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Saturday, April 13, 2013

Bead Soup Blog Party 7 2nd Reveal

I forgot to announce that the final two reveals for Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party 7 was postponed for a week each. The first group revealed on March 30th and I forgot to post about that too. Today the second group (myself, my partner Lennis Carrier of Windbent, and another couple hundred beaders) are posting what we did with the beads we swapped with each other.

So here's a reminder of what Lennis sent  me:

The required elements:As per Lori's rules, every soup had to include a clasp that wasn't a simple lobster claw etc., and a focal; these had to be incorporated into one or more of the recipient's design.
My toggle clasp was made by Cheryl Foiles of Get Your Bead On and Lennis made the beautiful polymer clay focal herself.

This is the third evolution of Lennis' focal for me. Initially I wanted a wind chime, but I had no idea just how complicated it is to string chimes. I have two wind chimes that I wanted to recycle since the guy who mows the little bit of lawn I have does so with a weed eater and chopped off the center of both of my favorites...it was the perfect way to showcase both sides of the focal. But alas, all I managed to do was make a mess of the strings, I tip my hat to all those with this amazing talent I so obviously don't posses.
After that I tried some macrame...and that wasn't working either...mostly because I'm not so good at knotting without either pulling too hard or not enough, in this case, not enough. I tied about 9 switch square knots and left it sitting for 8 hours while I went to work, and they'd all come loose on their own :(.
So this is the result of my last minute creative blitz:
That bottom tulip kind of reminds me of a glass of bubbly, lol.
 

These were the coordinating beads Lennis sent, made by Hannah Rosner of Good River Galleries

And this is what I came up with for most of those:

This is a 38 inch belly chain/lariat, one of my specialties I guess you could say. I love the way it sits as a belly chain, but when I wrapped it around my neck it took on an unexpected geometric fit because of the disproportional weight of the lamp work beads with the lightweight brass curb chain.
The little brass floral beads are leftovers from the Znetshows.com challenge I participated in earlier in the year.
This one is my favorite though, it took me four tries to get that chain on there right, I'm not a very good stringer, never been the best at that kind of math. But man was it worth it. This picture hardly does it justice, those two shades of purple were the perfect match for the bulky brass curb chain that I fed over this pre-clasped choker. It has a screw on magnetic clasp, but only one end opens, and it's pretty large screw, amazingly the lamp work beads were the perfect size! It's pretty darn heavy but that clasp holds on tight. The rose lamp work bead in the center is by Sandy Headrick from Kokomo Opalescent Glass.
I still have these lamp work headpins, I attempted to use one in a fourth piece, but I had a bit of a...mishap if you will. Always practice a new technique on something else first ladies...it's salvageable, but only because I realized what was happening before I went too far. I'll update when I figure out how to add them to the viking knit anklet I made.

Now hop on over to Windbent and check out what Lennis has done with this:

Update: Some better photos of the pieces I made for BSBP 7, we've had thunderstorms for over a week now and I didn't get good photos of  anything because of the bad lighting, so when we finally had a sunny day I retook them.






And as some of you may know (because I posted it all over facebook, to my complete embarrassment) that I believed my jewelry collection to be stolen from my apartment. Fourtunately I was wrong. I found the box I keep them in lodged under a chair I never sit in, but not before the very generous Bill Zhang from Znetshows.com sent me a whole new 'soup' to work with so that I could replenish my stock and reopen my Etsy shop. I offered to repay him for his kindness and instead he suggested another challenge...um, yum! The best kind of bead soup! So, I have 30 days (well, 26 now) to complete 5 designs. You'll have to come back here to find out what I come up with for these beauties! I've already started on three ;)





56 comments:

  1. Lovely pieces, I especially love the first necklace!

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    1. Thanks! That one worried me, even after it was done for the third time, glad you like it :)

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  2. I love the wire tulips, what a neat idea. The choker looks great; I thought it was wire-work at first but then you said chain--is it wired in place? You must be thin to think about anything going around your belly. I'd love to see a picture of that on someone! Great job!

