Bead Soup

It is time for Bead Soup again.  This year, I was partnered with the very talented Marcia Dunne - here is a reminder of what she sent me.......

My first instinct - as it always is - was to grab my resin and metal and get started.  But Marcia sent me some gorgeous fabric with my soup.  Fabric is not a natural choice for me - it isn't something I use much at all.  But I figure Bead Soup is the perfect time to try something new so, inspired by what Marcia sent, I decided to go out of my comfort zone and make fabric the star of the show.  I'm sure a lot of my fellow Bead Soup party-goers are expert users of fabric so my attempts may look at bit basic but they are something I haven't tried before and I've really enjoyed trying something new.  

First up, I took used the red fabric (silk? see I really know nothing about fabric!!) and used it to form the back of a necklace.  I paired this with a lovely peacock bead (from Happy Fish), the yellow lampwork beads, some pearls and a couple of pyrite beads from my stash.  Marcia made the clasp herself by patina-ing a vintage find.....

Marcia also sent some some gorgeous purple trim.  I formed a bangle in wire and carefully wound the trim around the bangle - I really liked how the trim looked when it was wound like this.  The bangle is finished off with a bead from the soup ingredients.....

Next I took the eye bead - Marcia made this herself - and attached this with a tangle of beads from my soup, some seed beads from my stash and some waxed linen cord.  I was enjoying my adventures with fabric so much that I didn't want to stop!  I found some dyed silk ribbon that had come with a kit from Smitten Beads and threaded this through some chain to form a necklace.   I finished this off with a mother of pearl clasp that Marcia also made..............

My last piece is a simple bracelet made with a lovely bead from Blueberri beads, a few more beads from my soup ingredients and some cube beads from my stash.  I used one of the buttons that Marcia sent for the clasp.......

I really enjoyed my experiments with fabric - thanks to Marcia for inspiring me to try it with such a lovely soup.  Please go and have a look at what she has made with what I sent and then go and have a look at all the other Bead Soup party-goers - there is sure to be some lovely work out there.

A final word for Lori Anderson, the mastermind behind Bead Soup.  I'm amazed at the care and organisation that Lori takes for the Bead Soup Blog Party - and all while she has been battling health problems.   Thanks so much Lori - get well soon!

The soup is cooking

I'm part of the bead soup blog party again this year - and this time I have been partnered up with the very talented Marcia Dunne.  Please go and have a look at her work - she is seriously talented and has just been published in Belle Armoire Jewelry magazine.  Very impressive - congrats to her for that!  

Here is what she sent me......

Marcia said that she had a good stash of artisan beads and she wasn't kidding.  She has sent beads from a few different bead artists - Happy Fish, Scorched Earth, Blueberri beads, as well as her own shop - some of whom I haven't come across before.  I'm going to enjoy looking up these shops and discovering new artists - part of the fun of this blog party.  I'm very happy with my bead soup - thanks Marcia! - I've got a few ideas already.  Please come back and see what I come up with on reveal day - May 3rd.  

Thanks to Lori Anderson for organising this blog party - especially when she is so sick.  It is a serious feat of planning and organisation.  She has nearly 500 of us to wrangle for this party - must be like herding cats!  Thanks Lori - get better soon. 

Bead Soup

Hooray, it is my reveal day for Bead Soup.  Jò sent me a lovely selection of goodies to work with.  There are some more detailed photos in my earlier blog entry but here is quick recap.....

I started by taking a few of the smaller elements from my soup ingredients and making them into a focal.

There were two bead caps that reminded me of the centre of flowers so I took some of the resin fragments that I blogged about a few weeks ago and made a daisy with the bead cap at the centre.  I paired this with the mother of pearl beads from my Bead Soup ingredients and some seed beads from my stash….

Next I took the leaf and branch charm and filled this with resin and tissue paper. I’ve paired this with some seed beads from my stash and some of the frosted glass beads and another leaf charm that Jò sent.....

Jò told me that she didn’t like working with the colour orange – and fortunately, the bead soup that I sent her didn’t have any orange in it.  To be honest, when I looked in my stash I couldn't find many orange beads either  so I guess I have the same issue with orange as Jò.  Therefore I thought, as one of the aims of Bead Soup is to expand your horizons, I should take it as a challenge to make something with orange beads.  I’ve made this bracelet with the few orange beads I found in my stash (and some creamy brown leaf beads to calm it down a bit!).  From my Bead Soup ingredients, I used some of the bead caps, a leaf charm and the small frosted orange beads that Jò sent….

