dee-lish soup from my partner, sam wescott
Well, today's the day.
The BIG reveal!
As you can see from the photo above, I received an absolutely beautiful Soup from my partner, Sam Wescott of Wescott Jewelry.
As part of this newest round of BSBP: Bead Hoarders Edition, we were asked to look to our stash, we all have them, to unearth a beading treasure, something we've coveted for years, to share with a fellow hoarder. Sam and I have very different styles, but our fearless leader and originator of the Blog Soup madness, Lori Andersen, solved the problem of what to send by directing us to make up a package and have it ready to go before we were even matched up with a partner. A challenge of challenges.
Sam sent me an amazing focal bead. It's a ceramic lentil with the image of a swallow in earth tones, made by Caroline Dewison of Blueberri Bead in the UK. Sam purchased the bead after reading about Caroline's process of making beads on Art Elements. Feeling she didn't have a good enough design to use the bead she held on to it. She later discovered that Caroline had discontinued her screen printed beads and realized she'd never be able to replace it. It's funny how emotionally attached we can become to a beautiful handmade bead. When a new BSBP was announced, Sam mustered up the courage to part with this magnificent bead!
The hole for this lentil bead was very large so I chose to turn one side of a piece of copper tubing down using a lathe method to create a smaller centered hole, inserted the tube and then flared the other end to capture it inside the bead. The links and jump rings are made from steel wire that's been hammered flat and then formed.
Sam also included coordinating beads and a wonderful vintage three strand glass moonstone clasp that was given to her by her mom. Aren't mom's great? As soon as I saw the clasp and the focal together, I knew how I was going to use these beautiful beads.
I loved the clasp, but found I couldn't make the original three strands work. I snipped off two of the lower jump rings and then secured the locking tab in place using a piece of thin wire snugged into the fold once it was inserted into the body of the clasp. As you can see, I cut a tiny copper heart and secured it in the little opening that was cut into the back of the clasp using UV resin.
back side of the clasp turned connector
Below you'll find a list of all of our participants. Make a cuppa tea or joe, pull up a comfy chair and check out what everyone's made. If something really speaks to you, please leave a comment, it's always nice to receive encouragement!
© re-maker
All rights reserved.
Julia Lund-Trott
Jean Wells
Joelyn Bissing
25 comments:
Very pretty and a great piece to wear with anything!
Probably the most elegant piece I've seen today - love it!
Absolutely beautiful. You are very clever to have altered the beads you received so effectively.
Nice necklace!
PAM! That looks AMAZING! I never would have though to use those beads that way and your method of slimming down the hole in the Swallow bead is genius! I can't get over how cute that little heart on the back of the moonstone clasp is. I'm so glad you enjoyed the mix and I LOVE what you came up with! Well done!
The steel wire, the focal and your use of that cool clasp as part of the front...Stunning! I love this necklace!
The bird focal is so beautiful - lucky you! and I love what you did with it.
Your necklace is beautiful! I'm so fascinated with the technical work you did to make it work and how you made "fixes" beautiful, like the heart on the back of the special clasp.
very elegant and delicate project!congrats!
Fabulous! I really love the bird pendant, and the ingenious way you altered it and the clasp.
Wow what a GORGEOUS necklace. It has a haunted, sorrowful beauty that i have never seen before! I like the little heart touch you added to the clasp component. Also kudos for working so hard to make that gorgeous pendant work for the design you had in mind for it!
Gorgeous necklace. Love the components and the silhouette.
Love Love Love!!!
Hi Pam. Your necklace is very creative and unique. Great job making the focal work even though it had a large hole.
What a clever idea to rework the clasp! It is perfect for the necklace which is a stunning piece of jewelry. I love that focal.
Great idea snipping off the extra loops. A beautiful necklace.
That is freaking gorgeous! I think this is one of my favorite pieces from the swap! Beautiful!
Wow! Great piece! The heart on the back is so touching. Great story.
OH MY GOODNESS!! This necklace is really sublime! I totally love what you did with it. It's simple and divine. Beautifully done.
I have a fondness for bird... just love what you did with yours. SOOOO pretty.
You are so creative - not just how you used the beads but how you embellished the clasp (I love how you can see the heart through the clasp), inserted metal into the swallow bead, and made the metal connectors/chain. Unique and kind of mystical in a way. It just feels good to look at - I wish I could convey that better. Lovely!
I'm in love with this! I have a bead with a rabbit on it that is similar and I'm in the same boat -- no idea what to do. I love using clasps in unexpected ways, and what a great clasp (and AMAZING detail with the heart!).
What a lovely necklace you created with the soup.
Oh my gosh, I LOVE how you adapted the clasp to make it completely your own and completely perfect for this design! Lovely, lovely work!
Beautiful necklace that you made from your soup!!!
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