Bead Soup Blog Party Reveal

Thank you for stopping by!  Today is the 8th Bead Soup Blog Party reveal and blog hop. What is a bead soup I hear you ask?  It's a wonderful collection beads, comprising a gorgeous focal and a clasp, that is exchanged between partners from anywhere in the world, and on reveal day (today) we share what we've created with the beads we received!

In case you missed my post about the beads I received, here’s an other photo of them. I received a huge bead soup from my partner, Esterina. She was clever enough to realise that she could fill the box with beads and not have to pay extra postage, I wish I had though of that! Esterina is a polymer clay artist and she sent me some of her own beads, including two focals, that are amazing! She really is quite talented.



Here’s the first piece I created with the soup Esterina sent me. I used the clasp, one of the gorgeous focals, two of the coordinating polymer clay beads, faceted amethyst and rose quartz, silver beads and purple ceramic beads, all from the soup. I added some glass pearls and daisy spacers. I used a silver pinch bail to attach the focal to the strand of beads. 



Here’s a few more photos of the polymer clay beads and focal.





I thought a few earring were in order. The first pair match the necklace. I used some of the pumpkin shaped ceramic beads from the soup and paired them with larger glass pearls. The second pair pretty much made themselves, keishi pearls from the soup and silver stardust beads. The last pair I made with the batik leather drops and lampwork beads also from the soup and hung from purple anodised niobium hooks.



Here’s a quick memory wire bracelet, using the lampwork beads and random wooden and enamel beads from my own bead soup bowl. I was hoping to have another bracelet completed and ready to show all of you but I'm still waiting on a set of carved wooden beads that I just had to have!





Well enough about my soup, head on over to my bead soup partner, Esterina of e-Klei Jar  and then all the others! Please visit  Lori of Bead Soup Blog Party for a full list of the participants.

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Bead Soups have arrived!

Don't you love this time of year, when the handmade bead and jewellery community come together and exchange the most glorious beads! Today I'm going to share the soups my Bead Soup partner and I exchanged!

Yay! Bead soups have arrived and now it's time to play show and tell.

Soup sent

First things first, the soup I sent off to my partner Esterina. I began preparing a beads soup right after the signup day, I don't usually do this, I like to wait until I find out about my partner. Well, don't you know it, I had prepared a bead soup with a polymer clay focal that was a little too much like what my partner usually worked with. After emailing each other we agreed to challenge each other a little, which is what the Bead Soup Party is all about, so I changed the soup completely.

This is the soup I sent my partner! A cloisonné focal, czech glass beads of various types (pressed glass, fire polished beads and some matte "beach" style beads), an enamel leaf, blue dragonscale agate, mixed 6/0 seed beads, pineapple quartz disks, an s clasp and a polymer clay mood bead. I'm not sure how these are made but when you hold it in your hand it changes colour; yellow, brown, green, blue and purple are some of the colours I've seen. I included it because the design seemed to be similar to the blue flower on the focal.

Soup Received

Now it's time to share with you the beads soup I received from my partner.

Quite an embarrassment of riches! I could barely fit all of these lovelies in one picture, so I sectioned them out into my favourite dish and photographed them.

top left are the gemstones - amethyst coral and rose quartz

top right - African and Indonesian lampwork beads

middle left - coconut shell beads and batik leather beads

middle right - silver spacer beads, keishi pearl, purple ceramic beads and two clasps

And finally in the bottom picture some of Esterina's own polymer clay beads

Already without even trying I can "see" at least 3 pairs of earrings, 2 bracelets and 3 necklaces. We shall see just how many pieces I can get done before the reveal on May 3rd. I might just be making things with this soup for quite some time to come :)

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Bead Soup is Cooking!

 

Back After a Break

It's been a long time since I last wrote a blog post, a whole season in fact. The reason is simple: I wanted to spend the Summer holidays with my girls before they decided their mum was too boring to be around, lol. I suppose I'm quite lucky, both the girls and I have common interests and a similar sense of humour, although I really can't wait until the youngest outgrows the teenage eye rolling, groans and muttering to herself!

