Bead Soup!!

Blog Candy giveaway winner is Jen Ren!  Congrats, Jen!

Overall Soup - isn't it pretty!

I mentioned before that I'm participating in the Bead Soup Blog Party - a chance for beaders all over the world to exchange materials and create with something new with what they received.  My partner, Merja Syrjamaki, from Findland sent the most lovely soup, and I'm so excited to be working with it!  I have to admit that I tore into the packaging when I got the soup, so some of the photography groupings might be different than Merja had originally intended. Each soup has to include a focal and a special clasp, and could include as many beads as the person wants to send.  I'm looking forward to working with this soup, as I haven't worked much with gemstones in the past, so this is something to get me out of my comfort zone!

I`ve also included a picture of what I sent Merja at the end of the post - included are some of the lampwork beads that I made, as well as a very cool button that I found at one of the local knitting stores.  At almost 2" in diameter, I'm curious to see what Merja does with it!

Clasp and Focal - The focal is created with crystal clay and crystals

Rose Quarts and Pink Pearls

African Jasper and Pearls

"Jade", Keshi Pearls, crystal quartz and brass spacers

The soup I sent Merja - a little bit of everything!

Bead Giveaway - Blog Candy!

I created a number of beads for the "Memories and Thanks" blog hop that Lori Anderson hosted a few months back.  I used a number of them in the piece that I created honouring my childhood babysitter.  I quickly realized that I have just too many, and some of them are just too similar to the ones in the finished piece and I won't ever use them in something else. 

 So - what better to do with them than host Blog Candy!  I'll draw from everyone who leaves a comment below on Friday, the 22nd of February, and send the beads off to whomever I draw.  If you do make something out of the beads,  I'd love to see what you created out of the beads.

There's 12 small frosted white beads, 7 small frosted streaky blue beads, one large blue focal with flowers, 3 matching rounds, and two tiny, tiny spacers, for a total of 25 beads.

Bead Soup Blog Party - Preview

I'm participating in Lori Anderson's fabulous project - The Bead Soup Blog Party.  There's over 500 of us,
all beaders, and all from different parts of the world. Lori's hosted several bead soup blog parties before, this being the seventh edition, so I'm confident we're all in good hands.

 What is a Bead Soup Blog Party?  Each of the participants sends their partner a selection of beads, which has to include a clasp and a focal bead and a few other beads, which is the "Bead Soup".  Each of the recipients then creates jewelry based on the items, including things from their own stash. On the reveal date, the two partners blog about their creations, along with everyone else on the reveal date in a blog hop.  The result is a whole lot of really wonderful, and often inspirational jewelry.  I found out about the blog party through blogs that I read, and was upset that I missed the last go round.  For this event, I'm partnered with Merja Syrjamaki, from Findland who produces fabulous work, and we're in the third reveal date, on April 13th.  To give you a sneak peek at what I sent off to Merja, here's a hidden picture of what I sent her.  

Hanging out

 It's a semi-cold and blustery winter day here - nothing like the northeast of North America, but just a few skiffs of snow to make the day seem more like winter than the weather has been.  I shared this picture on Facebook a few weeks ago, but wanted to post here as well.  This is Sabine and Scout, who usually aren't too sure if they like each other, but sometimes show that they share the same household.  Besides, it's nice if someone else cleans the top of your head...

Inspired by Winter Blog Hop Reveal

I'm really enjoying joining blog hops this year.  I had joined a lot of exchanges in the past, and although I loved the time and effort that everyone put into their work, there were times that I kind of liked what I'd made, and wasn't ready to part with the item yet. I love that blog hops allow you to make your own thing, but you also get to check out what others have created.  The Inspired by Winter blog hop is just that - a challenge to design a piece that reflects winter.

I have to admit that the Inspired by Winter piece wasn't what I'd started out to create.  I'd imagined a stunning lariat, the loose end spilling over into a multitude of clear and white beads.  I really enjoyed an earlier piece that I created for a charity event, and always thought that it would be beautiful in white.  And using lots of little clear beads reminds me of hoar frost that makes the trees look like beautiful decorations. That's what I'd intended to create before life got in the way - a couple of trips in January, a weekend away and not enough time meant that I'd have to rethink.  I'm still very happy with what I came up with - a piece that drips clear and white beads from links.  When the necklace is on, it looks very regal, kind of like a snow queen.

 

The rest of the participants in the blog hop are:

Hosted by: Sally  Russick

Patti Vanderbloemen

Shelly Buettner

Therese Frank

Donna Bradley

Jo Tinley

Karin Slaton
Rochelle Brisson

Renetha Stanziano

Tanya Goodwin

Jenny Davies Reazor

Cynthia Machata

Lola Surwillo

Veralynne Malone

Mary Lamoray

Lynsey Brooks

Mary K  McGraw

Ailsa Cordner

Staci Smith

Rana Wilson

You are here:  Karin King

Beth Emery

Pam Farren

Jess Green

Susan F.

BJP - #4

I participated in the Bead Journal Projects 2011 year.  Or at least I intended to.  I made it to about March or April, behind by only a little bit, and life happened.  If you're not familiar with the Bead Journal Project, you create a bead embroidery piece, one per month, over the course of a year.  But of course, life had other plans, and despite my best intentions, I didn't complete the project.  Not that I wasn't busy - I followed favourite rock band around North America for a month. I got a new job. I got another new job.  I went on another vacation.  And, if you judge by my pathetic attempts at blogging last year, 2012 wasn't much better.  The newest new job involves a lot of travel, and a lot of time away from home, and therefore beading.  But 2013 is another new year, and I thought I'd try and finish up the 2011 series.

I don't know if I really had an intention for the fourth series.  The second and third pieces just materialized.  This one was harder.  I will tend to monochromatic pieces if not driven in another direction.  I'd also picked this one up after over a year absence.  It was hard.  In beading it, it felt a lot like I was starting over.  I guess in many ways I have.