BSBP - What I Sent My Partner (hint: lots of Artisan Beads!)

I was paired with Natasha Lutes of N's Whims for Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party.  I shared in a previous post what her soup contained. Natasha does not work with a lot of silver - but that is the metal that I tend to veer towards.  So, going by Lori's suggestion to send what "we" like, I picked from my favorite color palettes, as well as my favorite artists.  Here is what I sent to Natasha:

• Two gorgeous, handcrafted porcelain focal pendants by Nancy Schindler.  These pendants are made in my favorite color – blue.  She is so creative, and I just love her work!
• Two sets of lamp work spacer beads by Kelley Ford Wenzel in two different shades of blue. Kelley was one of the first lamp work artists that I found on the Internet and I love the colors of these beads - especially with the chosen focal.
• A set of white, sparkly mini-spacer lamp work beads by artist Sue Kennedy.  I have purchased A LOT of beads from Sue – her work is phenomenal!  She has named these beads “white sparkly pixie” as the glass is rolled in pixie dust.  Such a nice shimmer to these beads!
• I needed a secondary color - something that popped with the blue.  So, I included two, yellow enameled filigree rounds from Anne Gardanne.  Anne also makes exceptional lamp work beads, but her enamel work is just gorgeous!
• I also included two, fairly large sterling silver Bali beads and some sterling silver chain.
• I had the hardest time finding a clasp!  Ever since I bought Denise Peck's book "Handcrafted Findings", I have been making alot of my own clasps (as well as ear wires, connectors, etc.)!  So, I made two of them:

I worried most about the clasps - I hope they don't appear to be "too homemade", if you know what I mean!

I cannot wait to see what Natasha has created!  Be sure to come back on March 3 for the reveal!

Thank you for stopping by!

New Work!

I have had some fun with some beautiful artisan beads!.  First up, this sterling silver wire-wrapped bracelet with the most fascinating beads by Lori Lochner!  These are my favorite colors - turquoise, teal, blue, plum...yummy!!

Next, I took a cue from the Pantone Color of the Year - Tangerine Tango - and made a beautiful, sunny bracelet with torch fired enameled glass beads by Sally Russick!  I was in luck to remember that I had this gorgeous, orange enameled vintaj toggle clasp by Anne Gardanne...this is probably the most comfortable bracelet I have ever tried on!

I also had fun with beads by one of my favorite glass makers, Sue Beads.  She made these stunningly deep green baroque-style beads, which I wire wrapped with a Green Girls Studio Pewter Flower Cross to make this bracelet:

I had ordered a bunch of porcelain charms from Marla James just because I though they were beautiful!  I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to make with them.  But, I lucked out and found a vintage resin necklace in my stash, took it apart, and the resin beads look exactly like wooden beads.  I though it was a perfect match!  The porcelain has the sweetest splash of light blue in the glaze.

More earrings with porcelain charms from Marla James - this time with some sodalite gemstones wire wrapped to the charm:

The last pair of earrings features one more set of Marla's charms, but this time, I paired them with some beads (leftovers from a bracelet, below) from a bead set by Gaea.  I mentioned on facebook that I would swear that the beads and the charms were glazed from the same paint chip - another perfect match!

All of the earrings above have gorgeous, solid copper ear wires that I picked up from Melina Orr during the Craft Fair late in the fall of 2011, held by Lori Anderson at Pretty Things.

Last but not least, I made this pretty bracelet using these sweet, ceramic beads by Gaea, and some more vintage resin beads from another necklace I had on hand.

Well, that is what I have been up to this past week!

Thanks for stopping by!