Bead Soup: The Big Reveal

The day has finally arrived to reveal what I have made with the beautiful beads I was sent by Ana of Acbeads. I found myself struggling a little bit at first as there was such a variety of beads that I honestly didn't know where I was going to start but finally I decided to break up the beads into different sections and ended up making four different pieces. 

As a reminder of what Ana sent to me click here to see all of the photos. And click here to see the soup that I sent to Ana.

So my first piece is a pair of earrings. I made these using the Irish Linen Cord and Labradorite Chips. I love the simplicity of them. I didn't want to loose the beauty of the Linen Cord or the Labradorite. 

My Second piece is a bracelet made using the large glass bead, blue mother of pearl discs and blue wooden beads along with the clasp from Ana's packet. I used my own seed beads and freshwater pearls along with some rose quartz that I still had from last years packet form the Bead Soup Swap. (I knew I would find something special to use the last few in eventually.) I love that this bracelet is so neutral coloured with just a pop of strong blue.

My third piece is another bracelet. I made this piece using the Labradorite Chips, Shell and clasp from Ana's packet. (If you haven't noticed I'm a little bit in love with the Labradorite now). I finished off this bracelet by just adding some seed beads that I already had in my stash. The colour is perfect with the Labradorite I think. This is my favourite of the 2 bracelets. 

My fourth and final piece is a necklace. I started by using the beautiful Focal pieces that Ana sent along with (again) the Labradorite Chips on the beautiful blue Linen Cord. I added a small copper bead on either end to tie in the copper chain and clasp from my own stash. I knew as soon as I seen these focal pieces that I would be using them with copper somehow. It is my favourite metal and I knew the colours would all suit each other. I would never normally use cord and chain like this but I'm so happy I tried it out. I think the Linen Cord is soft next to the beautiful clay beads before the harsh metal. 

I think the necklace is by far my favourite of all four pieces I have made and I cant wait to wear it over the summer. Its a nice new piece to add to my collection. 

So that's all the pieces that I have made. Please click here to see what Ana has made using the beads I sent to her. Also click here to see the list of all the participants of the Bead Soup Blog Party. I can't wait to get around all the blogs and see what everyone has made. 

Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to leave a comment below.

If you want to win the earrings above then click here to enter. 

Bead Soup Update

I thought I would post a little update about the Bead Soup as it has been a while since my original posts. Unfortunately the reveal has been postponed for a week meaning we will all reveal our pieces next Saturday (May 11th). So my partner is Ana at ACBeads. You can visit her blog here. 

The Soup I Sent To Ana

I sent Ana a mix of turquoise, gold, clear, black and amber coloured glass bead. Copper wire head and ball pins and a copper watch style toggle clasp. The focal bead/pendant I chose is a turquoise stone. My favourite thing in this soup has to be the toggle clasp. I had been admiring it for a while in my local bead shop and as soon as I had signed up it was the first thing I knew was going into the mix. 

What Ana Sent Me:

There are so many lovely pieces in this soup that Ana sent to me. My favourite of everything in the mix has to be this beautiful pendant and beads set. 

And I was very lucky to receive this amazing bracelet and earring set from Ana as a gift with my soup mix.

So don't forget to pop back on Saturday May 11th to see what both myself and Ana have made with all of these beads. (To make sure you don't miss out follow my blog by adding yourself along the right hand side. 

My Jewellery in Bead and Jewellery Magazine

The wedding special of Bead and Jewellery Magazine is out which I have been waiting for for a long while. I applied to be part of the issues Bead Soup pages and made and sent off the pieces a long while ago. I made a bracelet, earrings and a necklace using the beautiful beads I was sent from Bead Stampede.

I'm not entirely sure why the necklace and earrings where photographed the way they are (the magazine does their own photos) but the necklace and earrings look very odd. All of those strands in the middle of the photo of the necklace should be with the bottom strand as it is a mulistrand necklace. The earrings should have the chain hanging down behind the beaded looped drop. The jewellery really isn't shown great in these photos which is such a shame because I am quite proud of the pieces I made. I guess I am a bit biased on how the jewellery looks in the pictures so hopefully others understand how they should look.

Ana Has Received The Bead Soup

I got a message from Ana to tell me that she has received my bead soup. I'm so happy she finally got it. And she likes it which is the main part. So I thought I would share a picture now of what I actually sent seen as you have all only seen a blurred picture so far.

I added some copper wire and head pins to match the copper toggle (that I love). I love the colours together in this soup and I cant wait to see what Ana makes.