 

And Now for the Bead Soup

One thing I didn't want to miss is the 8th Bead Soup Blog Party, organized by Lori Anderson of Pretty Things. This is my third BSBP, you can read about my past creations here. This year my partner is Esterina of e-Klei Jar in Indonesia. This is her first BSBP and we have been emailing each other, and as usual, Lori has made a great pairing with us!

Esterina makes gorgeous polymer clay beads and jewellery which you can see on her blog. Here are some of my favourites.

 

After chatting with my partner via emailing I've put together an interesting bead soup for her. Here's my teaser photo.

The reveal date for this blog party is May 3rd. For more information and the full list of participants please visit Lori's blog closer to the reveal date.

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7th Bead Soup Blog Party - 3rd Reveal is Here!

I'm over the moon to be taking part in the 7th Bead Soup Blop Party, this is my second time taking part, see here for last years reveal. Huge thanks and a big get “well and hope your feeling better soon” to our amazing hostess Lori Anderson of Pretty Things. (Read more about the BSBP on Lori's blog in the link.)

This massive event with over 500 participants from many countries was split into three separate reveal dates, and because of Lori’s illness we have had two weeks between each reveal. I still haven’t finished blog hopping yet and it’s time for my reveal!!

Also a great big thank you to my swap partner Penny of Smelly Nelly and Etsy shop Forgotten Tracks. Penny sent an interesting soup for me to work with, some of the soup is in colours I don’t normally work with and others are right up my alley. Be sure to visit Penny at Smelly Nelly to see what she made with what I sent her. Here’s is a reminder of the soup she sent me.

The first piece I made was these earrings. Those disks were calling me from the soup dish on my table for a few days before I made them. I’m not sure if the disks are agate or pressed glass but I love them any way. I’ve paired them with vintage brass wire and 2mm lemon jade beads and red copper wire. They measure 3 inches or 7.5cm from the top of the hook to the tip of the jade beads.

This necklace was a simple design, but I really wanted to include the pinch beads from the soup. I’ve never used beads of this shape before. You might not be able to see it in the photos, but the beads, which are a lovely chocolatey brown have an iridescent petrol finish that picks up the colour of the crystals (also from the soup) quite nicely.

Here I've used three of the dragon-veined (dragon-scale?) agate beads from my soup. I LOVE these beads!! I've teamed them with brass bead caps, vintage brass chain and some orphaned lampwork beads from Genschi. The Focal is a large carved wood button from my stash.

And, last but by no means least, the focal and clasp. I’ll be honest, that focal had me stumped, I knew I wanted to use it as a pendant, but how? Then all of a sudden everything came together. I found a brass pendant at Spotlight (local craft/haberdashery store), used a smudge of Vintaj Patina in moss green, glued the focal and paired it with some of my favourite brass chain. The czech bead dangles are from Zoe and Bruno and the wooden disks are from my favourite local bead store Absolutely Beads. The lampwork bead and sari silk are from my stash.

Don't you just love the fish clasp? I also use a little Vintaj Patina on the focal to bring out the centre detail.

Ok that’s it for me time for everyone to get hopping! Visit Lori for the official third reveal list and don’t forget to check Penny of Smelly Nelly to see what she has made with the bead soup I sent her.

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Bead Soup and an Absent Muse

The First Reveal for the Bead Soup Blog Party was on the weekend and it's made me realised just how far behind I am. I have little excuse really, I've had the time but no motivation. It seems my Muse is elsewhere at the moment.


So, I thought I might get all the 'happenings' in my life out in the open. It's been a crazy few months here in the little hills cottage. Things going on with Hubby and his job have had most of us on edge, wondering what he's going to do. You see his employer made promises to him regarding working conditions and his paycheck and never followed through...for three years! Time to make a change.


Anyway, the right job offer turned up and he gave notice at the beginning of March. The new job will be closer to home and he's working with people he knows and gets along well with. The best part for me (being the family money manager) is the paycheck is more than his old one! It's a huge increase and means a few more $$ around for renovations, hobbies and other fun stuff.


