Well hello and welcome to the 6th Bead soup blog party 1st reveal.
What is a Bead Soup Blog Party? I hear you ask? Each participant was paired up with another beader and we sent each other a pack of beads including but not limited to... A focal A special clasp Some coordinating spacers or beads We had to make something from the beads we received. Using the focal and the clasp was mandatory, but we could use anything from our own beady stash and use the co-ordinating beads or not. The idea was to push ourselves creatively by using beads chosen by another person and on a given date reveal our creations as part of a huge blog partay/hop. Thank you Lori for putting together such an awesome bead party, you rock! My partner was Elaine Robitaille, a hugely talented polymer clay artist who hails from Canada. If you would like to see the beads I sent Elaine and what she made with them check out her blog post "cups of bead soup" Without further ado, I would like to present my bead soup necklace and earrings |
| Bead Soup Necklace and Earrings |
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| A different view - love that clasp! |
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| Focal close up |
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| Earrings |
Pick a name and start hopping...
Eleanor Burian-Mohr, The Charmed Life
Enikö Fabian, Perl-eni Erin Prais-Hintz, Treasures Found Heather Davis, Blissful Garden Beads Heidi Post, Ex Post Facto Jewelry Hilary Frye, FryeStyle Ilenia Ruzza, Ilenia's Unique Beaded and Painted Jewelry Inge von Roos, Inge's Blog Jami Shipp, Celebrating Life Jayne Capps, Mama's Got to Doodle Jean A. Well, Jean A. Wells Handcrafted Artisan Jewelry Jean Yates, Snap Out of It Jean! There's Beading to Do! Jennifer Cameron, Glass Addictions Jennifer Pottner, Rock Candy Beads Jennifer VanBenschoten, Jewelry, Art and Life Jenny Davies-Reazor, Jenny Davies-Reazor Jenny Vidberg, Shyme Design Jessica Dickens, My Jewelry, My Life, Me Jessica Klaaren, Beadful-Things by Jessica JJ Jacobs, Coming Abstractions Joan Williams, Lilruby Jewelry Judith Johnston, Lampwork Jewels -You are HERE Judy Riggs, Rigglettes Judy Turner, Silver Rains Julie Anne Leggett, The Peaceful Bead K Hutchinson, Jumbled Hutch Karen Meador, Dreamcatcher Ranch Karyn Bonfiglio, Plus Size Bangles Katherine Gale, Terra Beadworks Kathleen Lange Klik, Modern Nature Studio Katja Benevol Gabrijelcic, Slovonske Technobe Kelli Jacobson, Creative Moon Kelly Ramstack, Adventures with Kelly Keri Lee Sereika, Pink Lemonade Kim Ballor, Vitamin C... A Daily Dose of Creativity Kim Bender-Hora, KimmyKat Kirsi Luostarinen, Kirsi Luo Korut Kitty Bozzini, Kitty Lampwork Laura Demoya, The Bead Therapist Laurie Hanna, Laurie's Jewelbox Leah Curtis, Beady Eyed Bunny Lesley Watt, The Gossiping Goddess Linda Inhelder, Must-Haves Jewelry Linda Landig, Linda's Bead Blog & Meanderings Lisa Liddy, Metal Me This Lori Dorrington, Lori's Adventures in Etsy Land Lori Poppe, Adventures in Creativity with Lorillijean Mallory Hoffman, For the Love of Beads Marge Beebe, Rock Creek Creations Marianna Boylan, Pretty Shiny Things Marion Simmons, Shade Tree Studio Marla Gibson, Spice Box Design Marta Weaver, Marta Weaver Jewelry Marti Conrad, Marti C's Clay Blog Maryse Fritzsch-Thillens, GlassBeadArt, Lampwork Beads Melanie Brooks, Earthenwood Studio Michelle Hardy, Firefly Visions Mikala Coates, Maybe Just Perhaps Mowse Doyle, HoCArt Nan Emmett, Spirit Rattles - Spirited Earth Nancy Boylan, Snazzy Doodle Designs Nancy Peterson, Beading From the Heart Nicole Rennell, Nicole Rennell Designs Niki Meiners, 365 Days of Craft Niky Sayers, Silver Nik Nats Norma Turvey, Moonlit Fantaseas Paige Maxim, Paige Maxim Designs Pamela Gangler, She Always Loved Pink Patricia Johnson, Patricia L. Johnson Glass Art Patti Vanderbloemen, My Addictions ... Handcrafted Jewelry by Patti Perri Jackson, Shaktipaj Designs Raida Disbrow, Havana Beads Renetha Stanziano, Lamplight Crafts Shannon Hicks, Falling Into the Sky Shannon LeVart, Miss Fickle Media Sharon Driscoll, Right Turn Art Werks Shelby Foxwell, Sundown Bead Designs Rhetoric Shelley Graham Turner, Fabric of My Life Sherri Stokey, Knot Just Macrame Shirley Moore, Beads and Bread Skylar Bre'z, Brising Beads Stacie Florer, Soul to Substance Stacie Stamper, Park Avenue Stacy Alderson, Iridal's Attic Stephanie Haussler, Pixybug Designs Stephanie Stamper, Rainy Day Designs Sue Hamel, The Bottle Cork and Crystal Suzette Bentley, Ellie's Bijoux Szarka, Magpie Gemstones Tammy Jones, Jewelry Making Daily Tania Tebbit, Glass, Craft, & Artful Goodness Tanty Sri Hartanti, TJewellicious by Tanti Terry Matuszyk, Pink Chapeau Tina Bosh, Every Good and Perfect Gift Tracy Bell, Copper, Glass and Recycled Trash Vonna Maslanka, Just VonnaI am on the horns of a dilemma... The sign ups for the 7th Bead Soup blog are fast approaching and I really, really want to take part again. I absolutely loved the last one, if you remember I was paired with Elaine Robitaille of Too Aquarius who sent me a package of her spectacular polymer clay beads. I loved working out how to use them and I only got slightly stressed about posting my final piece. I also loved visiting the blogs of the other particpants and seeing their bead soup ingredients, reading about their inspiration and process to their final pieces.