The Bead Soup I Received

So I think its time to show off what I got in the Bead Soup package from Ana. There are so many pretty beads I don't know what I'm going to make yet because I have so many different ideas. Thank you again to Ana I love all the beads and hope you like what I have sent to you (when it arrives). 

I think these are my favourite piece's of all. I can't wait to use them and wear them. I've never worked with anything like this before.

And of course this again is the beautiful gift Ana sent to me. Please find Ana's Blog here. And visit her shop here to see more of her work. 

I've Received My Bead Soup

This morning I got a lovely surprise in the post from Ana, my bead soup has arrived already. I will be sharing pictures of it all over the weekend. But I wanted to share a picture of the beautiful gift Ana added to the package. She has sent me a lovely pair of earrings and a bracelet. I am going to love wearing these so thank you Ana so much I love them.

I have sent Ana's bead soup already so I hope she will have it early next week. Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to make with the lovely beads she has sent to me.

Bead Soup Sneak Peek

I wanted to upload a little sneak peek of what I am sending to Ana for the Bead Soup Swap. When she has received it I can show a picture of everything but until then this is all I can show.

I am sending it out tomorrow and I can't wait to see what Ana makes with it.

My Bead Soup Partner Is....

I found out this week that my partner for the Bead Soup Blog Party this year is Ana from ACBeads. I spent today at my favourite bead shop picking up a few extra bits to finish off my bead soup that I will be sending to Ana this week.

Ana is in Portugal so hopefully the package will arrive quickly. I hope she likes what I have picked out as much as I do.

I will post a teaser picture as soon as I have sent the package and a picture of what Ana has sent when I receive it.

Bead Soup Reveal!

It is time for the 3rd reveal for the Bead Soup Blog Party. Unfortunately we are slightly behind but its finally here and has made the reveal more exciting having had to wait a little longer! I can't wait to reveal what I have made so keep reading!

My partner is Natascha from Switzerland. Please visit her website here where you can she what she has made using the beads I sent to her and also visit her shop and see the wonderful gemstone jewellery she makes.

Natascha sent me a beautiful Sardonyx Pendant, Rhodochrosite,  Moonstone, Larimar, Fresh Water Pearls, a Sterling Silver clasp, Rose Quartz, Rhodonite and Sodalith.

And I sent Natascha a mixed bag of glass beads including pearls, squares, large seed beads, copper beads, a large copper focal bead and a spiral three strand copper clasp.

So now to my first piece using the Sterling Silver clasp, Sodalith beads, Rhodonite beads and the Sardonyx pendant. I also used copper wire I recycled from old electrical wires to make the large copper chain. I have used silver plated wire, silver plated chain, copper and silver plated bead caps and of course some glass pearls. I use these is so many of my pieces that I couldn't leave them out of this one!

I added two beads to the end of the extension chain at the back to keep the colour scheme when seen from the back. This was the first time I had tried to use a pendant like this and it was so beautiful I didnt want to cover it up with wire wrapping so I made a very simple wire bail.

The second piece I made was a bracelet. For this I decided I would use the same copper beads, copper focal bead and copper spiral clasp as the ones that I sent to Natascha because I loved them so much and I thought this would add another little challenge for me to try and work with the same findings.

I made a five stranded bracelet and tried to use some of every bead that Natascha had sent. I worked on the theme of a stacked bracelet that is so popular and trendy right now. I wanted each strand to be like a different bracelet but complimentary of each other. And I'm so happy with how it turned out I have only taken it off a few times since making it! I have come to call it my Morrocan Bracelet because of the colour scheme and I cant wait to were it through the summer!

Here is what I used to make up each strand:
Strand 1: Rhodonite and Champagne Coloured Glass Pearls.
Strand 2: Rose Quartz and Rhodochrosite.
Strand 3: Sodalith, A Large Copper Focal Bead, Silver Glass Pearls and Copper Findings.
Strand 4: Moonstone and Fresh Water Pearls.
Strand 5: Larimar and Copper Beads.

So I hope you have enjoyed looking through what I have made and I hope you will visit Natascha now and see what she has made. And thank you to Lori for all the work that has gone into organising this entire swap. I have really enjoyed working with new materials and challenging myself to make something different using someone else's choice in materials.

Click here to see all the people taking part in the swap and see what they have made! Or if you would rather just have a look at the finished pieces from all 541 participants over the three reveals you can find them on Pinterest.

Thank You Natascha!

Natascha Marty is my bead soup blog partner and asked me this week if I would be the subject of her weekly "Handmade Community Interview"! You can read it here on her blog. 

Natascha makes beautiful gemstones jewellery that is just stunning which you can see and buy here. 

