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 ;)

My BSBP7 Partner and 100th post!!!

I'm so relieved I finally got my beads and focal out to Lennis Carrier at Windbent. You can catch up with her  work on Twitter, Flickr, Etsy, and Facebook. Her pictures on her facebook fan page and flicker are awesome, don't miss out!

This is what I sent:

I made a focal!! Actually, I made several, but broke the one I'd intended to send. It was made of the homemade porcelain recipe (the baking soda and cornstarch recipe on Pinterest) and sealed with resin, from which I'd made my 2012 Christmas ornaments; but alas, I'd not painted the backside with the resin before dropping it, and since it's made of baking soda, it shattered accordingly :(

These are (sort of) what they look like unfinished, they don't look it, but they're very, very fragile.

Dropping the only floral shaped focal I'd made was a  good reason to finish and send her this :)

I'd been working on it for a while, not quite sure if it'd work...

...then I had one of those light bulb moments, and I realized I could brick stitch a loop on the back so that she could feed a wire or cord...or anything she liked...to wear as a necklace focal. However!! The center bead is a large hole Czech glass bead and the thread I use is very fine, so she can also string through the center bead too, if she's inclined!!!

These are the beads I ended up with from Kokomo Opalescent Glass Co. I live within walking distance, one of these days I'll work up the courage to take a lesson or two. I'd hoped for more, but there weren't many that matched or would coordinate that were ready to send, so I went with the one's I could get. I love the beads they make, but since it's opalescent glass, it gets rather expensive :(

This is what I'd decided on...then decided it just wasn't complete.

I'd taught myself to do viking knit, and I LOVE it!!! So, I added an unfinished bracelet length piece to her soup, along with a couple cord crimp ends. And, since Lennis told me she was just getting into wire wrapping, I decided I needed to add a spool of my favorite 20 gauge wire. I'd already noticed that she was rather an expert at resin domes so instead of picking out two focal pieces like I'd done with Karla Morgan's soup from last year, I added two clasps, a floral hook and eye, and a bezel box clasp...yes, I still grab every box clasp I come across, in fact, I also have one just like the one I sent, and the last oval one they had too, lol.

And this is what she sent me!!!

Isn't that the coolest polymer focal? Lennis made it herself.

Because it's been so cloudy the last few days, I didn't get the best photo, but there are two more brass loops on the top.

And this is the BACK!! Wow!

The lamp work Lennis sent me was done by Hannah Rosner of Good River Gallery.

 I would use these as hair pins if I hadn't cut off all my hair, lol.

...and this awesome handmade clasp is from Cheryl Foiles of Get Your Bead On

Hannah and Cheryl are also participants in the the BSBP7 too, busy ladies.

And these are leftover feathers my niece insisted I get her last year...kismet

I already have most of it planned out, but we all know the way of plans, lol...and that's what so fun about this swap and blog hop.

Check out all the other participants

What Znetshows selected to show at Tucson

So these are the two earrings Znetshows.com chose from my collection to show at their booth in Tucson's Gem show. I wasn't among the 'winners', the pieces they chose to be voted on at the show for another gift certificate to their website...but I feel like a winner anyway :).

They gave me a gift certificate to spend on free beads...as a reward for making jewelry out of free beads they gave me in the first place...doesn't get any better than that!!! I got to keep the other pieces and the left over beads, too.

I decided that there were a few of the pieces that I had to keep for myself, I just couldn't part with them. These 'windchime' earrings because I love the sound they make.














And I kept the two below for a couple of reasons, first, I love lariats. And also, I didn't think this one all the way through. The portion with the 'bottle ring' glass bead and the large pieces of sea glass is a bit heavier than the other end of the lariat. So, the chain has to wrapped twice to anchor it. It's pretty and I like it, but it twists and tangles and is, in general, a pain in the tuckus, I just can't sell it to someone knowing that it will get tugged on all the time...and then eventually put away and never worn again :(

In other news, the next (7th) edition of the BSBP (bead soup blog party) is about to begin and I've been very busy getting my soup together. I'm excited to reveal what I'm going to send...but I will wait patiently till the appointed time (i.e. when the recipient receives it)...come on Lori! Lol, Seriously...I'm a patient person, really. ;)

Stay tuned, because the first group has already been assigned, and I signed up for the April 4th reveal. (insert Gieko piggy squee!) 

