Mini BSBP Reveal

I'm still working on my Bead Soup Blog Party designs. My reveal isn't until August 25, so I'm not in FULL panic mode yet.

Here is a tiny peak at part of my progress. No spoiler here - your big hint is I'm using toggle(s) in my design(s)! Woo-hoo!

These are the toggles I received from my partner:

On your left, a beautifully textured silver-colored wing, with a smooth toggle ring. On the right, an ornately textured, larger, silver-colored ring with a long, smooth bar.

The wing was perfect for my design, except for being the wrong color. But as I worked some on the design, I realized it actually needed a bigger toggle ring, but I still wanted to use the wing. Lightbulb moment: switch the sets around, and put the wing with the larger, textured toggle. Their textures go together very well, and the long, smooth toggle bar fits in the smaller toggle ring, so that's perfect!

Next, I set out to change the colors of the clasps. By now, I had come up with a design idea using the second, smooth toggle set, so I needed to patinate both clasps:

I decided to use Perfect Pearls, which I have never used before. It had the colors I need, and seemed to be easy to work with (I have issues with alcohol ink sometimes; it tends to run, and bleed, and just in general not cooperate with me!). Whether the Perfect Pearls would cooperate remained to be seen!

To say the least, the Perfect Pearls are messy. The creators need to come up with better packaging! The little round plastic containers look almost the same from the top or bottom, so opening them upside down happened, a LOT. And even when opened correctly, static electricity makes the powder cling to the container, and then it suddenly releases, and goes everywhere (especially if the ceiling fan is on!). So all those stains on my bead mat are from stray Perfect Pearls powder - fortunately, I discovered it washes right out in the washing machine. Which made me worry about its staying power on my metal!

The Pearls has a silky, almost moist, powdery texture. So soft! To use, you first moisten your metal with "Perfect Medium" - it's like a little clear stamp pad of stickiness. Then you brush the powder on with the small brush, and then remove the excess with the large brush. And then use your method of choice as a sealer. I chose Rio Grande's Midas Finish Seal Lacquer.

textured wing toggle after amethyst Perfect Pearls

smooth toggle set after antique gold Perfect Pearls

So, there you have it - a teeny tiny look at my upcoming BSBP reveal. Betcha can't figure out what I'm making!