Today is the big reveal for the B’Sue Boutiques Build a Line Challenge. For the past three months, my classmates and I have been working to develop a cohesive line of at least five pieces for today’s post. I have 11 pieces in 3 colorways to show. The detail of the necklace above is my top-of-the line piece; here is the full necklace.
Notice how I solved the problem of the bezel with no hole. I prepared a piece of B’sue Boutiques filigree with a complementary finish, and mounted the bezel on it. I was then able to wire wrap the beaded chain to the filigree.
Next is a similar necklace, but less complex, in the second colorway. This time I mounted the polymer clay bezel on a piece of B’Sue filigree in the brass ox finish. In order to meet the portion of the challenge that required us to produce some pieces in the $10 – $50 range, I had to look for efficiencies, and using already-patinaed findings was part of that.
And here is a closer look at the pendant on this one.
Another way to meet the pricing tier challenge was to make smaller pieces, so I turned to bracelets to help myself out. I showed a sneak peek of a polymer clay bracelet in the February blog hop. After test-driving the bracelet I noticed that it had a tendency to stretch a bit, so I added a tie made of silk ribbon from B’Sue Boutiques grab bag package.
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Another quick and easy bracelet was this one, with handmade polymer clay disks inserted into a bezel bracelet blank.
As we learned in the class, you should at least be aware of trends, even if you don’t plan to follow them, and brooches are going to be big this year, so I made a couple of pendant components into brooches. Next time I will make them convertible.
For the lowest level of my pricing tier, I put together some really simple matching earrings, shown below:
I said I had 11 pieces (actually 13 because I made four of the polymer clay bracelets, two in each color). The 11th piece is another necklace using pre-made pearl chain from B’Sue Boutiques. This piece was from an idea that didn’t really work out as I had hoped it would, but I wanted to show it because of the cool faux opal effect.
I had a great time with this challenge. It’s given me a lot to think about and I plan to continue to develop these lines. Here are a couple of pictures of the pieces grouped together.
If you are interested in purchasing any of these pieces, please either leave me a comment on this post, or email me at beadsophisticate@gmail.com.
And now, please visit the blogs of the other participants in the class, starting with our fearless leader at B’Sue Boutiques.
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Brenda Sue Lansdowne, B’sue Boutiques
Jewelry Making Outside the Box
Marcia Tuzzolino
Jann Tague
Judy King
Linzi Alford
Magpie in the Sky, Spoil Heap Tales
Cynthia Wainscott
Carole Carlson
Lynn Stinten
Marica Zammit
Catherine Shattuck
Michaele Collie
Mary Craig
Lee Koopman
Erin Whitacre
Monica Casady
Leila West
Cindy Peterson
https://howlingdogjewelry.wordpress.com/
Leila Belcher
Gloria Allen
Pamela Anger
Tammy Adams
Lynda O’Mara
Elizabeth Hildreth
Dana Hickey
Janet Calardo
Maria Clark
Lori Beekman
Jennifer Kroeger
Amy Jorgensen
Robin Reed
Artistry: Handcrafted Bead Designs
Ingrid Anderson
Louise O’Shields
Susan Killam
Mary Katherine Deis
The Rose Sword: Artisan and Vintage Collectible Jewelry
Nike Bottalico
Susan Bowerman
Kristy Le
Kristy Le Trendy Jewelry Designs
Jan Peters
Mitzie Crider
Needful Luxuries Occasional Blog
Gina Hockett
Linda Anderson
Alexandra Sefton
Imaginary Jewelry and Altered Art
Melida Boman
The Journey of Pens and Things
Teresa Shurter
Melissa Latimer
Renee Hong
Fine and Dandy Jewelry and Art
Nadine Edris
Lori Meyer
Jennifer Merrill Williams
Denise Lussier Poirier
Renee Allen
Autumn Adams
Elizabeth Owens
Kat BarronMiller
Midnight Kat Productions Art Jewelry
Sandra Ballard
Coral Law
Bead Sophisticate 
What a fun time we’ve had, Carole. I love how your bracelets turned out, both the cuffs and the filled bezels. They are so creative. Well done. I hope to have the pleasure of being in another challenge with you again!
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This is a lovely design. Great work Carole.
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Great job! Beautiful colors and I love the bracelets!
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Another polymer artiste. It’s amazing creating with clay. Each piece has its own life and you have created some beautiful pieces. Great job Carole!!
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Your polymer focals are lovely! The cuff bracelets look great with the added ribbon! Lovely colors too.
