an antique copper-ish tone. I also added the same colour to the clasp :) (btw, the open link there... I fixed it but didn't retake the pic, sorry >.< lol)

Sticking with the 'wings' theme, but detouring from birds to butterflies... some bright, summery earrings. Truth be told, these were NOT supposed to be earrings at all...I had these findings and stones all set aside to be a bracelet, and had created a little butterfly focal for it... then hated the focal and tada, the earrings were born lol


Back to the birds... a simple adjustable bracelet featuring some faux sea glass teardrops I bought ages ago and never even took off the strand until now, and some of the cute little copper birds I sent along with my soup to Audrey :) From the soup she sent me, I've used some of the Spectra rounds.. again, I had a different piece in mind that used all of these beads but in the end only the pretty teal ones jumped forward to be used.

The sari ribbon found it's way into two pieces; this bracelet is one of them. That beaded chain uses the amethyst rounds from the soup, along with the beadcaps. The chain was actually the first thing I made, intending for it to go with the focal... That clasp I made to go with the focal as well... then decided both the chain, and the focal ( which uses some of the little crystals from the soup ) , made the piece look to heavy. And so.. tada... bracelet. :)




Here is another piece that used up some long 'forgotten' parts of my stash. The clasp is of course, from my soup, as is the shard. The chain is made of some rather large copper coloured aluminum rings that have been sitting here mocking me forever.

The pendant is wood, and the bird image on it was originally silver in colour. I pulled out the nail polish to recolour it carefully, then glued on the little blue-green stone. There two cathedral beads hanging beneath with the shard and the wing ( also nail polished ;) ) are the same colour.










And of course, the focal.

After much hemming and hawing over what to do, I went with a simple brass chain paired with the sari ribbon. I think it works best with the attention being fully on the focal.

I found the weight of the focal kept making it hang crooked, so I used a bit of apoxy putty and a piece of brass wire to make a second bail at the back behind the tail. The two bails let the piece hang evenly and placates my ocd over things like that ;)

And so there we have another successful round of the BSBP... this one more so than previous rounds since I not only pushed myself outside my box a bit more, but I also finished my pieces EARLY! No last minute rush to get things done followed by midnight photos with crappy lighting and photoshop to try to make them passable >.< lol This year, they were done on time and the pictures were taken in daylight... albeit through a window since it was still a tad nippy outside ;)

Thanks again to our amazing hostess Lori and her equally amazing hubby, Rick, as well as all of the people who chipped in to help make this round happen.

As well, a special thank you to my partner Audrey for such a wonderful soup to play with :) I've decided that despite the fact that many of the pieces are 'not my style' for wearing, I'm keeping them and going to wear them :) See...? Still pushing myself outside my box ;)

 You can find the full hop list of participants here -> BSBP#8 HopList

Okay... you know what? I lied. I'm not keeping ALL of what I made. I think I'll share one piece with one of you :)

* Update ! The first giveaway for the butterfly earrings show above is over and the winner has been emailed!
 HOWEVER... for those still hopping, There's is a second giveaway now running, for a shorter version of the crystal spike earrings above. The spikes are about half the size as the ones shown, and I used a finer gauge copper for the wrap so the crystal wouldn't be hidden beneath it ;)

So if you'd like to win the spike earrings, just fill out the rafflecopter form and you're in :) There are two entries available, although only one is mandatory, so if you do both, that's two chances to win :) Blog subscribers, you have to click through to the actual post itself in order to see the rafflecopter widget. :) EVERYONE who entered the last giveaway on this post, are already entered! ( except the previous winner ;) )
 This will run the full week to give more hoppers a chance to get their entries in :)



a Rafflecopter giveaway

98 comments:

  1. (Funny story - I was siting here at midnight F5ish like a mad woman on a rampage, fearing blogger crapped all over your scheduling and internally being all OH GODS DON'T DO THIS TO ME DDDDDD: Alas, addiction.)

    Oh, oh, oh, so many pretties ! Let's tackle them one by one ! <3

    I'll pardon the fact you used the spikes for earrings... Because they look great ! I can see why you love them, my dear. Nice and goes with a lot of things. Some nice, versatile pieces are the awesomesauce, yo.

