Thursday, March 27, 2014

A Super Serving of Soup!


Y'all, my soup arrived, and I have just now picked myself up off the floor and recovered enough to share it with you.  Holy cow, but I feel like I've hit the beady lotto!

My spectacular partner, Rita of Toltec Jewels, is married to a professional gourmet chef.  Why is this relevant? Because Ms. Rita is quite the chef herself, having cooked up two truly delectable soups to send along to me.  And if that weren't enough, she and I must be related in some way, because the soups we exchanged were in virtually the same colorways.

First, like any good chef, Rita spent a lot of time and care on the presentation of her soup.  I opened the package, which was stuffed to within an inch of bursting,  and found a lovely red silk purse.  Inside the purse was a bounty of smaller red silk pouches. Each of the pouches was packed with beautiful goodies -- I spent almost as much time happy dancing as I did unwrapping the packages!

Well, hello Kitty!
Doesn't this just scream, "We are full of gorgeous treasure"?

Soup number one, or the Blue Soup:


I mean, seriously. Cool ceramics by Beadfreaky and Blu Mudd! Lampwork from Maryse at GlassBeadArt! Gorgeous pieces from Thea Elements! Funky painted leather feathers from Tree Wing Studios! Freshwater pearls! Czech glass! Swarovski elements! And on and on and on!

Oooh, the creative juices are flowing....

And then there's the pink soup, which had a bit more drama in its creation.  Rita told me that, as she was packing the soup up, the lampwork focal she'd chosen did a Loony Tunes slo-mo flip and smash from her hands, breaking on the floor.  So she contacted the artist, Maryse at GlassBeadArt to request a replacement, and as a backup, worked with another wonderful glass artist, Lara Lutrick, to create something in the same color blend.  Lara's beautiful bead is pictured in the group shot:


Again, a smorgasbord of beautiful choices. Lara's bead is the cylindrical bead that looks like a muted sunset. And there are lampwork headpins from Southern Gal Designs, a clasp that Rita made with a lampwork bead from Sue Beads, a wonderful little brass bird from Leslie Watt, polymer from Sweet Birch Designs, enamels from Sue Beads, Czech glass, Slovakian glass, gemstones, freshwater pearls, gold plated seed beads (!!!!), and on and on and on......

Then a couple of days later, a package arrived from Luxembourg with the replacement focal from Maryse.


I am well and truly spoiled, folks. Thank you, Rita, for your incredible generosity! I cannot wait to dig in and get started making things.  The wheels in my brain are spinning......

9 comments:

NEDbeads said...

Oh my dear lord, you have the Ultimate Soup!!!!! I am virtually deep diving into the blue one and oooooo it's faaaaaabulous... ;) GO Bobbie! I can't wait to see what you make!!

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

Wow, you have your work cut out, Bobbie :) There's enough there to bathe in :)

PiPa said...

There are no words here! Supercool soups both of them, and so much to play with!

createmyworld said...

What lovely soups! can't wait to see how you use these beautiful ingredients!

KJ said...

You must be doing something right to have won the lotto. Seriously those look like beads I would have bought myself. I love blue, I try to keep from using it ALL THE TIME... but those pinks in the second set are my fave.

Maria Rosa Sharrow said...

Holy crow!! Wow how beautiful and generous. Love everything and that packaging is an amazing jackpot in and of itself. I can't wait to see all that you make.

Mags said...

Oh yes! Rita was my swap partner year 2012 and I fell in love with her :-D Well, first with her, then her soups (of course she sent at least two!!) and then again with her person, her writings and... She is totally lovely and great Lady and you are lucky! And she is as lucky to have you! I'm waiting for both your work :-)

CraftyHope said...

Holy moley those are fabulous choices!! That blue soup (as most blue anything) has me swooning. Those feathers from Rebecca at Tree Wing Studio would have sent me into a stupor by themselves!! But then you have a SECOND SOUP!? You are going to rock this no matter which direction you head with them.

Toltec Jewels for Jewel School Friends said...

Woo-hoo! Here we go, Bobbie :) Bead Soup P-A-R-T-Y!

I hope you have lots of fun and inspired moments creating with your beads, both for the BSBP and as you create in the future. It was a wonderful challenge for me to create soups for you as I hoped to give beads worthy of your exceptional talent at jewelry design!

I'm honored you are my partner. Your work is gorgeous! And how grateful I am for all the friendship, laughter & joy (and beautiful beads ;) you've shared with me as we create together this spring. Gracias!

Rita