Znetshows 'Cultured Sea Glass' challenge

A couple weeks back I was contacted by Bill Zhang of Znetshows.com saying that he and his team had seen my blog through Lori Anderson's Bead soup blog hop over the summer, that they'd liked my designs and wanted to know if I'd be interested in trying out their new line of cultured sea glass in my designs so that they could possibly take them to the Tucson Bead and Gem show... uh...free beads...'nuf said, lol. Of course I did a little research, checked out the links in the email, the website, the blog...made a beady wish list...

These are the beads I found leaning against my door when I came home from work last Monday. I was so excited I laid them all out and took a picture immediately so that I could start unstringing the beads. Fortunately, I made sure that all the beads were in the photo...unfortunately I didn't make sure it was a good photo before I dove in...oops, sorry.

This was the first piece I did, A choker, the starfish is just gorgeous...it's on the list, lol...originally it was just the pearls bead woven in a wavy pattern and the starfish, but the bead is a bit too heavy to sit front and center. So, I added the crabs; one, to give it a more nautical presence; and two, because the now the focal doesn't look so weird off to the side.

This is me wearing the "Deep Sea Pearls". It doesn't fit me the way it's supposed to though, because of my goiter, it would sit a little lower on someone else. The thing I like about it is that, in my mind it conjures the image of a sunken treasure, the pearls escaping the chest half buried in the sand and the sea life making it a part of their home.

**note, this section was in the original post, and was somehow deleted while I was fighting blogger's picture uploader for the last four pictures Thursday afternoon.**

This was the second piece I worked on, I'd been holding on to these faux marble beads for just the right project and knew they'd be perfect for these two hole sea glass beads, the piece seemed to just make itself, it came along so well and so quickly. I used one of the glass circles and a center drilled glass shard as a toggle clasp. The weight of this peice is the real surprise, yet because the two hole beads are flat on the back, it wears very comfortably.

 

This one was quite funny. I saw the diamond shaped pendant and the first thing that came to mind was a Harlequin design. I'm sure it was in part because the beads were all black and white...but I had to come up with something with diamond shapes. The beaded bead slider is a captured bead tubular net and I personally was quite proud of it. My mother on the other hand, blurted out "that's ugly" as soon as I pulled it out of my bead box...then asked if I'd made it when all I said was "thanks", lol. She apologized for blurting it out like that, but I told her I had fans, she didn't have to like it...and we agreed to disagree. You'd have to know my mother and I to know just how funny it is. We generally don't agree on much of anything, but she is one of my biggest fans. She says it looks like a tie, I kind of agree...I just don't dislike it, lol. So I've named it "The Harlequin Tie"

Next up is a ribbon of peyote in bright red, because I just couldn't keep with the black and white anymore, lol. Again, I used a glass circle and a center drilled sea glass shard as a toggle clasp. The ribbon is sewn over the circle and there's a piece of cultured sea glass and another of the crabs as charms. I like the feel of this one, but I'm unhappy that I somehow lost the black piece I was sent, I wanted to add it as well. I have no idea how I could have lost it, it's going to haunt me till I find it.

My niece saw the black top drilled shards of sea glass and proclaimed them a 'rocker's necklace'. My niece is in a school for the arts, and is holding strong to her dream of being a musician, so I did my best to accommodate. I love the matte finish on all of these beads, but particularly the black. I was going more for glam rock when I made this, and I for one thought I pulled it off...you'll have to read on to find out what she thought...

