Soup is ready!

My apologies to those of you who visited on Saturday hoping to see my Bead Soup challenge piece - as I was going to be away for the reveal I scheduled the blog post - and managed to schedule it for the wrong weekend! Ooops! And I thought I was being so organised.... 

Anyway, I'm home again now so here it is....better late than never?!

To be perfectly honest I was a little bit worried when I opened the bead soup ingredients Deborah Read that sent me as, lovely as the lampwork and dichroic glass pieces, they were on the opposite side of the world from anything that I would normally use - but that's what this challenge is all about, right? If you'd like a reminder of what Deb sent me please have a look at this post from last month. I did my usual bead soup trick of putting all the ingredients in a lovely wooden bowl that sits on my desk and every now and then I pulled a few pieces out, added some extras in and generally had a play. In the end, however, I decided to use just a focal and one of the two clasps that Deb sent, and this is a little hint of what I did.

I took part in an Artisan Whimsy challenge last year that used a tutorial by to set a flat back stone or found object in prongs that started life as rivets. The rivets were pushed through holes drilled in the backing plate and soldered into place so that they were strong enough to be pushed over the object being set. I set a beautiful Botswana Agate cabochon in silver for that challenge, and loved the technique, so I decided to use it again to set one of the pieces of dichroic glass that Deb sent me.

And this is the glass set in place. I love the contrast of warm patinea'd copper with the blues and greens in the glass. You've probably noticed that I haven't used the clasp yet. I realised once I'd made the pendant that I didn't have enough of the leather I wanted to hang it from, so as soon as the postman brings it I'll be using a clasp, promise!

Please do go and see what Deb made with the ingredients I made I sent her  - you can see her post here, and for a full list of all the people taking part visit  http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.ca/2013/04/7th-bead-soup-blog-party-2nd-reveal.html

I'm actually away this weekend (T's taking me away to Barcelona for an early birthday treat!) so I've scheduled this and I will start visiting the other blogs taking part when I get home!

Soup's ready to cook!

There was a sigh of relief on both sides of the Atlantic last week when the Bead Soup ingredients that my partner Deborah Read put together for me arrived safely. They had actually arrived in the UK over a week before that but I was out when the postie tried to deliver them so I came home I found one of those lovely "while you were out" cards. Unfortunately the sorting office had put my parcel in such a safe place that it took them a week to find it!

So, here at last are the wonderful goodies that Deb sent me! She has been so generous.

 

At the moment I'm leaning towards using one of the dichroic glass pieces to use as a focal - but knowing me I'll change my mind before our reveal on 6th April!

If you want a reminder of what I sent Deb, have a look here and here. We actually sent each other similar colours!

Canadian Soup

Deb has emailed - her parcel of Bead Soup ingredients has arrived in Canada! I have to say, I am very impressed with how quickly it has got there. There is still one UK parcel that I posted at the same time that is yet to arrive at it's destination! I showed you a teaser last week, but now I can show you more details....

 I made Deb a copper Lovebird clasp (you probably guessed I'd make the clasp!), and a smaller Lovebird charm and heart charms to match. There's also a reel of patinaed copper wire and some hammered rings in there in case she didn't have any copper wire. I am sorry to say that I don't know the name of the maker of the lampwork bead, but I love the swirls of blue and ivory inside the clear glass. The ivory spacer beads are ones a friend who no longer makes beads made me a few years ago, and the blue spacers are Mindy Macgregor's. And a final touch to bring it all together, a length of deep turquoise silk ribbon from Marsha Neal. 

I'm really looking forward to seeing what Deb makes with her ingredients - you can see what she thought of her goodies here. And I'm really looking forward to seeing what the postman brings me!

Bead Soup!

Unless you've been hibernating more than me over the last few weeks you'll know that Lori Anderson has been busy pairing up people from all over the world for the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party. This is the fourth party I've taken part in as I took a break when Jamie was tiny, and I've been particularly looking forward to this one Lori is only running one a year now - not surprising considering the amount of work it takes to organise several hundred jewellery designers and beaders!

