Kudos to my resilient partner and Bead Soup Blog Party hostess, Lori Anderson. I don’t know how she managed to survive organizing over 540 of us, with three different reveal dates, and a host of unanticipated medical issues. Lori, you’re seriously amazing!
The Bead Soup Blog Party (BSBP) happens only once a year. By signing up in January, all participants agreed to have Lori pair us with another jewelry designer; to have the partners exchange a quality package of beads; to make one or more pieces of jewelry with those beads adding in whatever we needed or wanted from our own stash; to use both the focal piece and the clasp we were sent; and to post our creations on the assigned reveal date.
Here are the beads I received from Lori at the end of February:
The whole idea of receiving beads chosen by someone else is to embrace the challenge. The selection I received from Lori was full of fun pieces. But I admit to being way out of my comfort zone as I pondered how I would be using them. The ceramic piece by Elaine Ray was very cool looking with beautiful shades of blue and purple, and very much bigger than what I am used to working with. (2 +3/8″ in diameter.) I didn’t even think about what I was going to do with the rest of the soup until I had a plan for that focal piece. No matter how hard I listened for it, it was not saying “necklace” to me. Instead it said, “brooch!”
The back story:
I’ve been experimenting a little with fold forming, so I knew I wanted to fold some silver sheet, enhance it, and find a way to attach it to the ceramic piece. I drilled three holes in the ceramic. (Yes, it made me very nervous! But I thought, “hey, I’m used to drilling rocks and glass, so I should be able to drill this too…”) I folded, hammered and stamped the silver piece. I soldered two lengths of 16 gauge wire to the back of the silver piece to use as rivets. Before riveting the piece on place, I punched 4 holes in it so I could attach 2 short strands of beads. A nod to necklace I didn’t make. I pushed the wires through the holes in the ceramic, and coiled them to finish the back of the rivet. I did not take the time to engineer a pin catch with rivets. (That would have been a great plan, and I wish I had done it.) Instead I had a plastic pin back, that I covered with the sari silk that was part of my soup. It’s held in place with a chemical bond. (That’s the fancy way of saying epoxy.) The last little bit on the back, that looks like a belly button, is a purple rubber washer with a bead inside. It covers the third hole I never used.
I wish these photos did a better job in showing the pretty periwinkle color of the glass beads that Lori made herself. I knew right away I wanted to use them with the dyed jade beads (center of necklace) she sent. The darker beads are actually patina-ted copper in a purplish blue. The smaller light beads are amethyst. I was so sure I would be making an asymmetrical necklace with my soup. Surprise. I must have needed symmetry when I put this together!
The jade beads below really challenged me too. I liked the potential of the two holes, and had a lot of ideas for them, none of which panned out. I kept trying to mix the color with complimentary colors, getting out the color wheel, trying all manner of combinations. I ended up having better luck bringing out their greener side. Even with the pearls and chain, the holes looked out of proportion with the finer wire until I added the green leather. I spent much more time with these than I thought I would, but I really enjoyed the challenge and the result.
Lori’s own lampwork beads (above) and the silver shell beads from Bali (below) were my most favorite parts of the soup she sent. I love the ease and comfort of an elastic bracelet. I haven’t taken this one off since I made it. It looks great next to my watch and I get to admire the silver shells and smile whenever I check the time! Thanks Lori. This bead soup party has been such a fun experience, and I learned a lot.
That’s my reveal, but there is SO much more to see. You simply must start with my partner, Lori Anderson, the Bead Soup hostess herself! Then continue to hop through as many of the participants in the list below as you would like. Just click on the link next to their name.
Here’s the soup I sent to Lori:
Start hopping my little bunnies! Here’s the list:
Barbara S Fernald Jewelry 