The lid comes off the soup

Earlier this week I received  my bead soup from Lori Anderson. It was all wrapped up in a very cute little bag that Lori had crocheted herself. Clever gal that Lori! It was full to the brim with cool stuff. Look!

I am so happy to work with these colors. This photo doesn’t do justice to the periwinkle blue of the glass beads that Lori made herself.  (Lamp working is one of those techniques I really wish I had more time to learn. Lori’s beads are great!)  The dyed jade beads in the center are such a rich magenta color. They are also faceted in a very pretty subtle way. The pewter jump rings are twisted wire, very bright with a lot of texture. I love working with silver metals. Woo hoo! Check out those shell shapes of the Thai silver beads. Sweet! The silver hook and eye clasp also has a nice twisted texture and a very solid weight to it. The yellow/green dyed jade beads are such a cool shape. I know I’m going to have some funky fun with those.  The ceramic focal is gorgeous, and I’ll admit it also scares the heck out of me. I hope I can do it justice as I’ve not worked with anything that size before. But that is what the Bead Soup Blog Party is all about. It’s a chance to think outside the box and work with things that just may not be in my comfort zone. It’s a perfect opportunity for creative growth as a jewelry designer, and I’m happy for the challenge! I’ve also never worked with sari silk, but I like the idea of reusing something that had such a different life before this.

You may have noticed there was also a little purple box that was not part of “the soup” unless I wanted to include it.  This is what was in it:

The house/firefly pendant, made by Martha Easton, looks ceramic but it’s quite lightweight. I think it is polymer clay. It has a cream colored flowery texture on the other side. (I forgot to photograph it, duh.) It will make a lovely little pendant. Last but not least, the brass flower shapes are just the kind of thing I have been working with this week. I’ve been either cutting out my own copper and brass pieces to patina, or texturing stamped out metal shapes, like the flowers above, to make my own mark on them before I add patina. I can’t wait to put these little babies on a steel block and have at them with a hammer or two!

Thank you Lori! You are generous and clever and amazing. Yes, in case you missed this information from a previous post, Lori Anderson is the person who created the Bead Soup Blog Party. This party is the 7th one, and it is the largest yet. Over 500 crafty people of all levels are participating in the exchange and  challenge, and they are blogging about it.  Lori has writtena book called, “Bead Soup,” featuring 32 projects. She has also written an e-book about creative blogging called, “Follow the Path.”

The first BSBP reveal is on March 30, the second reveal is on April 6, and the third reveal (that’s the one I’m in) is on April 13.  I’ll post a list of all of the people in each group with a link to their blogs on the reveal dates.  It’s fascinating to hop around all the different blogs and see what everyone has done and what their partners have done. Oh, and just in case Lori doesn’t seem busy enough…she also has a 10 year old son named Zack, and she is participating in all three Bead Soup exchanges and reveals!  Rock on Lori!