My partner this time is Deborah Read who lives in snowy Ontario, Canada. You have to go over to her blog to see how beautiful her home looks in the snow at the moment! It almost makes me feel jealous that our snow never lasts for very long - and then I remember that we live at the top of a steep hill and snow and steep hills don't got well together! Deborah works with so many different jewellery techniques and materials from resin and etching copper to lampworking, that I have absolutely no idea what soup ingredients she will have put together for me, but I do know that it's on its way!

My ingredients are on their way over to Canada as well. I can't show you what pretties I've put together for Deborah until they arrive so that I don't spoil the surprise, but you can tell what colours I've included from the teaser above! As soon as our ingredients have arrived I'll show them off more, and then I'll be busy designing ready for the reveal on 6th April.

BTW

Today has been a day of hiding away from the rain inside my workshed, standing over a hot kiln working on some keum boo jewellery. I've been putting the finishing touches to a couple of gallery orders, but although that was most of my work today I forgot to take any photos! Never mind, I do still have some photos to show you as the last hour or so of the day was spent taking and editing photos of new pendants.

Some more Moogin Special pendants!

These are all made with Moogin lampwork beads with such beautiful detail. My favourite is the one in the middle with glorious shades of purples and reds. The centres of the flowers are slightly raised rather than melted completely into the bead, and so the bead has a lovely texture to it. I have to admit that I've been hoarding this one for quite some time!

These three have all been listed on my website, and remember that there is 10% off jewellery with Moogin Beads during March. The Peacock bracelet that I made for the February ABS challenge sold today. I've started making a couple more feather clasps so I think I'll be using another one in a bracelet soon.

Thank you for all of the lovely comments you have made on my Bead Soup post! I'm about halfway through the list of blogs - I will get there, but I want to leave a comment on each blog I visit so it's taking a while!

Welcome to the Party!

Welcome to the Southampton leg of the Bead Soup Blog Party Hop! This party has definitely been the best one yet, and I think that's got quite a bit to do with the Bead Soup Cafe group that Lori (our hostess) set up for us on Facebook. It's been an easily accessible place for us to chat, post pictures and ask questions about both the party and anything to do with jewellery. It's a private group, but anyone who loves beads is welcome, whether or not you're taking part in the party - you can find us here. Thank you Lori for setting it up, and thank you so much for being such a wonderful party hostess!

Before I show you what I've made, here's a quick reminder of what my partner Michi sent me. She was amazingly generous and sent me not the one focal bead, clasp and a few supporting beads that the party calls for but FOUR beautiful lampwork beads that she made herself, a clasp and a whole supporting cast of other beads. As breathtaking as her lampwork beads were and as much as I love them and am in awe at Michi's skillful work, they were definitely a challenge for me. I have become far more comfortable working with brighter colours over the last couple of years, but I think that it was the addition of the blue that made these beads so much of a challenge. The blue meant that I wasn't able to add colours like browns into the mix to tone the colours down and bring them closer to my comfort zone. I had plans for three of the beads, but due to Jamie being ill earlier in the week I've only been able to finish work with one of the focal beads. The other designs will be posted over the next week, so it'll be an extended party here!

So, are you ready? Here is my main design..... (Heavens, I'm nervous! I really hope Michi likes it!)

I knew that I wanted to use the brightest bead in a bracelet, mainly as the general expectation would be to use it in a necklace! However, this is a big bead, 4.5cm long, so I decided to make a brangle - half bracelet, half bangle - so that the metal section of the design would hold the bead comfortably on top of the wearer's wrist, showing it off. The red spacer beads either side of the focal were made by Michi too, and I decided to oxidise the bracelet as, well, bright silver was just too much next to the bright beads!

I made the clasp on the bracelet, so of course that leaves the clasp that Michi sent me to use in another design.....

The toggle clasp that Michi sent is so lovely, such a pretty, intricate design, that I decided to use it as a charm on a pendant rather than a clasp so that I could show it off more. The lampwork bead here is one by Isabelle Anderson that I've had for quite a while, and I added a faceted peridot bead to add a brighter touch to the design. The pendant hangs from dark pinky purple silk.