    Chainmaille is something I just don't have the patience for, at least not endlessly... You pulled it off like a champ ! And see, mixed metals are not evil. Mixed metals are your friend. Mixed metals makes for lots of pretties ! Yes yes.

    Hahahaha, I sent those two beads fully expecting you'd make earrings. XD You almost threw me off, my dear ! They look lovely, though ! And they will make someone very happy ! Not me, alas, though I am pondering if I should try to get my ears pierced again... And you are partly to blame... I kind of love making earrings @w@

    Can I get on my knees and beg for that bracelet ? Because it's so adorable and lovely ! And ahaha, we used the bird spacers in a similar way ! Great minds, Once again. You need to tell me where you got the bird spacers and the flower bead caps, because I need like 1000000x more of the two of those, amg.

    Another lovely bracelet ! I love how the clasp came out for it, it works so well as a focal area. I think that chain would have worked amazingly with the focal, but I understand why you decided not to use it. You know I like my pieces nice and bulky. I have a neck of steel by now << That bracelet has to be the most amazing pop on someone's wrist, though !

    Careful there, darling... Colorization is an addictive thing... Soon you won't be able to leave well enough alone ;) I adore how you worked that piece though, I love danglies. You know me << All the danglies. And I love wood and natural elements in jewelry, though I don't use it as much as I should. One of the favorite materials I've worked with is actually bone - so nice and smooth and not gross at all. /tangent

    And there it is... La piece de résistance ! Simple often works best with big focals like this one. You learned a valuable lesson, my padawan. ;) One I still forget... often.... Ahehehe << So sorry to have triggered your ocd, but you fixed the problem nicely ! I don't mind a little crookedness, personally.

    I so adore everything you made, my dear. Thank you for being an A++++ stellar partner, I so had a blast not only with us getting each packages so quickly, but all the talking and teasing and discussing we had ! Love you <3

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    1. thank you :) you sent a fabulous soup that just clicked with my creativity :) Despite my usual shying away from large focal pieces, not only did I enjoy making it work, I enjoyed wearing it :D Oh, and I'm terribly sorry for getting you addicted to one of my favorite finding & spacer shops ;) lol

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  2. Your soup cooked up perfectly! I love every single piece you made! Where do you find the time!!??

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    1. Thank you :) As for the time, I don't have any children or a spouse to act as distractions, and my day job is done my early afternoon ;)

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  3. well i am glad you made those spikes into earrings, they are just perfect! And the necklace with the bird with the nail polish...gorgeous! I love everything, but these two are my fav!

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    1. Thank you :) I really clicked with this soup :) Ive already worn about a third of these pieces lol

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  4. I love the rich colors of your soup and the simplicity of your designs. I would absolutely love to wear each piece

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  5. Fantastic efforts there Sandra, love what you've made! Hmm, I'm not sure I can pick a favourite, each has its own loveliness!

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  6. Oooh...ditto!!! I love the bracelets and those spike earrings!!! GORGEOUS!

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    1. Thank you :) I love how everything came out, despite the fact that none of them resemble their original designs.. well.. except for the spikes lol

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  7. What an amazing array of designs. I love the spike earrings!

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  8. I really like all the designs and nailing down my favorite pieces was not easy but I think I really like the pieces with the sari silk. All the earrings! Love them!

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    1. thank you :) I've had issues on working with fabric... I love the way it looks in other peoples work, but I'm never happy with it in mine. This time, I am and it seems everyone else is too :) guess that means I finally 'got it' lol

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  9. Love that sari ribbon bracelet! And bravo on your solution for the focal! It came out perfectly. I'm OCD like that, too! ;)

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    1. Thank you :) sometimes you just have to do SOMETHING to appease the OCD or it will drive you insane .. and I'm far too close as it is to take any chances ;) lol

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  10. Very pretty! I love the little blue bracelet.

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  11. Love your color choices! Fabulous soups!

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  12. Such lovely pieces and your soup was great!

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  13. Such awesome pieces you created from your goodies! Love that you improvised, adapted and overcame on the last piece to appease the OCD :) I love the idea of using nail polish to patina your pieces - ingenious!

