30000 Views

Today I reached 30000 views on the blog. When I started this blog last January I thought it would take a lot longer to hit this amount of views so Im really happy. Thank you to everyone who has stopped by and if you havent already why follow the blog by clicking on the button down the right hand side of the page. So far I have 74 follows here on the blog so maybe I can get a few more before the end of the year.

I also have 147 followers on twitter already. Click here to follow me on twitter.

On Pinterest I have 109 followers so click here if you would like to follow my boards.

Thanks for stopping by.

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.

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