I had time to make one more piece. Actually this was the piece that I made first to get me into the swing of things! I loved the ceramic beads that Michi sent me, and I've brightened them up (see, she has influenced me!) by using them with amethyst, faceted smoky quartz and more of the pinky purple silk. I made the silver rings, and of course I made the clasp too, one of my daisy hook clasps. I gave the silver a slightly matt look to fit in better with the beads. I am awful at photographing long necklaces (and this one is over 80cm long), but I'm hoping to get a photo of me wearing this one later on today when the light's better.

Thank you for partying with me here in Southampton! Please do go and visit the rest of the bloggers taking part. I'm off to see what my partner Michi made with the owl clasp and large heart focal bead I sent her!

Hostess, Lori Anderson  
Special Book Sneak Peeks, Cindy Wimmer
 

1.  Adlinah Kamsir (Singapore) and Hajer Waheed (Kingdom of Bahrain)

2. Adrienn Lukacs (Hungary) and Agata Grygiel (Poland)

3.  Agi Kiss (Hungary) and Carolien Muller-Genger (the Netherlands)

4.  Agnes Asztalos (Hungary) and B.R. Kuhlman

5.  Alesha Conklin and Becki Mendivil

6.  Alice Peterson and Carol Dillman

7.  Alicia Marinache (Canada) and Dita Basu

8.  Amanda Dittloff and Brandy Thomason McNair

9.  Amanda Tibbetts and Andrea Trank

10.  Amy Freeland and Kay Mallery 

11.  Andra Weber and Christine Murrow

12.  Ann Sherwood and Diane Welte

13.  Barbara Bechtel and Kerry Bogert

14.  Barbara Lewis and Cat Pruitt

15.  Bonnie Coursolle (Canada) and Fay Wolfenden (Canada)

16.  Carmel McGinley (Australia) and Tracy Stillman (Australia)

17.  Cassie Donlen and Deryn Mentock

18.  Cathie Carroll and Janel Dudley

19.  Cece Cormier and Morwyn Mullins

20.  Charlene Jacka and Christina Hickman

21.  Cheryl Brown (Canada) and Diana Ptaszynski

22.  Christina Stofmeel (the Netherlands) and Eva Kovacs (Hungary)

23.  Christine Damm and Deb Brooks

24.  Cilla Watkins (Canada) and Elaine Robitaille (Canada)

25.  Sabrina Straub (Switzerland) and Kathy Combs

26.  Cindy Cima Edwards and Eleanor Burian-Mohr

27.  Cory Celaya and Rhea Freitieg

28.  Courtney Breul and Dana Hickey

29.  Cynthia Abner and Jennifer Boreck

30.  Cynthia Tucker and Jean Peter

31.  Debbie Goering and Heidi Post

32.  Dee Elgie (UK) and Joanne Lockwood (UK)

33.  Dian Hierschel (Germany) and Eniko Fabian (Austria)

34.  Diane Cook and Lyn Foley

35.  Donna Bohler and Lisa Lodge

36.  Donna Millard and Kiersten Giles

37.  Doris Stumpf (Germany) and Eszter Czibulyas (Hungary)

38.  Elisabeth Auld and Eva Sherman

39.  Elke Leonhardt-Rath (Germany) and Marjolein Trewavas (UK)

40.  Ema Kilroy and Laurie Keefe-Cecere

41.  Erika Nooteboom (the Netherlands) and Giorgia Rossini (Italy)

42.  Erin Grant and Jean Wells

43.  Evelyn Duberry (Canada) and Gaea Cannaday

44.  Genea Crivello-Knable and Heather Powers

45.  Ginger Bishop (military, Okinawa) and Martina Nagele (Germany)

46.  Heidi Kingman and Lori Greenberg

47.  Helen Kemp and Lisa Wangeman

48.  Helene Goldberg (Australia) and Karen Vincent

49.  Jamie Hogsett and Jeannie Dukic

50.  Jeanette Ryan and Jelveh Jaferian

51.  Jennifer Cameron and Tania Spivey

52.  Jennifer Justman and Kari Carrigan

53.  Jennifer Tough and Lorelei Eurto

54.  Joanna Matuszczyk (Poland) and Julianna Kis (Hungary)

55.  Joanne Tinley (UK) and Michaela Pabeschitz (Austria)

56.  Julie Anne Leggett and Kelley Fogle

57.  Karen Hess and Linda Landig

58.  Karyn Bonfiglio and Kathleen Lange Klik