Ingrid
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GREAT job Carole .. love your color pallet and designs .. 🙂
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Carole, I love your polymer clay bracelets and I have noticed the same thing as you wear them the kind of warm-up and stretch out a bit. So adding the ribbon is a great idea. I made several with polymer and I have stopped at that point of how to finish them off. Thank you for your inspiration and you have lovely polymer clay pieces. I like to mix my jewelry with polymer clay as well.
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I really love the color combinations you chose. =)
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Carole, these look especially pretty when paired together as sets. You’ve got colors for all seasons and people, nice work!
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Great colors, happy spring! Thank you so much for jumping in with us and taking the challenge class, so happy you did! We’re all a little tired now but the experience has been joyful and opened so many new windows for all, including me!
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Love your line! The polymer clay work is amazing!! Congratulations, nicely done!
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The way you’ve colored the clay is so pretty with its subtle shading. Great that you found a way to solve the bezel problem. Such a privilege to work with you and the other artists during this challenge. Good luck to you.
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Your line is great Carole! I love the blue and yellow grouping the best.
Cheers,
Susan
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Carole everything looks great, love your faux opal.
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Pretty designs Carole. I like the idea of adding a tie to the bracelets whether they stretch or not. A lot of folks like me have tiny wrists and feel better about them staying on with the tie. Brooches are great and you can make them convertible too. Well done.
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Carole, lovely designs! I love the way you incorporated your clay components in each of your designs, congratulations you made it happen!
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What a pretty line, Carole, and love the colors! You’ve done a great job making a cohesive collection … so glad to have had the experience of this class with you! 😉
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Very pretty line Carole. Lovely, soft pastel colors.
Love the bracelet with the ribbon. I sometimes use a brass blank for mine, then cover it with polymer clay. They become very rigid that way. In future, I’m gonna start adding a short chain and clasp.
You did a wonderful job with integrating B’sue’s components with polymer clay. Lovely.
Marica
Bead Lovelies
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Carole, You have been working hard! That opal piece is fabulous. I hope you keep on pushing yourself to make more-it’s sure to be a hit!
Stylized Vintage
jjan
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Love your designs in those soft pastel colors and lovely embellished chains too. Awesome job!
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I have trouble with polymer but you have created some beautiful designs! Really love the colors you used as well.
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Your pieces are fantastic, Carole. The colors and texture you created in the polymer is superb.
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your pastel palette is really enchanting
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Really pretty & I love all the collars you used! You have made very cohesive line of jewelry. I love your polymer clay~ Gorgeous~
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Perfect colors for spring! I know how much it can take to get the opal just right, I think it’s marvelous, I hope you make many, many more of all your pieces!
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I love how you blended your colors, and that faux opal is gorgeous! I’m so glad you decided to show it! Wonderful work!
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Your textures and colors are so neat, I particularly dig on the gold sparkle effect I saw on a few of your cabochons. Great work.
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You have a great design line.Love the way you used the polymer on the filigree. Colors & textures are great.
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I love the organic textures with the bright colors of your polymer clay work. Your line is beautiful. And that faux opal is amazing.
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Wonderful line! I love the colors and textures!
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The softness of the color palette is cool and refreshing. Will you use some of the other polymer pieces that were displayed in the last blog posting? They were attractive as well. I love what you do with clay.
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This is a very lovely line! I agree with the others, great colors texture movement and it is just beautiful!!! It has been a great time working with you in this challenge!! Be Blessed!
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Wow what a beautiful line you have created Carole. You have such a creative design full of brilliant color and grace divine! I am thrilled for the success of your jewelry line. ~ Louise
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Beautiful line, Carole! Love the colors you’re working with. Your bracelets are my favorite 🙂
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Loving the texture design of your pieces and the flow of colors. You did a fantastik job.
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Yes I love your bracelets too. The texture and color are so unique. Beautiful work.
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Really enjoyed reading about your “problem solving”! Very lovely pieces and the silk tie on the bracelets really sets them off. :):)
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Love those blue and yellow pieces that you did. Great colors and lovely work! Well done!
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What a great line Carole! What a fun stamping pattern that you have repeated on your pieces! The BALC group was so much fun and it will be so much fun to watch each others lines in the future!
XOX Liz
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I am loving the colorization and mixing of the polymer clay with B’sue pieces.I think you did an awesome job, and both colorways are beautiful! I liked how you solved the stretchy bracelet problem, great idea!!
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