Altar Sneak Peek

Tuesday is the Day of the Dead celebration here.  I am making an altar for my friend T. This is a sneak peek.

Soup Is Done, & So Am I

Well it was a fabulous journey. I saw some really great ideas,was awed by incredible seed bead work,wowed by wire wrapping & inspired to use more fiber. Thank You to everyone who left such nice comments, it is always good to get feedback from like~minded chicks!
 I'll leave you w/ a bracelet I made for my sister. She isn't much of a jewelry wearer(a totally foreign concept to me) but I wanted her to have something w/ this great orange Sue bead I got in a miniswap from the BSBH group.

It's Soup!

I'm not going to lie, when I opened my Soup, I felt a little like I was on 'Chopped'! I don't always use a focal, & this focal had a palm tree which was so different from anything I usually use.The colours are gorgeous, but the shapes were so...shaped.As I mixed beads & played w/ different combos nothing was really clicking. I was started to feel a little frustrated when Lori sent out a BSBH email w/ an idea. "If you get stuck, break up the beads into more than 1 project" ~major breakthrough! As I doodled w/ my mix I came up w/ a necklace right away. I laid part of it out, sketched the whole vision & moved on to the next groupings of beads. Last week I strung the necklace, tried it on & hated the way it actually looked,too large a  bead too high up on my neck,total design flaw.I then turned to the bracelet portion of my soup & tried several ideas, none really wowing me. Then I remembered the bracelet I bought my sister for Christmas, I had really liked the chain detail, how would that work?Not having any black leather cording I used some very old waxed cording & tried different chains. I found one that gave me the effect I was looking for  & I was ready to start stringing. I hadn't thought about the peach shaped ovals as much more than accent beads, & then I read a comment that they couldn't wait to see what I did w/ them,(no pressure or anything!) I thought about a wire wrap technique I have always admired but never tried. A little dark copper wire later & I had the wrap I wanted. Did it work as well on this shape of bead? I haven't decided yet.For the necklace I wanted to do an illusion type of stringing w/ the m.o.p. ring. I really like the way that turned out, but I also think the bead is almost too bright for the rest of the beads. I used a couple of the red beads & some wrapped dagger beads for earrings.The only thing I added to Andrea's mix were some pearls & copper beads to the necklace, & the chain in the bracelet. I really wanted to stay 'in the Soup' & use the beads I was sent w/o too many of my own. All in all I'm very happy w/ the way my Soup came together.Now get out there & hop some blogs. Lori~our fabulous hostess has the master list if you lose your way,( a trail of comment crumbs will help you w/ that!) stay hydrated, pace yourself & have fun!

My Soup Is Here!

My soup is here! I got these from my partner Andrea Trank. I am lovin' the pearls she sent along w/ the  fabulous mop rings. I've taken a big step(for me) & poured them all together to start the simmering required of a soup.

Colour Inspiration Blog Hop

Copper Diem  threw a little blog hop handing out etsy treasuries as colour inspiration. I loved my treasury. All shades I already had in my studio, yay! As an added bonus I had the perfect orange enameled bead from my last mini swap w/ Valerie . I wanted big chunky charms w/ no 2 alike, so I looked through my stash w/o regard to material.This led me to the enameled bead, coral, horn & gemstones.I stayed w/ the big chunky theme & wire wrapped a stone donut for the clasp.I had a nice dark chain that I doubled for balance. I'm really happy w/ this bracelet & I predict it is going to be a much worn fave.Copper Diem has the list of the participants, head over & take a look!

It's Soup!

Okay it isn't soup yet per se, but it IS time to sign up. As w/ all the prevous soups, this is one is going to be bigger than the one before, so head on over & sign up here  http://lorianderson.blogspot.com/p/bead-soup-blog-party.html see you @ the Soup!

Happy 4th!

                                                      Have a safe & happy holiday!