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 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.

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.

Fusion Beads 30 Day Challenge: Day 2

Make A Simple Strung Piece

I made this bracelet for my mam. It has the initals of my mam, dad, myself and sisters surrounded by each of our birthstone colours using Swarovski Cyrstals and pewter components. Its a great personal piece of jewellery that she loves wearing.

Follow the Fusion beads challenge on Facebook and Twitter using #FusionDailyChallenge

Fusion Beads 30 Day Challenge: Day 1

Make A Pair Of Earrings

I'm going to try and do as many of the challenges in the Fusion Beads 30 Day Challenge this March. Day 1 is make a pair of earrings to start off small so I made these earrings using red crystal set silver beads simply hanging on an ear wire. I think the bead is so beautiful that I didn't want to overwhelm them with too much fuss.

Follow the challenge or take part on Facebook or Twitter using #FusionDailyChallenge

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.

My Next Tutorial

So I'm going to get working on my next tutorial for the blog (and I think I'm getting a bit better at making them haha) but I'm opening up the comments here for suggestions before I decide for definite what I'm going to do. I will be loading it up as soon as the blog hits over 1000 views which is getting close and this gives me a time limit!


So get commenting below and suggest something in the next week and I will let you all know as soon as I have picked something to do! It can be anything from an actual design to a technique that you just need a little help with. And hopefully I know how to do it haha. Looking forward to hearing your suggestions.

My Bead Soup Partner

So last night I got the email from Lori with the name of who I am partnered with for the Bead Soup Blog Party and I want to introduce you to Natascha Marty. 



Natascha's jewellery is beautiful and made using lovely gemstones. You can find her facebook page here with more of her work. 



I can't wait to send her the pack of beads I have put together on Monday and see what she can make with them! 

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.