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    1. Thank you :) I'm getting a bit giggly here... I see the name and I'm like ' I read their blog! I love their work!' heheh :) Maybe I just need more coffee.... or less.... wait, I just had a chai tea, so.. can't blame it on coffee ... lol

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  14. You really did fly, beautiful pieces, I just love the first earrings but each piece is stunning!

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  15. Everything you made is so pretty and your treatment of the focal with the sari silk is fabulous! Yay you on being done ahead of time! Your pictures are great.

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    1. Thank you :) I'm a fan of your work and your blog, so kudos from you are extra awesome :D

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  16. I love your crystal earrings!! Love LOVe LOVE them !! the rest is magical as well and I am going to get some of those clasps for myself!!!

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    1. Thank you :) yes the blue crystals are a fave for plenty :) I'm thinking I may have to grab my leftovers and make a second pair for an extra giveaway ... whether in this one, or later on.

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  17. I always enjoy the wide variety of designs that you make for this hop. They are all great but you know me, I am drawn to the teal bracelet. It dangles and I can't resist the color.

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    1. Thank you :) I actually had several dangling designs planned, but that was the only one that came out that way ... and not in the colours that I'd planned...lol

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  18. I love them all, but my favorite is the blue bracelet - sorry, I am a simple girl!! BEAUTIFUL creations!! ~KM

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  19. The chainmaille necklace is simply stunning! I love what you did with the bird focal.

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  20. I love the color palette! And the spike earrings would be a fave of mine too! All the little birds are so sweet, I was happy to keep seeing them throughout the pieces instead of all in one. Lovely designs!

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    1. Thank you :) birds seem to be a popular theme throughout a lot of the bsbp soups this year :) When I saw them in my soup, I knew that birds or at least wings were going to be my theme. I've never done a theme for my work before... it's usually just whatever comes out. :)

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  21. Beautiful work! I especially love the bracelet and necklace with the sari...but I am a bit partial to purples! :)

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    1. thank you :) Purple has really been grabbing at me for the past couple years, so I was thrilled to see it in my soup :) And copper, well... that is my favorite metal, and luckily purple and copper go so beautifully together :)

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  22. I love the crystal earrings, absolutely gorgeous. All of your pieces are lovely.

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  23. Beautiful design! I love the spike earrings so much and also the chain maille necklace.

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  24. Sandra kudos to you fro trying chainmaille. Stepping out of our comfort zones is what this challenge is about. The aqua and birds bracelet is my favorite. You made good use of your soup.

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    1. Thank you! I try to step outside of comfort zones and learn something new with each BSBP, but some rounds just seem to have a bigger impact then others. My first round and this one seemed to have had the biggest impact on my creativity. something about both the soups and the partners just clicked with me :)

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  25. Great job with your challenge, so many creative and beautiful pieces. Very generous of you to do a give-a-way, but I truly cannot pick a favorite. I am enjoying seeing every piece they are all inspiring to me :)

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    1. thank you :) I'm the same way... so may beautiful soups and creations that it's just impossible to pick favorites! There are, however, some that stand out in memory.

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  26. absolutely great bracelet with use of fabric!

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    1. Thank you :) I'm pleased to say it wears just as nice as it looks :D

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  27. gosh!! you made so many pieces and finished early too?? you're a wizard! i honestly do adore all your pieces and i'm a little partial to the first pair of earrings and the mixed metals necklace.

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    1. thanks :) The finished early thing will probably never happen again, so let's all enjoy it for the minor miracle that it is ;) lol I find it far easier to split a soup into many pieces than to force it all into one or two... Even if we had to use both the clasp and focal in one piece my brain might have balked ... I need to be able to spread it around to get the creativity flowing :)

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  28. I'm really diggin' your designs! I love sari silk and I think you really rocked it in your designs. Great work! xo Genea

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    1. Thank you! I love the look sari silk can lend a design but I always feel like I'm struggling with it. It's always good to hear that I managed to get it right ;)

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  29. Sandra, your designs are gorgeous! I love how you showcased the focals with simple, yet so elegant designs! And you made so many pieces, I'm in awe :)

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    1. So am I .. lol but thank you :) When the muse bites, I try to go with it with everything I have... because I never know how long it'll be before she bites again ;)

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  30. Hi Facebook friend! You made lovely pieces. My favorite is the bracelet. I've been wanting to make a charm bracelet like that and haven't yet. Great job!

