7th Bead Soup Blog Party: The Soup!

It's been quite some time since we got our partners for Lori Anderson's 7th annual Bead Soup Blog Party. Due to circumstances beyond both of our controls, my partner Kelly and I had a little issue getting each other our prospective soups; life just happened and our soups were put on the backburner.

Pun somewhat intended.

Thankfully, we were able to get our soups to their homes and I for one couldn't be happier with what Kelly sent me!

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A mixture of greens and blues with handmade copper components, this soup is downright magical. Especially with the handmade copper bound book focal Kelly made for me--I nearly cried when I saw that beauty!

"Once upon a time. My story by KP. And they all lived happily ever after."

I told Kelly she doesn't realize how appropriate and meaningful that gorgeous pendant is in regards to my crazy life. I definitely can't wait to give that pendant a perfect home so it can be a reminder to me everyday no matter where my story leads, we'll all live happily ever after in the end.

Now I'm just waiting on an Amazon shipment of copper wire to dive into this blue and green sea of bead and copper goodness!


On to the bad news...Do you remember that sneak peak I put up of the soup I sent Kelly awhile back? Unfortunately I must have misplaced or accidentally deleted the pictures because I can't find them anywhere! If Kelly posts pictures of her soup, I'll see if I can snag one and post it up here.

Regardless, I can't wait until our reveal to share what I make and see what Kelly makes from what I sent her ^.^

Did you get your soup already? Leave a link so I can visit and fawn over it!

Flashback Monday(1/21)

Originally posted on May 20th, 2009 entitled 'The Making of a Good Cause-Beadware IL' 

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Happy Wednesday everyone and here is the other installment of my The Making of a Good Cause series!

When making a bracelet, the beads are the soul of the piece, but the findings are the heart and body. So you couldn't have a beautiful piece of jewelry without the clasps, crimp beads, or jump rings as its structure.

Which brings me to introduce you to the wonderful company I bought my 13mm Bali Sterling Silver Double Strand Toggle Clasp(pictured to the right below) from, Beadware IL on Ebay! If your not familiar with their store name, you might know them by their Ebay username wooden_flower.

Some information on Beadware IL right from their website:

Beautiful beads from around the world - Swarovski crystals in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, Bali silver beads and findings, Czech glass, Venetian glass, Grade A fiber optic cats eye beads in 30 colors,

vintage lucite, and more!

Free US shipping on purchases of $50 or more

If you want to know more about the technical stuff such as shipping, returns, and whatever else you may question, check their FAQ page here.
When I went in search of the perfect clasp, I knew I had requirements; One, for it to be double stranded and two, it be sterling silver because I wanted this to be a high quality bracelet with nothing but the best materials. Then I wandered upon this toggle clasp and it was beautiful!

Looking through Beadware IL, I can see their description is right on the money! They have a wide variety of stunning

and very affordable beads and findings. I found what I paid for the sterling silver toggle clasp(after shipping) was extremly reasonable. I am very satisfied at how perfectly it went with my bracelet and how easy working with the company was.

With reasonable prices, fast shipping, and 100% positive feedback, you have another place to indulge your jewelry fetish! Lol

Tomorrow we will be featuring an Etsy seller(finally)! And this one is where I got my amazing elephang charm. Don't miss it!

Flashback Monday(1/14)

Originally posted on May 19th, 2009 entitled 'The Making of a Good Cause-24hourgems' 

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I thought I would start out with the beads that I chose for the auction bracelet. The first thing you should know about me is that I love symbolism. It means more to me if I buy something that has meaning to it over something that's just an object-Kind of like buying handmade or vintage as opposed to factory made. Handmade is just more personal and has more of a story then some mass produced cheapy piece of crap you buy from a chain store.

So of course I'm going to put symbolism into my bracelet! And because this is going to the Elephants, I figured I would look up the Elephant totem online and see what some of it's attributes were.

Here is what I found from Lins Domain:

An Elephant totem gives you

ancient wisdom and power to draw upon.

It embodies strength and power.
 

