It’s always fun to participate in the Bead Soup Party Blog Hops hosted by Lori Anderson and I decided that it would be fun to participate in the Kalmbach Bead Soup Party as well. This party is timed to coincide with the release of Lori’s Bead Soup Book. I’m pretty excited about this because it is the first time one of my designs has been published. (Peek in the gallery section of this book. )
Kalmbach Publishing is the organizer and sponsor of this event, and many beading retailers provided the bead soups for the party. Thank you all for your generosity.
My retail sponsor is Bead Jungle (owned by Sandra Murphy) located in Henderson, Nevada. Admittedly, I don’t get over to Henderson very often since the valley has expanded, but I will try to make it a point to drop by the shop if I find myself over in that part of town.
When I got my package of bead soup, I thought “whoa, kinda bling” as I rarely use crystals and super sparkly beads. But, for me, the essence of these Bead Soup events are to spread your wings, design with what you have, and also to work out of your comfort zone. Here’s what I came up with for the necklace design:
PROSPERITY
As I mentioned earlier, not really into”bling”, so I decided to alter the focal bead using a bit of Objects and Elements printed papers. Burn the edges with some Nag Champa incense. Of course, old hippie would have a stash of this in her studio. I was thrilled with how this turned out and decided to do the flip side of the focal bead too. I couldn’t resist as the little bit of paper had the words “Lady Luck” printed on it. After all, this is Las Vegas. (And, you know how I like that dual purpose, two sided design thing.)
Next came a bit of assembly with the bar connectors and turquoise discs, and some thin bailing wire. All is good so far. Then the C-Lon cord, more beads from my stash. I wanted a bit more “texture” so, I decided to sand paper the crystals to create a see thru effect. Lets a little more light and variety into the design. Even though it is shiny, I like the final product.
A little pair of earrings for dessert.
Such good ideas to alter the focal and sand the ridges of the crystals — I especially like the way the sanding gave the crystals an aged feel. Great piece!
Thank you. Usually if things are too sparkly, I’m not much attracted to them
Beautiful. Your creations are always so unique and inspiring- this time you out did yourself.
Let me also offer a late congratulations on your vintaj bird wings creation. I saw it on Vintaj after seeing it here.
Thank you. I really enjoy figuring out how to piece all the parts together.
I love it! And would wear it! You are so creative at how you see things.
Thank you. I think I’ll wear this one too.