All this has meant my Muse is "outta the house". I didn't realize how much my creative side depended on some alone time! I like working by myself, can't stand someone looking over my shoulder asking questions, making comments or suggestions. Hubby starts his new job next week and the kids are a lot busier at school and university now, so hopefully, I can get motivated again.

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Bead Soup Blog Party - Ingredients Revealed!

The 7th annual Bead Soup Blog Hop has begun and I have been paired up with Penny Houghton of Smelly Nelly and her etsy shop Forgotten Track . Here is the soup that Penny sent me...

Bead Soup all wrapped up and sent with a postcard!

A peak inside the box.

Dragon-veined Agate, Pink Quartz, lampwork and Czech beads

Shell focal and the cutest fish clasp!

A little bit of everything.

Postcard from Melbourne.

My mind is working overtime with ideas at the moment! Definitely seeing some earrings, maybe a bracelet and I can't decide between two or three different ideas for the focal. At least I have until the third reveal on 13th April, I can try our a few of my ideas. Thanks Penny!

Here are photos of one of the soups I sent to Penny. The clasp is antiqued brass and I included two focals, one is a large antiqued brass key, the other is a wood tree. I included Czech glass rondelles, Czech tile bicones, African Jade Faceted Pebbles, Czech pressed pin wheels, Tibetan Agate Barrels, Czech fire polished 6mm beads and finished it off with a few ribbons of Sara Silk. Has anyone spotted a pleasant little surprise? I had my soup mixed up about two weeks before I knew who my partner was and had a cute wooden tree focal in the mix. When I found out who my partner was I visited her blog and etsy shop and discovered that Forgotten Track uses a tree logo!

Remember I said this is just one of the soups I sent? Visit Penny's blog for photos of the Bead Soup Dessert I sent which included large Rainbow Quartz beads, Pink Czech Donuts and other beads.

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Introducing my Bead Soup Partner

This is the second year I've participated in Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party. The Party has grown so much that it involves over 500 beaders from all around the world!

This year I've been paired with Penny Houghton, a beader in Castella, Victoria, right here in Australia! I'm not exactly sure of Penny's style yet, but I do like the polymer clay I've seen on her blog so far.




Here's a sneak peak of one of the bead soups I've sent. I couldn't decide on colours and styles so I decided to send a second "dessert" soup. Hope she likes it! Penny and I are part of the third reveal on the 13th April, so don't forget to visit and discover what we have made with our bead soups!

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6th Bead Soup Blog Party - Final Reveal Day!

Welcome! It’s time for the 6th Bead Soup Blog Party Final Reveal! Our hostess, Lori Anderson, has gathered 400 of us to trade bead soups and create pieces from the ingredients our partners have sent. HUGE thanks to Lori for all the time and energy she has devoted to the event!

Firstly - The Soups

My partner, Hope Smitherman of Crafty Hope, sent me TWO amazing soups! Included in the soups were brass and pewter focals and clasps, bright glass beads, gemstones, spacers and more. Tons of gorgeous stuff!

 

Parvati’s Bracelet

I knew almost straight away what I was going to do with the brass focal, it was just the right size for a bracelet. I sketched out my intentions and went hunting through my own stash for beads and findings to use. Originally I was going to use two strings of beads from the first bead soup, the green glass and garnet chips in place of the brass chain, but I though it looked to heavy (visually). So, I ordered brass chain from my eBay supplier and waited until it arrived (just before the second reveal), making the first piece designed the last made.


My stash - Facetted tigers eye, sari silk and a heart bead from Gaea handmade.
Special purchase - brass chain and jump rings.
Bead Soup #1 - Focal and clasp, brass beads 

Amphitrite’s Collar

(Amphitrite - wife of Poseidon)

Next on my list was the pewter focal. I’m totally in love with this one, I spent a couple of days running this focal through my fingers, so tactile! The swirls reminded me of waves on the beach and it didn’t take me long to dig up some czech beach glass, the rest fell into place in less than an hour. Very unusual, I normally spend time sketching and planning with colour palettes. This is also the piece I spent time with on Polyvore creating a virtual outfit for in my last post.