Here is a reminder of what Natascha sent to me for the swap. 

And here is what I sent to Natascha

Our reveal has been postponed until April 27th so visit us both then and see what we have made!

2nd Bead Soup Reveal

Today is the second reveal day for the Bead Soup Blog Party! The map above shows where in the world all of the participants are from over the three reveals! In total there are 541 people taking part from:

Australia,                    Austria,                    Belgium,                     Canada,
Finland,                      France,                    Germany,                    Hungary,
Indonesia,                  Ireland,                     Israel,                         Italy,
United States             Luxembourg,            Malaysia,                    Okinawa,
Poland,                      Portugal,                  Romania,                    Scotland,
Serbia,                      Singapore,                Slovenia,                     Spain,                    
Sweden,                   Switzerland,              The Netherlands,         United Kingdom,
Kingdom of Bahrain,

Click here to see a full list of everyone taking part in the second reveal.
Click here to see the list of all 161 blogs who took part in the first reveal.

You can also follow the blogs as they post their pieces to Pinterest.

Follow my blog by clicking the follow with google button on the right and check back next Saturday 20th April for the 3rd reveal to see what I have made using the beautiful supplies sent to me by my partner Natascha.

My Bead Soup Has Arrived!

The Bead Soup From Natascha

Today I woke up to a huge box from Natascha and I couldn't wait to get into it and see what there was! Everything was wrapped and packaged so nicely and there is even 3 big bars of Swiss chocolate. I have so many ideas already that I don't know where to start. I can't believe what was in the box as my package seemed a lot smaller and I hope she is as happy as with her package as I am with mine. 

I don't work with natural stones very often, only really as a special piece so this is going to be a challenge. I sent Natascha a package with mainly glass beads and copper. These are what I love working with and I put it together before I knew who my partner was so as not to be temped to sent her pieces that she works with normally. I wanted to be challenged and I wanted to challenge Natascha too. Otherwise what was the point in doing the swap at all?. 

Here are the pictures of everything that was in the package:

Such a beautiful focal bead.

A Silver Clasp.

Pearls.

And now we wait while I figure out what I'm going to do with all these beautiful things I have been sent. But I can now share the picture (un-blurred) of what I sent to Natascha because she told me this morning that she has received what I sent her too. 

This is a collection of beads that I call my "usual" beads. I always have glass pearls, glass crystals and other lass beads in my stash and I use them in everything I do. I also sent a copper celtic style clasp with a copper focal bead and a few copper rounds to tie it together. I love copper but don't get to use it as often as I would like and as soon as I saw this clasp I knew it was the right one and built my soup around it. 

I can't wait to see what Natascha has made using these beads. Don't forget to visit Natascha's Blog here to follow here side of the Bead Soup adventure! I think I have ended up with a great partner here and I couln't be happier!

Bead Soup Has Been Sent

I sent my bead soup to Natascha today and I can't wait to see what sh makes with it! I can't upload a picture of what I sent just yet because I don't want to spoil the surprise for her. Sure that's the whole point, it's supposed to be a surprise!

What I have done is distorted the picture just enough for you to not know exactly what was in the package. You can get a colour palate idea but that's it!

As soon as I know Natascha has received the package I will show you the proper picture.

Bead Soup Blog Party Participants

So the full list of all Bead Soup Blog Party participants has gone up and it is huge! My goal is to visit all of the blogs which is a huge task but I reckon I can get it done and will hopefully find some great new blogs to follow. And hopefully this means I will be getting some new blog followers as well.

If your visiting from a blog taking part leave me a comment below to let me know you've stopped by!!

Click on the banner above to see the full list of blogs taking part.

Bead Soup Blog Party

I recently read an article in a jewellery magazine (can't remember which one) about a thing called a Bead Soup Blog Party. So I looked it up and quickly realised I wanted in!

Basically you sign up by filling out a form on the blog and sending a bit of information like where you are and if you want to be partnered with someone near you or in another country. There are also 3 reveal dates to give you time if the person you are partnered with is quite far from you.

I've asked for someone outside my country but no preference where and now I'm trying to put together my first "soup". This consists of a clasp which needs to be a nice one not a multi-pack lobster clasp, a focal bead  and some co-ordinating beads. I can't wait to see what the person I'm partnered with comes back with from my soup and what I can do with theirs.

Click here if you want to sign up by Sunday 27th January. This is a great way for people around the world to share in what they love making and helping others expand their style and do something a little different with pieces they have never used or seen before!

Cant wait to share what I get and come up with!

Click here to follow my adventures through the blog party!!