8th Bead Soup Blog Party Reveal!

Here we go—it's bead soup time! This is my second time joining in on the fun of this fabulous party. First I have to give an enormous thank you to our hostess, Lori Anderson for bringing us all together to share, learn, and to simply be amazed by the new jewelry creations that have been inspired by this special event.

I was lucky enough to be paired up with the talented seed beader, Shirley Moore of Beads and Bread and wow! did she make this a happy and surprising party for me! Shirley sent me one amazing soup!


You may or may not know that fine details are a favorite of mine and so, of course I adore seed beads… but I've always only used them as spacers and to accent my creations—I've never done any real seed beading and so I was totally caught off my guard when Shirley's bright, sparkly, pink, seed-beaded soup arrived! Yes, the detail is just stunning! I love the free-form and curving shape of the focal, but… my! oh my! what to make with it all! Had I been a seed beader, I expect I would have gotten busy creating some elaborately embellished beaded design… no time to learn! And certainly not enough seed beads lying around in my studio. And then there was the fact that it was all so very pink—I've always considered earth tones to be my safe zone favorite. So, I spent the next several weeks thinking about it and thinking about it some more… I tried some things that altogether flopped. And then it was my sister Bethanne who sparked the final design when she said that it should be very elegant and have multiple twisted beaded strands and should be sea inspired. And, yes, I did go with more seed beads and yes, much more pink…

Here's what I made…

I've titled it "Seamaid Dreams". I agree, Shirley's pendant softly whispers of nautical themes in its curving shape and white stripes—like some unknown starfish—not in a blue-sailor-stripe way, but more like a deep sea beauty, such that only mermaids would know of—a treasure sparkling bright, and of course, in pink!

Silver is not a staple in my studio and I only bring it out for special occasions (gifts mainly—my sisters are all silver-lovers!). I found this floral connector in that stash and with a little wire working added it as a crown to Shirley's pendant.

Pink is usually a bit rare in my studio also—I found bright pink seed beads in the same shade as the ones in the pendant and some in rainbow-y pink, aurora borealis faceted czech glass, and soft pink agate chips. To those I added the white faceted beads from Shirley (and a few smaller matching ones from my own stash), her cute beaded beads in white and silver, some silver spacers, tiny vintage seed beads in white, and 8 frosted czech seashell beads.

I did a little more wire-working on the back to hold all the beaded strands and then strung each strand and twisted them together.

I thought for quite a while that I would use Shirley's clasp for a second design, but no other clasp seemed the right closure for this necklace—her clasp and pendant are just meant to be together! The two inner-most strands of the necklace I kept separate from the rest, simply wiring the ends together—they're long enough to slip easily over the head and I wanted them to just drape beside the twisted strands.

Very glamorous and very pink—but I'm just so thrilled with the way it turned out! I really wasn't sure I could do Shirley's work justice, but I can happily say I love the way this design turned out. What a happy learning experience it was!

One necklace down—the star of it all—and still more soup to go!

Next up, I turned to the white flower beads—all along I had been thinking of going green and brown with these flowers to add a nice bright white pop.

I had originally planned to make a bracelet… and then I pulled out this sweet little brass bird… a soft green oval stone… a large round silver toggle ring… and a frayed bit of my favorite vintage fabric. And all together it became a brand new pendant—the bracelet idea flew out the window! I've titled it "A Beautiful Day"—for me the colors, theme, and style bring to mind a breezy summer day walking far out into the gorgeous Virginia outdoors, breathing in the fresh scent of the growing and blooming woods and listening to birds singing in the treetops—a beautiful day indeed!

From the pendant, I strung some rust-brown pennant shaped czech beads, alternating with more tiny vintage white seed beads and the glass flowers.

Next, I added some art bead goodness—on the left a juicy green faceted ceramic bead from Gaea, and on the right a lovely spotted forest green bead from MonasLampwork. And then I put in two of my own polymer rounds and a yellow-orange striped triangular bead, and for a little extra surprise—a colorful flower millefiori cube.

Too cute! The beads tied off to the side are vintage carved jade (or glass… I'm not sure exactly) from a broken necklace that had belonged to my great grandmother.

And lastly, I tied it all together with a wider torn piece of the vintage fabric to match the pendant—also from my great grandmother. I know some might consider these colors "old" but I just love them!


Okay, I have just one more design… wait! actually two—to show you and then you can continue your hopping…

I woke up early on Friday (the day before the party!) ready to make more, so here you go…

From my soup, I used the ceramic ring, the pink rounds, and the pink sparkly czech cubes. I call it "A Smile in Pink" because this bead soup really has been a journey about the color pink and the happiness that it creates. And also because whenever there's a half circle in beads (or whatever) I can't help but see the "smile" in it. :-)

This necklace also sings with art bead loveliness—a ceramic ring in pretty pink from MarlasMud, bright orange jade, pink rounds, czech glass, then another of my polymer rounds, a gorgeous spotted bead from MonasLampwork, a tiny floral cloisonné round, a magenta wood round, a cute bumpy bead from Mona…

(continuing right to left) a bright raspberry beaded bead from Kristen Stevens, a second polymer round by me—this time in sunny yellow-orange and red, a donut from Mona, a few more glass beads, and one last spotted bead from Mona.

The little czech cubes from Shirley are all dressed up and fancy in another of my mom's fabric beaded cords—I simply handed over the beads and picked a fabric and a while later my mom returned with this fun new creation!

And lastly, it's all finished off with a loop of pearl seed beads and one of my sunny orange polymer butterflies.

This pair of earrings is actually the first bead soup creation I finished—I used the rectangles made by Sharyl's Jewelry, two more cloisonné rounds, clear vintage rounds, and teeny tiny faceted czech turquoise beads to top them off—a perfect matching set together with my new necklace!

I still have a few more sparkly beads left, but those I'll save for future projects or for whenever the pink muse strikes… probably a bit more often than in the past!

Thank you all so much for stopping by my little corner of blogland and taking a peek at my bead soup creations! Again, a huge thank you to Shirley—I never thought pink and stepping so far out of my comfort zone would have had this amazingly happy ending! And thank you again Lori—I look forward to your future parties, big or small. :-)

If you haven't already, you really must go see what Shirley has created with the soup I sent her—go here. That's where I'm going next…

Join in on all the fun and visit the rest of the party here:

http://www.prettythingsblog.com/2014/05/welcome-to-8th-bead-soup-blog-party.html

Happy Hopping!