My stash - Double link chain, Amazonite nuggets, Rose Quartz nuggets, czech firepolished beach glass mix.
Bead Soup #2 - pewter focal

Melissa’s Bracelet

My last bracelet. When I ordered the brass chain for the first bracelet I included some other bits and pieces, one of which became the focal for this bracelet. Now I have lots of these focals, they came in a metre long chain.



My stash - brass focal, czech firepolished amethyst, brass clasp, sari silk
Bead Soup #1 - garnet chips, wood beads, brass beads


Finally, I do have another bracelet made with the brighter beads from the second bead soup but, unfortunately it is now in pieces. I’ve had to pull it apart because it won’t lay flat and insists on twisting itself inside out. I refuse to give up on it and will post it here when it’s behaving itself.

I have had such a good time with these bead soups, I must thank Hope for my soup and Lori for this wonderful opportunity! I hope you’ve enjoyed my bead soup journey, and please don’t forget to visit my partner Hope. Can’t wait to see what she has created with the soup I sent for her.

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to say Hello in the comments below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants (click on the image below to be taken to the Participant list)…. Happy Hopping!

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Bead Soup Blog Party - 2nd Reveal

 
In just over 24 hours the second reveal for the Bead Soup Blog Party is taking place.

The first reveal, a fortnight ago, was amazing! It took me 3 days to visit everyone, I left many comments, pinned lots of great pieces and ended up following many blogs. Here is the link for my Bead Soup Blog Party board.

Time for a Teaser

So, how are my Bead Soup Pieces going?

Well, I decided to use both focals, the first practically designed itself, on paper anyway. When I started to put it together I discovered that I needed the right sized jump rings and I wasn't happy with one of the components I had. Luckily, I had placed an order for assorted findings just before I received my bead soup. That order arrived yesterday and the first piece is finally finished.

The second piece came together with beads from my own stash in an afternoon. This rarely happens to me, most of the time I end up needing something from the local bead shop or online. I’m so pleased with this piece that I've put together a teaser for you.

This is the outfit I’d love to wear with this piece!

I still have some leftovers and an almost finished third piece, so I’ll see what happens between now and my reveal date of 25th August. In the mean time…a little bit (lol) of blog hopping!

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Bead Soup Arrival!

 

Parcel Reveal!

Woohoo! Can you see my happy dance? I’m dancing because my Bead Soup has arrived from by partner, Hope, and she has received mine as well!


I was a little concerned about the postal services but I’m happy to say that all is well.


Now that both of us have received our bead soups I can show you the wonderful packages of joy that have traversed the world to arrive in our eager little hands. (Mmm…a little wordy but, yep, still dancing!)


Firstly, Hope you spoilt me!! Two bead soups! I love them both! (OK enough exclamation marks, I promise)


The first bead soup features a brass focal with swirls and curls (love it) with a matching clasp. Two strings of glass beads, small brass beads, wooden spacers (very cute and a great texture) and a string of green garnet chips. You can’t see in this photo but the garnet chips are a a very pretty light green.




This is the 2nd bead soup, just look at that focal. I can help but run it thought my fingers, very tactile, not too heavy or too light either. there are two strings of beads (red and the multi-coloured picasso style), pewter spacers, blue glass beads, black glass beads (they remind me of flying saucers :) ), and a lovely string of lemon jade ovals.



Definitely, the best bead soup, ever! (Ok this is my first bead soup but I’m allowed to be enthusiastic).
Now, on to the bead soup I sent to Hope.

From the top and left to right, blue fairy ribbon, wood beads, black cinnabar twists, turquoise picasso czech beads, sari silk, pink rhodonite tubes, copper clasp, copper chain, my own crochet flowers, caramel czech beads, raku pendant and finally greek ceramic spacers.



