Tuesday Tidbit - Rings & Things Goodies Have Arrived!

Yep, like a few of my fellow Beadospherians, I too have received my blog partner package from Rings & Things. There was much squeeing involved when I spotted it waiting for me.

I want to do a fuller post about the wonderful items, (and as you can see from Just A Tish's post, there were a lot of great goodies) but I didn't have a lot of time this evening*, so I'll just show you what I was immediately inspired to do with the copper "M" Moments Muse Token and spinners that were part of the package. The other items in the necklace were already in my stash from various places - the Swarovski red magma bicones, the Tim Holtz Idea-ology gears, and some copper chain. The piece is much longer than shown because I pulled it up to fit better on the smaller display bust I have in my workroom.

*I write almost all my posts the night before they publish.

Now, this is just a quick first pass at using the Muse Token. I have to let it "age" a bit while I stare at it and figure out what I want to do. The first thing that came to mind, after just a few minutes of pondering, is that I want to do it asymmetrically instead, and I'm probably going to add other crystal embellishments, maybe some pearls, and perhaps another chain. I think one of those open gears might be good as part of a toggle closure, or paired with a copper hook.

There are a number of ideas I've had for using the Moments charm, and I may indeed remove it (temporarily) to try those ideas out. The Idea-ology pieces have a nice patina and full packages come in three metal colors: antique brass, antique silver and antique copper. I'm not sure, however, whether they are the actual metal or a plating - I suspect plating but I haven't sacrificed a piece to check that.

The pieces are one sided, and the back side is textured, which I think is a drawback when used as a charm on a bracelet or on earrings. In a necklace it's not so much of an issue. The gears and keyholes are rather large, so whatever you make with them is going to be pretty bold. I like the delicacy of using gears from watches in my steampunk style pieces, but the Idea-ology line isn't a bad option, just a bit more 'mass market-y'.

One other thing from the goodies I'll mention before I wrap this up, is a length of ebony wood chain. The links are *huge*, the larger one is almost 1¾" long and the smaller one is 11/16 ". This may very well strain my comfie zone excruciatingly before I come up with a design, but I'm excited about the challenge. As a matter of fact, I got a length of brown polyester chain in my Beads in the Mail club package from The Beadin' Path the other day, and I have a glimmer of an idea about using it and the wooden chain together...we'll see.

I hope to have more time tomorrow night to take some additional pictures and discuss the rest of the Rings & Things items, so I hope you'll return for my Mid-Week Mutterings!





FTC compliance disclosure notice of material connections: All items referenced in this post were personally purchased, with the exception of the Idea-ology Muse Token, Idea-ology spinner and Ebony wood chain, which were provided by Rings & Things as a promotional gift in exchange for my design ideas and/or review of the product.

Today's post sponsored by:

Dawno

Sell Handmade