I’ve had it in my mind for a while to make some resin pieces with some 3D elements.  Jò included some teeny-tiny bead caps and these gave me the perfect opportunity to try this idea out.  I embedded the bead caps in some of the resin and skeleton leaf components that I blogged about a couple of weeks ago.  I added some coloured resin in the centre to make a centre for the flower.....

and here is the completed piece……

Next I worked with the copper fold-formed focal that Jò sent me as a gift (as if her Bead Soup wasn't generous enough!!).  I made a macrame bracelet for this with some of the glass and silver beads from my soup ingredients....  

And last but not least – how did I use the focal and clasp from my soup ingredients?  I recently did a waxed linen cord knotting class with the very talented Rebecca Anderson over at the Manchester Bead Shop and I wanted to use what I’d learnt in that class.  I went all-in with this one and made a full-on girly confection!!  I paired glass beads from my stash, with the focal, clasp and silver beads from my soup ingredients....    

It has been really fun working with everything that Jò sent.  I was very lucky to be partnered with her!  I really enjoyed the challenge of using ingredients that I hadn’t worked with before.  Please head over to Jò’s blog to see what she made with the ingredients that I sent her.  And please also go and see what the other bead soup participants made – there is some lovely work out there. 

A final word to Lori Anderson – the hostess of the Bead Soup Blog Party.  I am amazed at the work that she puts into this.  Thanks very much Lori – I’ve really enjoyed your party!!  

Bead Soup

My bead soup has arrived from Italy!  The recipe is.......

.....take a focal and a clasp....

....stir in some tibetan silver hearts, beads and elements inspired by nature......

...add a generous scoop of bead caps.....

...mix in some crystals, glass beads and mother of pearl.....

....and let it simmer until the 13th April.....

I'm very grateful to Jò for her generous bead soup.  I'm excited to get started with it.  There are things that I haven't tried using before but that is a big part of the fun of the Bead Soup Blog Party - you get to push yourself outside your comfort zone and try something new.  Please come back on the 13th April to see what I make with my bead soup.  

********Update: my reveal date has been postponed until the 27th April.  Poor Lori, who organises Bead Soup, hasn't been well recently and needs a bit of extra time to deal with the mammoth task of organising the Bead Soup Blog Party.  Get well soon Lori! 

Jò also sent me some lovely gifts - aren't I lucky?  The hair grips are gorgeous and she also sent me one of her fold-formed copper focals.  I haven't tried fold-forming yet - and after seeing what Jò has done I think I'm going to give it a try.  

Finally, I should say that my bead soup arrived a few days ago and I apologise for not putting these photos on my blog until now.  I've badly sprained my ankle and that has slowed me down somewhat this week.  I have a bay window in my house which is where I take my photos.  It is good because it has light coming in from three sides and it also has a really wide window sill for setting up the photographs.  However, the sill is quite high up so I need to stand up to be able to take the photograph - which has been a bit tricky with my sprained ankle!

Bead Soup!

I'm happy to say that I've joined in with the Bead Soup Blog Party.  In case you don't know, this is organised by the amazing Lori Anderson.  I don't know how she does it but I'm glad that does!  She has visited the blogs of over 500 people and paired us all up.  The rules are simple - send your partner a focal, a clasp and some coordinating beads - make something beautiful with them - and then show your design on your blog on reveal day.

I've been lucky enough to be paired with Jò from Italy.  She is a multi-talented lady - as well as making lovely jewellery, she does scrap-booking, painting, papier mâché, ceramics......head over to her blog to take a look.  She is also a lovely person - I've really enjoyed getting to know her.

She received my parcel of bead soup ingredients today.  I took a photo of what I sent her to show you but she has done an amazing collage of it so I'll leave it to her - go and see what I sent her.  The parcel that she sent me is still on its way from Italy.  I'll post a picture when I receive it.

Our reveal date is the 13th April so please come and visit our blogs then to see what we made.  It will also be interesting to see what the other Bead Soup participants have made - Lori has links to all the other participants on her blog.  

In case, like me, you don't know a lot of Italian you can put Jò's web address into something like Google Translate and it will put it into slightly scrambled English for you.  

********Update: my reveal date has been postponed until the 27th April.  Poor Lori, who organises Bead Soup, hasn't been well recently and needs a bit of extra time to deal with the mammoth task of organising the Bead Soup Blog Party.  Get well soon Lori!