A Little Soup Anyone?

For the past few years I've participated in Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party, so I couldn't let this one go by without playing again. My partner is Leslie Schenkel and she does some amazing lampwork beads. I am so lucky to be paired with her this year. Here is a look at her blog , and here are the lovely things she sent me to play with.

She sent two sets of beady goodness to choose from. I may use the set on the top with the purple and greens but I'm fascinated with the bright colors of the 2nd set. Oh, what to do. Maybe I'll make several things and then I can use all of it.

If you are wondering what I sent her, here is a quick look. I made the pendant and the components. I can't wait to see what she makes from all of it.

The rule from Lori to participate in this bead swap is you must have a blog and once you have your swapped beads from your partner you must use the focal and the clasp.

In other interesting news, I special ordered some pottery pendants to be made so that I could sell them as essential oil diffusers. I'm so happy with them. They were made by Teresa Griffin Pottery Studios and features a glazed back and unglazed front so that the essential oil will absorb.

Here is the complete batch.

Here is the piece I made today. I've even tested it with a drop of Peppermint essential oil and it works great.

Have a great week and don't forget to come back on March 30th for the Bead Soup Reveal where I will show you what I have made with my beads from Leslie.

Bead Soup Reveal...yea

It's the day of the official Bead Soup Blog Party hosted by Lori Anderson of Pretty Things. Now for the reveal of our creations that we sent our partners earlier this month. If you want to see what I received here is the link to that post.   http://danasjewelrydesign.blogspot.com/2012/07/6th-bead-soup-party.html

The rules are simple, we are to use the focal and clasp in our design(s), which can be all in one piece or a couple, we don't have to use all the beads our partner sent and we can add some of our own.

As soon as I saw what my partner Cheryl sent I knew I had to use the pink and the little silver purse for my niece who is a Miche representative. I used the clasp in this piece as the findings were sterling and that is what she wears most often. I struggled with this piece as I first thought I wanted to do a stretchy bracelet and then the clasp called to me and I decided she would wear a strung one more often. I love how it turned out. Most of these beads are Cheryl's with the lampwork and sterling bead caps of mine thrown in.

This next piece has the lovely enamel pieces that Cheryl made....love them, so I used the largest as my focal, along with some copper washers that I hit with my torch and then hammered, green garnet that Cheryl sent, blue lapis and some jade that I had. Cheryl also sent the chain I used. This piece doesn't have a clasp as it is long enough to slip over the head and I love the sari silk at the back.

I hope everyone is enjoying the hop. Be sure to check out my partners creations from the beads I sent her at  http://cherylmccloud.blogspot.com/.  If you are just stopping my and haven't seen the other participants creations, here is the link to some wonderful blogs to check out. http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.com/2012/06/participants-of-6th-bead-soup-blog.html

The 6th Bead Soup Party

It is that time of year again for Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party hop. See link on the right hand column if you want to check it out. I am in the first reveal (7/28) ooh, that's coming up fast, and my awesome partner is Cheryl McCloud... here is her blog..talk about a wonderful artist.

There are so many of us in this blog hop that Lori has separated it into 3 different reveal dates so we have time to visit everyone's blog and see what wonderful jewelry creations they made with their partners beads.

The rules of play are that you must have a blog and you must use the focal and the clasp that your partner sends you. You don't have to use both focal and clasp in one piece. We post pictures showing the pieces we made on the reveal date and then hop around to all the other blogs. Fun right.

Well I received this wonderful soup from my partner.

See those lovely enameled pieces in the bottom left, well those Cheryl made herself. I think I will have to use that large one as my focal. So many choices. The color palette is perfect. I'm going to have to get started.

If you follow me on Facebook then you have seen these photos before but just in case you haven't, I made these two necklaces yesterday.

Both of these necklaces are longish and feature all vintage pieces like chandelier crystals, old buttons, old pins, old bottle (top photo), crystals from an old necklace, sari silk and on the last one a silver piece off a watch chain. All the chain is new. I had one other one but when I wore it to lunch with a friend she took it right off my neck claiming she needed to take it to Paris with her...LOL. I kind of figured she would like that necklace. It was similar in design to the bottom picture with the crystal point as the centerpiece.

The Bead Soup Party Reveal

A couple times a year I participate in Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog party. This is such an inspiring event as it pushes your boundaries to try new things and use different supplies that you wouldn't normally purchase. After we sign up, Lori pairs everyone up and then we send our partner a clasp, pendant or focal bead and a selection of beads. They in turn have to make some thing with those beads and now show them off during this big blog hop. There are over 300 participants, so that's a lot of blogs to visit but I'll be starting bright and early tomorrow morning. So, finally I get to show you what I made with my bead soup. My partner was Christie of Charis Designs and to start off I'll show you the wonderful mix of beads she sent me.

Now we all get in a rut sometimes and I'm just as susceptible as anyone but who couldn't be inspired with this mix. I just am in love with blues right now. Okay, so there was a funny coincidence in that we both sent each other the same metal to work with as well as blue beads and as I'm writing this I jumped over to her blog and we both created items that look very similar or that you could wear with each other. Check out what she made on this post. I made this set before we left for our Napa trip and just had to take it with me. It was fun to wear and just a bit edgy.

As you can tell I used the bronze chain on one side of the necklace and some brown leather knotted with beads and jump rings on the other and the pendant just works to set it all off. The bracelet is made with stretch magic more of the ceramic beads, bronze spacer beads and some Kyanite square beads I had in my stash that mixed well with the other blues. I don't normally like stretchy bracelets but this one is so comfortable. I can't wait to play with some more of the beads she sent me. 

To visit some of the other participants in the party, check out Lori Anderson's blog for the full list.