Bead Soup Reveal 2011!!!

Yah!! It's finally here! Lori Anderson has pulled off quite an accomplishment this time. We have over 350 participants in the Bead Soup Blog Party, from all around the world.  Lori spent hours and hours, carefully putting together the partners for this hop. I was just as fortunate this time as I was last time. My partner for this hop is the very skilled Mallory Hoffman, of For the Love of Beads.  Here are the reminder pics of what she sent to me to play with.

Beautiful spacers, chips, and pearls

 Rustic chain and balled headpins

Gorgeous copper clasp

Stunning heart focal

Lovely nuggets and another shot of the spacers and headpins.

I knew I wanted to make more than one piece, and that I wanted the clasp to take center place in it's piece.  So, for  the first time, I did make some notes on my ideas, put all the beads on a tray, and just moved them around til they told me who was going to what party.  I have to tell ya, those little spacers are quite the partyers. They just played with everybody!

A sweet little bracelet, with twisted herringbone tubes separated by the lovely spacer beads.

This is a pure joy to wear. 

So I got stringing experience in this bracelet, as the herringbone strand was too thick for the spacers to slide onto, so I made 3 tubes in orange, red, and silver seed beads to complement the colors in the lampwork beads.

Here's my real stringing challenge! I started off with some lovely soft grey pearls between the tigereye beads. However, upon inspecting them more closely, I realized they were plastic, not glass. Bummer. I really liked that color combo, but had no luck trying to find anything similar. So, I used some galvanized size 6 seed beads between the tigereye rounds, and some metallic between the pearls. I was proud of myself on this one, since it's strung, asymmetrical, and doesn't have any beadweaving in it! It is long enough to just slip over my head, so I can showcase that beautiful clasp in the front. Oh, and I mixed metals in it too!!

See, there's our little spacers, hanging out with the tigereye and pearls this time.

This was a perfect piece for those pretty nuggets and chips.

This was actually the first piece I started on, and designing it took forever, even though it looks the most simple. I just wanted it to show off that focal, and not draw your eye away from it. I used one of the headpins to string it, and did a messy loop at the top. I took the chain apart and used pieces of it everywhere. I bought the chain with the big circles, and it matched the color of Mallory's chain perfectly. Then I used individual links to put them all together, adding some of the spacers (see how they get around?) to the smaller circles near the focal. 

 I don't think it has a finished look to it, like some of the pieces I see so many talented artist selling, but I have to be proud of myself for jumping so far outside my realm of comfort. 

And, finally, the one that almost wasn't. I literally finished it Friday at 4:00 p.m.  I made the tubes thinking they would work with the focal bead, then decided it didn't work. I wanted to use them, I just couldn't work out the design. Then, inspiration hit late Thursday night.

 Memory wire!! It helped the tubes keep their shape nicely.

 Yep, there are those little spacers, partying again! Gosh, I love those guys.

 I had planned on putting little dangles on the ends, which is why I just looped them. However, the way it hangs on my arm, I think it would just tickle! :)

Hope you enjoyed my endeavors, and are fortified for the rest of the hop with lots of coffee and chocolate!

Here is the link to the rest of the group: http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.com/ Blessings, Shirley