Welcome to the 8th annual Bead Soup Blog Party hosted by none other then the gorgeous, talented, vivacious Lori Anderson of Pretty Things!
This year's BSBP was a little rough from the get go; a lot of health setbacks (both the hostess and myself), some pushing back and re-arranging, but everyone made it safe and sound to the reveal. Much deserved shout out to Lori for organizing, pairing partners, instructing, and everything else while going through treatments and her own struggles.
If that's not one strong person inside and out, I don't know who is!
This year I was paired with the lovely and talented Rebecca Anderson of Songbeads. You can read my introduction post Here.
As a reminder, here is a picture of the soup Rebecca sent me...
Due to my own procrastination, a busy schedule, and up and down health issues I didn't get to utilize the soup as much as I would have liked to. I usually like to squeeze out as much as I can with what I'm given and this round of BSBP I have several things left including some handmade findings, full strands of beads, and of course the gorgeous polymer clay owl I received.
That little guy is going to be saved for something special and just for me!
Anywho, without anymore babbling, I present to you my 8th annual Bead Soup Blog Party soup creations...
This pair of earrings was made last in my 8th Bead Soup Blog Party (put last first and first last in the blog post reveal-go figure!) and while they weren't my favorite piece of the soup, I still do enjoy them!
From my soup I utilized the absolutely STUNNING faceted rondelle beads. I have almost a full strand left and I'm excited at the prospect of using them in future projects.
I contributed the round glass teal beads and bronze/gold tone heart skeleton key charms from my own stash.
This handmade necklace is one of my main pieces and it definitely took a good chunk of time to make, especially since the soup stumped me for quite awhile before I decided what direction I wanted to take. From Rebecca's bead soup I took two different Czech flower bead strands, along with her speckled robin's egg blue round beads, the porcelain bird focal and the handmade robin's nest component.
I wish I could have used the clasp that was lovingly made but for some reason I just couldn't get it to work so I had to unfortunately save that for another time when I have the resources to order some matching findings.
From my stash I contributed salvaged tiger's eye rondelle beads from a bracelet, round vintage cream beads from a broken necklace, glass teal beads from a salvaged bracelet, copper wire from another past project, copper chain I ran out to get for this specific piece, and a toggle clasp I happened to buy for a custom order that didn't work out-perfect timing I'd say!
I named this piece Meadow Lane because this necklace reminds me of walking through a meadow with it's whimsical air, soft and earthy colors, and, of course, bird perched on top of it's nest.
I love this pair of earrings! They're so simple but they're so gorgeous in their simple form. Thanks so much to Rebecca for her gorgeous Czech flower beads and her very whimsical handmade findings.
The only thing I had to do was go out and buy the ear wires to match the findings!
There's a story that goes with this particular bracelet. One day I was walking up the street to my former high school tutor and neighbor's house to help her out with something and as I was walking back home, I happened to look down and found that very shiny and circular metal washer on the ground!
Leading up to that moment I knew I wanted to do a bracelet but didn't know how to proceed-until I found that washer and everything came into place :)
Used from my soup are those gorgeously colored ceramic beads.
From my own stash came the chain that makes up a majority of the bracelet as well as those deep red colored seed beads, the 'lost & found' washer (hence the name), and the toggle clasp.
While I'm very satisfied with how this beauty turned out, I'm going to change the toggle when time and finances allow as well as learn how to solder the connecting jump rings shut because right now the bracelet is very fragile and the jump rings easily come apart.
This was the first pair of earrings completed after the necklace was done! As you can see I took some leftover Czech floral beads (some went to the necklace and some went to these earrings) from my soup and contributed them to this pair of dangly earrings.
From my stash were the round glass beads salvaged from a bracelet, as well as larger metallic brown seed beads, and silver tone wire I just ordered not too long ago.
Can I tell you a secret? I wanted to use these seed beads in the necklace above and below the bird like I did in this pair of earrings but I didn't have any copper headpins. I'm kind of glad I didn't because I think it would have been too much!
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Be sure to check out The List of all my other nearly 500 fellow beaders, bloggers, and jewelry designers. Of course also visit my partner Rebecca and see what she created with her soup!