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    1. Thank you! And what are waiting for? Get creating !

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  31. The spikes are gorgeous they needed to be earrings! lol That bird focal is stunning beautiful job!!

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  32. Sandra!! This is the most beautiful jewelry! WOW! I am impressed and in heaven here with all this gorgeousness. I love the adjustable sea glass & pearl bird bracelet -- and the cool quartz spike earrings! Your chainmaille is splendid! And the amethyst & sari ribbon bracelet is stunning with the clasp you created! Love that! The special attention to detail makes your art sublime -- the bird necklace coloring & journey necklace balance are professional & thoughtful touches. A striking, charming, exquisite collection of jewelry. Superb, Sandra! Happy Hopping! Love ♥ Rita

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    1. Shameless flatterer ;) Look who's talking? I've seen your work, lady... you are awesome :) thank you for the compliments!

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  33. Sandra, those first pair of earrings, they are stunning and my absolute ♥favorites♥

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    1. Thank you :) there's a shorter pair up for grabs in the giveaway this week!

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  34. Lots of gorgeous pieces from a wonderful soup. The necklace with the large focal is my favourite!!

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  35. Wonderful use of your soup. Every piece is so beautifully put together.

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  36. All the pieces are great! Chainmaille and mixed metals is my favorite! I've been too hesitant to try mixing metals myself but now I see it works! The sari ribbon bracelet with the beaded chain is the second favorite of mine!

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    1. thank you :) good to know I wasn't the only one hesitant to put different metals into the same piece, so close together! lol

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  37. Love all of your gorgeous pieces but the first earrings are my absolutely favourite. I would wear them every day!

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    1. thank you! Hope you entered the giveaway for a chance to win and shorter version!

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  38. I would have kept those spike earrings too - beautiful! I really like everything you've created. I like the simplicity of the focal and it really works!

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  39. Absolutely lovely! I love the wings theme that you went with... every piece is simply gorgeous!

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    1. thank you :) when a theme emerges that you just can't ignore.... lol ;)

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  40. Bracelet with sari ribbon is my favourite! Every piece is lovely!

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  41. Kudos for stepping out of your comfort zone to create some amazing pieces and finishing early, no less!! I think it was awesome that you sent your partner some teeny birdies that you used in your bracelet with the teal stones, it is just beautiful!! I am partial to big focals, so loved the big bird with the sari ribbon, what a creative way to make it work by adding a second bail!! Love!! Gina H

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    1. Thank you :) the itsy bitsy birds were a must! lol

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  42. Wow, Sandra... awesome soup and I totally love everything :) How sublime is that focal ??!!

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    1. thank you! I was so happy that Audrey made me the focal that she did! It was truly incredible timing for it's personal meaning... that she had no clue about when she made it or sent it!

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  43. Beautiful designs. I love the mixed metal in the chain maille necklace. The little blue bird and copper piece is wonderful.

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  44. Your soup creations are lovely and I am impressed with your prolific blogging.

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  45. What a cool focal! Think you did the right thing there by keeping it simple. But doesn't it look stunning?!

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  46. Love that blue bird bracelet. So bright! Other pieces are wonderful as well

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  47. Wow, that first pair of earrings is so cool! All of your pieces came out so well. Nice job!

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  48. Beautiful soup! I like everything you've made. Especially those earrings that were made from beads meant for a bracelet. Very simple and elegant design. Good work.

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  49. So many pretty pieces! I love the steampunk vibe & the chain maille.

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  50. Love the bracelet turned earrings! I have design moments much the same myself!

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  51. I love all your creations...the bracelet with all those cute birdies are is so fun! Great job!!

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  52. You created so much beauty with your soup. I'm definitely smitten by your spiked earrings, but the bracelet with the sari silk and the handmade clasp is gorgeous! Oh, and the mixed metal chainmaille is too cool! So much beauty!

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  53. I absolutely love those wing earrings

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