59.  Kashmira Patel and Kat White

60.  Kat Barron Miller and Kelly Morgan

61.  Kathy Lindemer and Rose Binoya

62.  Krafty Max and Sandra Miller

63.  Kristen Latimer and Pam Ferrari

64.  Kristie Roeder and Lea Avroch

65.  Kristina Johansson (Sweden) and Penny Neville (Canada)

66.  Krisztina Erlaki-Toth (Hungary) and Nicole Keller (Germany)

67.  Lara Lutrick and Lisa Suver

68.  Laura DeMoya and Lisa Hanna

69.  Libby Leuchtman and Melanie Brooks

70.  Linda Koch and Rosemarie Cowit

71.  Lisa Chapman and Menka Gupta

 72.  Lisa Liddy and Marion Simmons

73.  Lori Anderson and Marcie Abney

74.  Lori Bowring-Michaud and Mary Govaars

75.  Lori Dorrington and Maria Rosa Sharrow

76.  Lori Finney (Canada) and Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp (Canada)

77.  Lynn Bennett and Mandi Ainsworth

78.  Marta Kaczerowska (Poland) and Milla Starchik (Canada)

79.  Mary Harding and Shannon LeVart

80.  Mary Jane Dodd and Stacey Curry

81.  Melinda Orr and Molly Alexander

82.  Melissa Meman and Michelle Escano-Caballaro

83.  Michelle Jensen and Sandra Young (Canada)

84.  Nan Emmett and Nicole Valentine-Rimmer (Canada)

85.  Nancy Boylan and Suzette Bentley

86.  Natasha Lutes and Patti Vanderbloemen

87.  Pam Hurst and Rebekah Payne

88.  Patty Miller and Sara Rhoades

89.  Rebecca Anderson (UK) and Lori Anderson

90.  Rebecca Sirevaag and Sharon Driscoll

91.  Rochelle Brisson and Shannon Chomanczuk

92.  Rosa Maria Cuevas (Mexico) and Tejae Floyde

93.  Sabine Dittrich (Germany) and Sally Russick

94.  Sandi Volpe and Sarah/Saturday Sequins

95.  Shanti Johnson and Tracy Mok (Canada)

96.  Skylar Brez and Theresa Buchle

97.  Sonya Stille and Traci Zeller (Canada)

98.  Stefanie Teufel (Germany) and Tania Hagen (New Zealand)

99.  Stephanie LaRosa and Vonna Maslanka

100.  Terri Wlaschin and Wendy Blum

Just a few finishing touches....

It's nearly time to party!

The 5th Bead Soup Blog Party is tomorrow - well, today if you're in New Zealand like some of the other party goers (and my friend Hellie - hello Hellie, I will Skype very soon, promise!), and you can see from the map that Lori has put together that there are jewellery and bead bloggers from all over the globe taking part! I've got a couple of finishing touches to do on one of my pieces, so for now I'll leave you with a hint of what's to come.

Oh, and if you've no idea what on earth I'm on about and what a Bead Soup Blog Party actually is, take a look here!

BTW part 1

Sitting on my work desk this morning - hopefully it'll look very different in a couple of hours!

Michi's soup

The bead soup I sent Michi arrived in Austria the same day the soup she sent me arrived here, and she's blogged about it here. I thought I'd show you a few pictures of it too. I'm so pleased that she likes it, but considering how much she sent me I wish I'd sent her more now!

When we emailed Michi said that she usually worked in silver and that copper would therefore be a challenge for her - so of course I had to send her some copper! The heart shaped focal is piece of carved variscite, a phosphate based stone that you can find more about here. I bought it a couple of years ago from my friend Brenda who sells her stones on etsy. I loved it, and had it sat on my desk where I could see it. I tried it out in several designs, but they never did seem quite right, so I thought that I'd send it to Michi and see what she could come up with. Added to the mix are freshwater pearls, smoky quartz, copper beads, silk ribbon - and of course a handmade clasp.