Even the spacer beads on the strand were in a matte finish, so had to use those as well, and added some gold filigree bead caps to the beautiful Tiaria Chinese crystal faceted rondels I was sent. After laying those out, I decided it needed a bit more gold, so I added some square Celtic knot beads. It's also the only necklace I made that's not a choker. I decided to add a pair of earrings to match, but I was out of gold bead caps, so instead of capping the rondells, I wire wrapped the tops of the shards.

I got started in jewelry making because I could never find earrings that I liked, so I decided to make my own, since the bead weaving has taken over my designs I really haven't done much in earrings. The first pair I did didn't come out at all like I imagined them. I've wanted something to add some twisted square wire to, I've been using it in ear cuffs, but I hadn't had a chance to do anything else with it. I really like these despite the fact that they took a turn I didn't intend, and I think I'll be making a pair for myself. 

These earrings are my favorite though. The first thing I think about when I think about the ocean is the breeze off the water. I was born in Florida, it was a really long time ago that we moved inland, but I can still hear the sea glass wind chimes. This is my version. These thin copper sheets clink ever so lightly against the glass and make a beautiful wind chime sound.

And now we come to the last, but certainly not least, piece of from the sea glass sent to me from Znetshows.com. Kiara (my 7 year old niece) decided I didn't do the Rocker necklace right. So, I gave her some of my leftover beads, a handful of matching beads to choose from...a ruler, some bead wire, and a math lesson later...Kiara's "Rocker Necklace". She's into motorcycles and Barbie, fast cars and heels as high as her momma will let her wear them...I think we're in for a bumpy ride.

Actually, that wasn't the last one, I have four other projects in progress, but because my internet and blogger aren't seeing eye to eye, and the dedline is tomorrow, I'm going to post this now, and edit later if I can get them finished before I head to work.

***Edit 1/25/13

If you follow Znetshows on facebook, you've already seen these...everything here was done by deadline...but I couldn't get them on here for some reason, and when I sent them to Bill they were compressed in the email because they wouldn't send full size, so they aren't really visible in the album he has set up for each of us. I cannot believe I forgot about Picasa, it was on my phone the whole time I was strugling to get this posted, I've been kicking myself for an hour.

This piece came out of nowhere this afternoon, while I was waiting endlessly for each photo to not upload...I'd had the chian and flower beads out, just sitting there in front of me...then I found the large black piece when I dropped one of the small black Tiaria crystal rondels...and just like that, it...became a Sea Glass Lariat



I didn't set out to have a pair of earrings to match, I don't usually for long necklaces, I don't like the overdone look it creates, but I set the lariat asside and began to clear my workstation and found that either I'd forgot to add two strands of the flowers and crystals...or it really did make itself, lol. 

I had to really think about these. I had them sitting here on my desk for a couple of days, the black shards just laying there on top of the white, while I brainstormed ways to join them...then I decided that's exactly how I wanted them to look...less is more, right? lol There is one change with these, I made the posts. When I first started making earrings, I hated that there was so much wire right there at the ear when I used earwires...I like earwires, but it leaves the lobe so plain and lonely...so, I started making the one's for myself like these. The Tiaria rondele bead sits against the lobe, so you're wearing posts and dangles ;)

This necklace and earring set mean a great deal to me, the shells are from my grandmother's collection. She used to pick them up on her travels, some are even from Arizona. I've had those shells for almost three years now, since she passed away, and I've attempted to use them twice, but never could find anything that really felt right. These three were actually in the recjected bag after I sorted them when I came home after her funeral because they had jagged holes in the fronts where they'd been hit against rocks or stepped on, I couldn't throw them out though, and I'm glad I didn't, that made them perfect for wire wrapping...and this necklace. I was pretty emotional while I was working on this one. She saved everything I made her, she'd always thought I was talented, and told me before she passed away that she thought I could do something with it. I wish she could see how much I've learned in the last three years.

Thank you Bill Zhang and Znetshows, for the oportunity to participate in this challenge, I was excited for the challenge, and a little overwhelmed at the size and weight of the beads, but I will definately be getting some of these beads for future designs, they're just simply beautiful.