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    1. Thanks Lennis, I was kind of worried you wouldn't like them, I know all those artisan beads had to be expensive. Nope, they're not wired, just fed back and forth, then it just sort of holds itself in place, but if you tip it one way or the other straight, it'll slide, so it has movement too. And I am by no means thin, just blessed with a small waist...think Scottish Kardashian without the boobs 8| I do plan to talk one of my skinny friends into modeling it for me though.

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  3. Me too... ;0) Such a great idea and unique piece, your wire tulip necklace - love it!

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    1. Thanks, I worried about that one the most, Lennis did such a fantastic job on that focal, I didn't want to be the one that ruined it, lol.

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  4. Oh wow - I really like the tulip necklace! Excellent design

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  5. lavander champagne, sign me up! I love your honest and detailed account of the bead soup journey. I believe there's not a single participant who hasn't learned something new or had a screup or an accident in the process. But it's all good right? As long as we remeber to have fun :-)
    your pieces reflect that and I can't wait to see the anklet!

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    1. If they can make lavender frosting and candy, surely...;) I agree, the mistakes are what it's all about, some of them happy, some not so much, but all of it fun. Thanks for visiting

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  6. I love what you did ! I would never have thought of purple and light yellow together, but it works splendidly !

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    1. Thanks Audrey, I just pulled the colors from the focal Lennis made, but it was a great combination

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  7. I love all three pieces that you've designed. The first necklace is so beautiful with the flower patter repeated in wire. But what you did with the choker it's is amazing and so creative. Congratulations. Ana

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  8. Great stuff! Love the choker!!
    kathy

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    1. Thanks Kathy, I thought it might come off a little weird, but I think maybe that's what I like about it :)

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  9. I really enjoyed seeing the creative pieces you made with the soup you were sent. I especially love the way you used the toggle. The soup you sent was gorgeous by the way.

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  10. Souper work !
    I especially love the first necklace .
    The wire tulip complements the focal perfectly

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  11. ~each piece is creative and wonderfully created...much love light and blessings~

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  12. beautiful soup! I really love the wire work on the 1st necklace.
    I'm on the 3rd reveal, what fun BSBP!
    ciao dall'Italia

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    1. thanks, I'll be checking on you guys this weekend!

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  13. I love the first necklace. The focal is just right. And you're right, the purples are perfect!

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  14. I love how your wire tulips echoe the pendant your partner made for you! That's one lovely necklace!

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  15. I love the brass and purple choker and all of your other designs. Great soup!

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    1. that one is still my favorite too, and I decided I wanted to keep it. I've worn it a couple of times now and think I'll write a tut about it because there are a few 'kinks' that needed to be worked out :(

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  16. I love what you made. That wire-worked tulip is gorgeous with the focal. Everything just wonderful! Great job!

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  17. I never used chains like that but you have inspired me!! The chain necklace with the lamp work beads is my fav!

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    1. If you try it, make sure to use chain that has flush cut or closed links, it scratches! 8|

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  18. I never would have thought of belly chains (probably be my hips and waist are pretty much the same) but I love the idea. That last necklace however just knocked my socks off

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  19. Loved your work! I truly love the first one. The colors!!!! Great Job!!!!

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  20. There is so much variety in your work! It's fantastic that you can design in a lot of styles and do it well in all of them.

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    1. well, I wouldn't go that far, lol...I've never posted the disasters ;) but thanks!

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  21. They are all beautiful! Well done :-)

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  22. Klaudete you made great use of your soup. I like your style.

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  23. Beautiful designs. I especially like the necklace with the rose focal and purple lampies - stunning!!

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  24. beautiful designs - love love love the use of the chain in the last necklace !

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  25. Very beautiful, love your designs.

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  26. Ah so happy to hear they turned up and of Bill's generousity. You did a beautiful job with your soup! I wish I had the belly for a belly chain as it sure is pretty :)

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  27. I particularly like the choker with the strung chain, but the way the belly chain works as a necklace is a happy surprise!

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  28. KK, I love your work! You did a wonderful job with your bead soup. Wow!

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  29. Nice soup...really nice job. Can't decide which I like more...the one with the blue focal or that great chocker.

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  30. Love the choker you made - fabulous colours! And that was a brilliant idea to wire tulip shapes to match the tulip focal - creative and cool!

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  31. Beautiful work and surprising details :-)

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