I'm really please with my sweet little owl! She (and she's definitely a she) was made copper sheet that I textured with various hammers and punches. She's got a hook and a loop on the back, and I've used Liver of Sulphur to give her a warm patina. I will probably make a couple of these for my etsy shop in the next couple of weeks, but they'll be in the limited edition section as each one will turn out slightly different.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what Michi makes with her soup - not long to wait now, less than a month to go!

Soup's on!

So did Wednesday's teaser give you any ideas as to what Michi wrapped up in all those little parcels? Whatever you guessed, be prepared to be amazed! I was going to start with the supporting cast of beads and then build up to the stars but I just couldn't wait to show you!

If you'd looked at a large copy of this picture you may have noticed that on one of the parcels Michi wrote that she couldn't decide which focal to send me. I assumed that she had been wonderfully generous and sent me two. I was wrong - she sent me not two but four amazingly intricate beautiful brightly coloured lamp work beads that she made herself. Four! And they're big too. In the photos below I've tried to show you all the details, but that's nothing compared to seeing them in real life. The detail on them is astounding. I have no idea how Michi has made the fish which have such delicate details, or how she has made the glass twist and swirl like that. And the colours! Now, I know I said that I've become more comfortable with using brighter colours in my work, but orange is definitely my biggest challenge, a colour that can make me panic to be perfectly honest. I'm ok if it's a bit of orange adventurine that I can tone down a bit like in these earrings, but there is no getting away from the fact that these beauties are bright orange!! Well, a challenge is a challenge is a challenge, hey Janna?!

Do click on each picture to see a larger copy - these beads are gorgeous!

Now, I mentioned a supporting cast. Michi has sent me enough beads for three bead soups. More amazing lampwork - gorgeous deep blue large nuggets and a set of beautifully decorated orange pillow shaped beads and some sweet coral coloured spacers. And then there's these beautiful ceramic beads (love these - more in my comfort zone!), a string of coral, pretty blue faceted beads, some really sweet fish shaped silver beads and a beautiful daisy toggle clasp.

I have been so spoilt! And I wish now that I had sent Michi more! Thank you so much Michi - I am going to have such fun creating with your beautiful beads.

You can find Michi's blog here - der-lamardebonita.blogspot.com.
The bead soup I sent her has arrived too, and you can see what she thought of it on her blog. I'll post some pictures of what I sent later today.

Michi's Bead Soup Teaser

Wonderful goodies, and some treats to help with the creating!

My parcel from Michi arrived this afternoon - and oh my! the wonderful goodies inside! I have been thoroughly spoilt and wish I'd sent her more now! It's almost time for me to pick the boys up from the childminder (work days go so quickly) so I'll post some proper pictures this evening, but for now a bit of a teaser - the packaging is a clue to what is inside!

My Bead Soup Partner

It is most definitely about time that I introduced you properly to my Bead Soup Party partner this time round. This is the fourth party that I've taken part in, and I've had amazing partners each time who have definitely challenged me in terms of colour and materials. Lori works hard to match people up, making sure that two lampworkers, for example, aren't matched together, or two people who have too similar styles of work. You can see what I made with the bead soup that my previous partners Lynne, Malin and Janna sent me. In hindsight I don't think that I did Lynne's soup justice. I did better with the ceramic pendant that Malin sent me, but I was really pleased with the necklaces I made with Janna's soup. The Bead Soup Parties have made me think and design outside of my comfort zone and I think that they have improved my work, so thank you again Lori!

This time round my partner is Michaela Pabeschitz. As I (briefly!) mentioned last month, Michi's a lampworker who lives near Vienna in Austria. The beads that Michi makes are absolutely gorgeous, and she makes them in such a variety of styles, as you can see from the pictures above. My favourite is the purple and green beauty in the middle of the top row, but the fish is so cute too! Michi posted a teaser of the bead soup she's sent me on her blog yesterday - click here to see it. It sold be here any day now, I can't wait!

