(I'm also posting photos on my Facebook and Instagram pages - please check them out and maybe you can win a giveaway from this collection! Leave a comment here, and win your choice from the three pairs of earrings!)
Holy cow. It's been over a year since I posted here. Not that I haven't been creating, but 2020...well, you get it. But thanks to the fabulous Lori Anderson, we have another bead swap event to kick us all in the creative and sharing keesters, so without further ado, here's the Bead Soup Swap & Create!
My partner, Kim Hutchinson, sent me lovely beads in shades of blue and icy whites with gold accents. Lots of seed beads in various sizes and shapes to play with, dark blue glass pearls, vintage looking crystals in gold and clear, a gorgeous sodalite donut with a Chinese coin in the center, an intriguing cylindrical drop, and a heavy chain bracelet with a toggle clasp. Yum!
The donut called to me first (as donuts, edible and otherwise, tend to do), and I found some dark blue seed beads in my stash that complimented the soup to create a peyote woven bezel. Then I enclosed the cylinder in seed beads and one of the vintage crystals, added it as a dangle on the donut, and strung them on a necklace of sodalite from my collection, some of the glass pearls, and the final gold seed beads.
Then I turned to using the clasp, which finished off this bracelet of the vintage crystals, glass pearls, and dark blue seed beads.
(Like this? I'll be giving away! Go to my Instagram page, like and follow me for a chance to win!)
Using the clasp on the bracelet left me the rest of the bracelet chain. In a real experiment in engineering and problem solving, I used the chain as a focal and base for freeform peyote, one of my favorite techniques. The centerpiece is finished with complimentary beads from my stash.
As a final necklace, I turned to the abundant collection of seed beads Kay had sent, and created this spiral weave piece. When I made it, the temperature outside made me think this necklace looked like wintery icicles, but now that it's spring, it reminds me more of the bright spring sky with wispy clouds.
(Like this? I'm giving it away! Go to my Facebook page, like and follow for a chance to win!)
Finally, what's a soup without earrings? Three pairs, using the seed beads, the remaining bracelet chain with some cubes, and the rest of the vintage crystals.
All in all, a lot of fun! Thanks to Kay for being such a great partner, and to Lori, for being the best beady ringmaster there is! Want to see the rest of the participants and what they made? Go here, and feast your eyes.