It's very important that I add those qualities to my bracelet because that's who I am. I want to make this bracelet personal and meaningful for the person who buys it.

I did some research and found all of those qualities in one beautiful stone: Lapis Lazuli. I found the perfect Lapis beads at 24hourbeads on Ebay!

A little about the company from their site:

We specialize in beads: Freshwater Pearl, Millefiori Glass, Lampwork Glass, Gemstones, Kyanite, Ruby, Pink Opal, Lava, Turquoise, Bracelet, Pearl Necklace, Biwa Pearl, Tourmaline and much more.
 

I have to say I am extremely satisfied with this company! The beads where beyond stunning(I am debating on making myself something from whats left over), the shipping was fast and easy, and very pleasant to work with in general.

If you take a look at their site, you can find anything in any price range. Speaking of prices, WOW. They are extremely reasonable even before shipping.

All in all, I am very satisfied on my purchase from 24hourbeads and I'm eyeballin a few other lovelies for my collection! Lol

Come back tomorrow for more on The Making of a Good Cause.

The Chosen Ones and a Lime Green Ticket!

Everyone knows (or possibly knows, I'm not sure since it was on my other blog before I switched) I participated in the lovely Lori Anderson's latest Bead Soup Blog Party this past July. I had an absolute blast, met a ton of new people and broadened my jewelry designing horizons, just to name a few things I took away from the experience!

Lori Anderson of Pretty Things has been doing these bead soup parties going on 6 rounds now and is currently in the process of publishing a book about the parties courtesy of Kalmach Jewelry Books!

Trying to create some publicity and buzz about the book's release this month, Kalmach decided to throw their OWN bead soup party and recruited bead stores from all around the country to send in a particular handpicked soup from their stores, which they would in turn send out to the lucky 'Chosen Few.'

Guess what?

The Golden Lime Green Ticket!

I was one of those lucky and honored chosen ones!

I kept my fingers and toes crossed, took a deep breath and when I opened my mailbox, I saw that beautiful pop of green that screamed at me, "Bead Soup Enclosed!" I cannot tell you the feeling of elation I had when I realized I had a soup ^.^

Of course I tore that puppy open as soon as I had a moment. Let me ask you this my dear friends and readers: Is it wrong to love beads SO much?! 

My gorgeous bead soup

Seriously, I think this soup was MADE for me or at the very least, the person who picked it out knew this would be something I'd fall in love with.

And fall in love with it I did indeed!

Make sure to keep coming back to see what I create with my incredible soup-Deadline is end of October, but I'm sure if I'm feeling better and health permits, it'll be much sooner.

Thank you to Lori, Kalmach Jewelry Books and A Beadtiful Thing for this wonderful opportunity :)




P.s. The shop that sent my bead soup is located in Aurora, Illinois. Ironic or an interesting twist of fate? You decide ;)

For Me, Myself, and I

It's been a good, long while since I actually made something for me, myself and I.

I mean, I honestly couldn't tell you the last time I made something specifically with myself in mind. I've always been focused on making things for other people; presents, giveaway prizes (I'm a sucker for a good giveaway), sell-able items to put in the Etsy shop...

That changed recently, though, when a friend of mine and I made a trip to a small bead show being held in Rockford (The Crystal Limit out of Missoula, Montana).

It was an impromptu trip because I had completely forgotten about the show on the 2nd and 3rd of this month until we virtually passed by it looking for something to do! Kismet I tell you ^.^

I digress.

Walking around, I set eyes on this ethereal beauty and it was all over for me-I had to have her.

I've always wanted my own Gaia or Goddess pendant or charm, so it was, again, kismet. Plus, the fact that it was in a gorgeous purple hue cemented the deal even more (purple is my favorite color).

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The pendant and the wire used in wire wrapping are the only two things I bought new. The rest was upcycled, including those incredible purple beads which were parted out from a larger necklace, ironically bought before I even laid eyes on the pendant at one of the annual Labor Day flea markets in Rockford.

I think this necklace was just one big Meant-To-Be, don't you? ;)