Not everything goes to plan....

I wish it did, but not all plans work out the way you hope! Sometimes that leads to good things - for example, if I had got the grades I was predicited in my A levels the first time round (my Mum says it was because we moved house three times during college and both my Grandads died just before my exams, but it may have had something to do with the fact that my boyfriend at college was one of those really annoying people who don't have to revise at all to get top marks) I would have ended up studying Meteorology, probably working for the Met Office, and not have gone into teaching, met T, had my wonderful boys and ended up playing with stones, beads and metal for a living.

However.......my plans for the last week did not involve major work on my website that has taken up what little free time I've had, and again it's my blog that has suffered, sorry. I've kept up with all my orders and teaching and a couple of commissions together with family stuff and painting the new cupboards that T has built for the lounge diner (really looking forward to showing you what we've done, but I want to wait until it's finished!), but it's always my blog that suffers when things go mad, sorry. If you've been on my website over the last week or so you'll have seen a few funny messages talking first of all about malware and then about maintenance. The malware was trying to redirect you to a site selling fake gucci goods, and that was easily sorted within 24 hours. I then decided to upgrade the site to the version of zencart that has just been released, and that's where it got complicated as this version isn't compatable with the software my hosting company has on the server. It's taken longer than I'd hoped to sort it out, but hopefully I'll be back up and running by the end of tomorrow by the latest. Didn't someone say that computers would make our lives easier, create a paperless society, reduce the burden of admin etc etc? Pah!

Anyway, lots of things have gone to plan over the last week. Jamie has finally cut the three teeth that were coming through all at once, so he and T and I are finally getting some sleep. Poor love, he's so good and rarely gets upset, but he was not happy. Ben seems to sleep through all of Jamie's noise thankfully - I don't think I could cope with the two of them and me being overtired! Ben has yet more birthday parties and homework involving building robots (I'm sure that my homework wasn't as much fun when I was his age!). And I've been spending lots of time up at the post office. The poppies for the poppy challenge were posted last week so the overseas ones should be arriving with the challengees any time now and the UK ones should be there already, and I posted Michi's bead soup off to her yesterday as well. Fancy a sneek preview.....?

For once, there are no daisies or poppies, but that's all I'm saying, you'll have to wait until it arrives safely in Austria!

Woohoo!

I had convinced myself that there was no way I was going to win, afterall, so many people had entered, but I did!! I've won the lottery! Ok, not the Lotto or the Euromillions (not surprising really seeing as I've never bought a lottery ticket!), but I'm one of the lucky 200 who have won the lottery to take part in the 5th Bead Soup Party.

My partner this time round is Michi, Michaela Pabeschitz, who lives in Austria not far from Vienna, a city I've always wanted to visit. She makes really gorgeous lampwork beads, and I just hope that I can do whatever she sends me justice. I've got a few ideas of what to send her, but I'll probably change my mind a few times before I actually post her parcel.

The full list of participants in this party can be found on Lori's blog here. We've got to send our parcels out by the end of the month, and the blog hop is on 3rd March. I'll blog some more about the party and some teaser photos before then!

I've been a bit quiet on the blog over the last week as I've been beavering away on some new designs, some for my daisychain extra shop on etsy and some for my Golden Collection as this is the set of jewellery that galleries seem to like and I put on NOTHS as well. It's taken me ages to take and edit the photos and write the descriptions, oh and price everything, but I'm just about there! I had planned to list at least some of the new clasps on etsy over the weekend, but we were doing too much DIY, so I'm going to start listing them tonight. I'm also going to run another challenge using one of the new designs. It'll be run slightly differently than the Oak Leaves challenge I ran last autumn, and because my next post will be my 500th (!!) there will be a special giveaway too - so come back again tonight!

5th Bead Soup Blog Party!

One non-birthday and family thing that I did manage to do over the weekend was to enter the lottery for Lori Anderson's 5th Bead Soup Party. She's running it as a lottery with no more than 200 participants this time round to keep it all manageable, and if you'd like a chance to take part follow this link before the end of today - I can guarantee that you'll have lots of fun!