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!

Welcome July

I took this picture of the thermometer on my front porch yesterday about 6:00, & yes it was in the shade!

Memorial Day

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a wonderful day.If the date on the photo can be relied on, I am a little over 5 yrs old. And yes, of course I still have the hat!

7000 Bracelets of Hope Hop

 Hi, Thanks for stopping by on this Hope Hop. I'm #2 on the list.For my bracelet I used some great polymer beads from BeadsbyEarthTones, (Thanks Alison). I added some wooden beads from Michaels & some cool little glass beads I got in a mini swap.Your next stop is Creatively Kim, have a great hop!

Blues Table Wednesday

Today my bead table has the blues.

A little Auto Contrast

I think the previous post's photo was a little dark so I tweaked it a littl w/ auto contrast.

Lanterns by Juls

Juls  

Sorry, I did get the best set, but Juls still has some of these yummy sets in her shop.

 

Finally Finished ALL the Soups

Finally~ I finished seeing all of the Bead Soup pieces! Usually I would h ave sat down & read all the posts, pretty much in 1 or 2 long sittings,(yeah, I'm obsessive like that!). This time I got a call from my niece the morning of the reveals & we ended up spending the weekend together,& for the next 2 weeks after!So this morning I got up & finished the last 50, which also happened to be the first 50. I started @ the bottom & read my way up. I also commented on approx 180+ blogs. I didn't leave a lot of comments today since it has been so long. I also had read many of the first 50 in my regularly followed blogs(300+)the weekend of the reveal.
  I have seen some really beautiful pieces & found some new blogs too.Thank you to all you stopped by & left such nice comments( & even became followers!) & of course a huge Thanks again to Lori!

Is It Soup Yet? YES!

 Welcome to Bead Soup Saturday! First a reminder of what my partner Hilary from Fryestyle sent to me. A beautiful silver floral focal,some additional silver accent beads & some really pretty lampwork in Spring colours. She rounded out the soup w/ some dyed horn squares,green glass leaves & some tiny little glass flowers. A simple silver S hook is the clasp.

                                                       Here is a close~up of the focal.

 I did add a few beads from my hoard stash. The frosted 'grape~y' bead is by the talented Sue of suebeads. I was lucky enough to be Sue's partner in a swap last summer & I have become a big fan of her work(you owe it to yourself to check out her enameled headpins!). She had sent 2 frosted purple beads in light & dark & they were perfect w/ this mix. I also added some solid colour lampwork beads by J C Herrell. I discovered her last summer when I saw her glass toggles. These are some of her spacers in green & purple.

 Above is a pewter heart I won from the uber talented Llyynn . This was a new design for her, a headpin w/ an extra long pin. I really felt like it went w/ the feel of the prettiness of the whole mix. You can also see the green pearls I added to my soup.

                                                                   The finished soup.
I am currently intrigued w/ double wrap bracelets that can also be worn as a necklace, so I wanted to try that for my soup.

 I want to thank Lori once again for putting all this together. I also have to apologise for not having the link list, but I waited 'til the last minute to try & post it & I was unsuccessful. Enjoy your hopping & thanks  for stopping by!

B T W

 Happy BTW! These are some wire beads I made. The one n the left is my first try. I like the size so I break out my brand new green Soft Flex wire.I was the lucky winner of a package of  Soft Flex wire in the new colours.,(the other colours I got were gunmetal, blue, red, gold & silver).

 See that bokah* in the background there? That is my Bead Soup piece. I made it 2 weeks ago & I liked it just fine, thank you. Now that I have some green wire beads  I realize that is exactly what my Soup needs,parsley, anyone? So I am going to start over~Whoo Hoo.

These are my daffodils. Yesterday I saw that I had shoots w/ 8 buds. Please remember I was under feet of snow 2 weeks ago, where did these guys come from? Today I found 6 had bloomed~ Yay Spring!

*a fancy word for blurry background~ the ultimate in a sneak peek

BTW on Thursday3

BTW on Thursday 2

BTW on Thursday

BTW

I am working on a necklace for myself. Pink bamboo coral on ribbon w/ a button/loop closure. The ribbon wasn't my first choice,or even my second choice, but the thin leather cording & the waxed linen wouldn't go through the holes. I'm knotting a simple overhand knot between each bead. I don't 'do' a lot of pink, but I loved this old colour & had to have it @ the November bead show.I took a wider shot of my bead table today so you could see the real story.It's a mess,full of bowls, beads,tools,& other various items.I use a tray to work on so I can have a little space, (it also keeps projects together so I can switch out as needed).Come back on Friday & I'll show you a mess!

Giveaway @ Pretty Things

Lori over @   Pretty Things is having a fun giveaway! PJ Tool & Supply sent her some stamps to try out & she is giving us a chance to win them. Head over to her blog to read all about it, see what she made & how to enter. Good Luck(but not too much, I really am lusting over this set :P )

Bead Table Wednesday

Here is a shot of my bead table for BTW.
Some stone donuts from Rings & Things,(post to follow)some odds & ends, a fave silver bracelet.
Tonight jewelry class started again, I made the clasp for my Bead Soup.