Saturday, May 10, 2014

Bead Soup Blog Party

Hello!  Welcome to my little space on the inter-webs.  I'm so excited to be part of Lori's soup party again! Honestly, she throws the best parties ever.

I was partnered with the bold and delightful RaMona Woolson of Jersey Girls Beadwork.  Here's the soup she sent me.


RaMona's Bead Soup

Such a lovely mix of blues and turquoises! Pretty humorous since I sent similar colors...


My Soup For RaMona

I knew pretty quick what I wanted to do with that cute whirlpool handmade focal bead.  I had seen a bracelet using a long handmade glass bead, and I wanted to try something similar.  I also have just recently made my first purchase of sari silk and I wanted to work that in, too.


Whirlpool Bracelet

I love the sound this bracelet makes when you wear it.  Ramona's swirly charms and the spin of the focal bead and the clinking of the glass beads make me smile.

I fell in love with the mosaic shell beads and wanted to work with them next.  I had an idea, but it didn't quite work at first...  It wasn't until I pulled out this large handmade glass bead from my stash that I knew what I was doing. And again, I pulled from my new stash of sari silk!


Caribbean shores bracelet

I find I'm mostly using large lobster clasps with my pieces right now because more of my customers prefer the ability to change the length of their bracelets and necklaces.  I'm using a lot of extension chains to make them longer and varying the size of the lobster clasps.  Which means I've got a lot of lovely clasps stashed away and I'm not using them.  

And the sweet leaf clasp RaMona sent me was leaving me in a bit of a confusion.  What was I going to do with it?  Then Lori sent her bead soup tips e-mail and I jumped on the challenge of creating earrings with a clasp.  Thank you, Lori!


Bloom Where You Are Planted Earrings

I pulled out my green wire and combined it with my stash of Lucite flowers & leaves to create these little cuties.  And now I want to pull out some of my tucked away and unused clasps and make lots of asymmetrical wire-wrapped earrings.

Finally, those sodalite leaves were telling me they wanted to be long dangly earrings.


Leaf Wrap Earrings

I liked working with the wire so much on the clasp earrings that I did some wrapping here, too.  It was fun to combine the different colors of silver.

I still haven't done anything with the cute birdie, the large shell beads or the blue pearls, but I have some ideas kicking around in my brain that haven't quite gelled yet.  I'm looking forward to working with them this summer.

Thank you, Ramona for sharing your stash and playing beads with me!
Thank you, Lori for your work putting this party together!

Go ahead and visit some of the other lovely bead artists participating in the Bead Soup Blog Party!
Soup's on!

37 comments:

indigo heart said...

my gorgeous sister did it again! fabulous, fabulous!!! i love you!!!

Donetta said...

Oh so pretty! I adore the colors you sent and the colors you received (which are pretty much the same colors!).

Schmuck der gut tut said...

Hi, Becca! I love the Bracelet, but the Earrings too!
;o)

bailaora said...

I love your bracelets with fabric!!! super!

Lori Anderson said...

LOVE that whirlpool bracelet! Anyone seeing you wearing that is going to want it. And it's funny when our brains are on the same wave length -- that's happened to me before, too!

I'm glad you worked outside the box on the earrings -- those ROCK and you should send a photo to BeadStyle magazine -- I'd bet they'd like them as a tutorial.

Ginger Davis Allman (The Blue Bottle Tree) said...

Isn't sari silk so much fun? And the sound that bracelets make...isn't that great? It feels exotic and wild and free all at the same time. You picked great color combos too.

Unknown said...

Love the earrings you made and the whirlpool bracelet looks wonderful, so nice how you used the swirls an sari silk.

Unknown said...

Nice work. You showed a great versatility in your designs.

Loretta said...

Beautiful designs. I like the use of the Sari Silk. The asymmetrical earrings are my favorites.

RaMona Woolson said...

I love what you did with what I sent you! You are very creative, & I like how you went "outside the box." Super job!!! This has been a lot of fun!

kerensky said...

Nice pieces Becca, especially the bracelet :-)

becca said...

Thank you all for you sweet thoughts!

becca said...

Hasn't this been fun?!

Unknown said...

It's all so nice

Just Beads said...

Very beautyful pieces, all of them. The earrings with the little flowers are so lovely.

Genny said...

I love the jingle (although I can't hear it!) of the first bracelet. Great job using your soup ingredients!

Mags said...

The first piece with sarisilk and chain is so lovely!

Linda A. said...

adorable bracelet! i love the way you used the focal - so sweet!

Linda A.
http://fromTheBeadBoard.blogspot.com
http://cherryOnTopDesign.co

Anonymous said...

What a gorgeous soup! That whilrlpool piece is so cool! And I fell in love with your "clasp" earrings! So darn cute!

vovsblog said...

Such lovely work well done!

Tammy Adams said...

Great use of your clasp. The earrings are adorable. Nice designs with your soup.

Unknown said...

Lovely designs but I especially love that ocean inspired bracelet. Would wear it proudly. Now to find a beach to wear it to!!

Unknown said...

These designs are just so pretty and happy!!! You did a Great job!!! have a Blessed Day!!!

Monique (A Half-Baked Notion) said...

Love everything, especially the bracelets ('cause I ADORE bracelets and these are lovely!)

Christine said...

Lovely pieces - love the sari silk!

Barb Fernald said...

The whirlpool bracelet looks like so much fun to wear. The greens you added really enhance the blue. All of your pieces are great, but that bracelet is my favorite!

PiPa said...

A lovely mix of fabric, metal and awesome beads in your bracelets! I find it really inspiring!

Kepi said...

So so pretty, each piece is stunning but I would so love to be wearing those purple and green earrings.

CraftyHope said...

Very nicely done! I love what you did with the clasp to make that mis-matched earring set. Cool beans.

Jo-Ann said...

Love the whirlpool bracelet. Colours are amazing!

bairozan said...

The bracelets are beautiful, especially the whirlpool with all those dangles! Bravo for the mismatched earrings, using the clasp - great thinking!

Janine said...

You did a wonderful job with your soup

Unknown said...

Yeahhh, ready for Summer! A ♥beautiful collection of jewellery did you make. Each piece has something special!

Terri said...

Some one had fun with their soup. Delightful and Oh so pretty! You did a really Soup-er job!

Anonymous said...

Love clinky charmy bracelets - that first one just looks like a bunch of fun! and comfortable! great job

WindDancerStudios said...

Love Love the clasp turned earrings! Gorgeous out of the box thinking there! Great soup!

Becky Pancake said...

Hi Becca, Yes I am still hopping. I enjoyed all of your pieces. The "Whirlpool Bracelet" looks fun to wear. Kudos to you for working with the Sari silk which is new to you. The large bead from your stash really makes "Caribbean Shore" pop. My favorite though is the "Bloom Where You are Planted" earrings. They are fabulous. I was paired with your very talented sister this year and I really enjoyed having her for my partner.