The crochet flowers are a spinoff from the clasp in this necklace from the Suddenly Spring Challenge. I thought they complimented the shape of the focal.


Time for me to go now, I should be doing a little online inspirational hunting (pinterest here I come!) and shopping too ;)

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Bead Soup Teaser

Nope, it’s not a big pile of seed beads! Its the teaser photo of the bead soup I sent to my partner, Hope. I ran this photo through a couple of Photoshop filters and blurred the image in Livewriter, just to make sure it’s mostly unrecognisable. But, I think, you can get a gist of the colours it you squint your eyes :)


In my last post I mentioned that I was having difficulty with something I planned to include in my bead soup for Hope. Well, this is what happened. I had been playing with some 12 gauge copper wire from A & E Metals that I got last year. I had  made some pretty good links that I though I might include in the bead soup but I wanted to patina them first.


First, I used my tried and true method of soaking some recycled compressed paper pellets (ok this is really “green” kitty litter) with apple cider vinegar and rock salt and a splash of ammonia. I left it buried in this mix for about 12 hours and when I took them out I had gotten some beautiful mixes of mottled grey blue and brilliant aqua. After a bit of work with a green kitchen scrubby and some sandpaper I sealed them with what I thought was a good wax based sealer. (I won’t go into the brand.)


For the second batch of links I wanted to try out the oven patina method. It involves  soaking your metal in vinegar and salt for a few hours and then baking the metal in the oven. Rinse in the vinegar mix and repeat the baking. Well, the temperature in my oven must have been way too high for copper because it ended up way too soft. My tweezers (light weight ones too) actually put a dent in the links when I lifted them off the tray. I tried to harden them but the patina (a nice light verdegris) just chipped completely off. Mental Note: Don’t oven patina copper, use this method on brass. 


Ok, back to the first batch of links. I went back to them 24 hours later to give them a final polish before I packaged them up. To my shock most of the patina was gone and I was back to shiny new pink toned copper with a couple of patches of aqua. A week later now and they’re all back to a “clean” copper look, but with a nice wax seal. I presume the new formula contains a cleaning agent of some sort. I’ve always used it to seal my polymer clay pieces and to give fabric and fibres a different texture.

Anyway, I’ve ordered a tin of Renaissance Wax. I’ll have to spend some time cleaning the sealer off of the links, patina-ing them and trying out the new wax.


I ended putting something else I had made in the bead soup, which I posted on Monday. According to the lady at the post office the parcel should be there in about two weeks. Counting down the days…….  

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6th Bead Soup Blog Party - Partner

A few weeks ago I signed up for the 6th Bead Soup Blog Party hosted by Lori Anderson'. I've been following Lori and her blog for quite awhile and I'd promised myself that one day I would join in. That was just one of the reasons I started this blog, to take part in challenges like this.

I received an email from Lori telling me i had been accepted for the 6th Bead Soup Blog Party and that my partner was Hope Smitherman of Crafty Hope. We both took part in the Button Swap Blog Hop and I've been following her on twitter and pinterest. both of us are mixed media artists, so you can imagine that I'm very happy to be partnered with her.

Here are a few of my favourite pieces from her blog and etsy shop (please visit and say hi)


Gorgeous huh! And guess what she kumi’s as well…with beads!

Ok, in case your wondering, click on either of the top two photos and be taken to Hope’s etsy shop, click on this kumi bracelet => and your taken to her blog :)

There are 399 participants in the 6th Bead Soup Blog Party and three reveal dates! The first reveal is 28th July, second reveal is on 11th August, and the final reveal (in which Hope and I are taking part) is 25th August.

Now I’m ready to complete the final part of my bead shopping this weekend. I might even include one or two of my current projects in the package, if I can get things to turn out! Long story, I’ll fill you all in next week, but I think I've got it figured out now. Everything should be packaged up and sent off by Monday and should arrive in just over 2 weeks.

I must be off now, I have an Academic Award ceremony to attend, my youngest got 6 out of 7 A’s! Proud Mum here!!

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