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| My delicious soup from last year |
But....
I am somewhat over subscribed at the moment...
I have several Facebook Groups which I signed up for in a flurry of new year enthusiasm but it's looking less and less likely that I have time for.
I am commited to my once a month blog circle, which doesn't sound much but I really try to take time over writing, reading and commenting on it.
I am already doing the Art Jewelry Earring challenge.
I have an exciting e-course starting in the next week or so
My mothers house is due to exchange and complete over the next 4-6 weeks, which means I have all sorts of packing and organising shenanagins to sort out.
not to mention various teams and forums that I am active in
and mostly not forgetting
lampwork!
I want to make some beads, I really want to make some beads and there just aren't enough hours in the day.
So I think that I need to scale it down a bit and work out what I can sensibly achieve. I am still undecided but it is looking unlikely that I will sign up for Bead Soup 7 however just because I can't doesn't mean you shouldn't. Lori is accepting all applicants this time with 3 different reveal dates so click on over to Bead Soup 7 and check it out. Sign ups are from 25-27th January that is just four days away so mark your diaries.
Oh and don't be surprised if I suddenly show up over there having had a last minute attack of the sod it, I just fancy a bowl of soup.
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| Soup is served |
I recently signed up for the Art Jewelry Elements blog Earring Challenge to make one pair of earrings every week for a whole year, the earrings have to feature at least one artisan component. Every two weeks there will be a reveal with some of the earrings being featured on the AJE blog. There is also a Pinterest board which is looking fantastic already with challenge participants.
Both my first and second pair feature gorgeous polymer clay beads by Elaine Robitaille of Too Aquarius. Elaine and I were partners in the Bead Soup challenge last year and I have been waiting for an opportunity to use these wonderful beads since last autumn.
My first pair are Flower Fairy Earrings with Elaine's flower beads, gemstone beads and Swarovski lilac opal crystal beads wire wrapped with Bali silver headpins.
Check out some of the other blog hop participants below there are some wonderful earrings out there.
I love the start of the year, a clean slate bursting with the of possibility of adventure.The start of this year finds me deep in family stuff. My 76 year old mother has sold her house and we are currently packing up the last 48 years of her life and all that goes with it. Layers of the lives of the people who lived there are being trawled through and sorted out. Tons of crap punctuated with bright sparkling jewels of memories, photographs, books, the occasional treasure which has lain forgotten about for decades, it's an emotional roller coaster, heart breaking at times.
I can't imagine how hard it must be to be leaving the scene of your entire life for nearly 50 years. The memories and ghosts of the people you loved most and other, bit part players you were rather less fond of. I do know mum, although sad, is really looking forward to finding somewhere smaller, easier to keep and cosy, her new beginning.
It's not just mum leaving, it's me too. When the removal van pulls away from the house where I lived from the age of 3 I will be leaving behind the house I left for school every morning waving to mum through a gap in the trees, the house where I experienced the highs and lows of being a teenager, the house I first I left for a bedsit in Dulwich at 19, the house where I set off for my wedding at 24, the house where my father and brother both passed away. It is a place packed with so many of my memories I know I will be overwhelmed with sadness.
On the other side of that though I can already see a gleaming new path, liberated from lifelong fears and expectations. It feels as if I really am throwing out the old to bring in the new by exposing things that have laid under dust for years and actually deciding I don't want or need them.
My new beginning is a big one it involves business plans, travel plans, new beads, new jewelry, lots of things I dreamt about for years. Finally, as Howard Jones once sang, I will be able to throw off my mental chains and I am beyond excited as to where it's going to take me!
This post is part of a "New Beginnings" blog circle, if you would like to step this way and follow the link the next blog is by Jean Wagner - New Beginnings
