It's Finally Here! Bead Soup Blog Party Time!

First of all, I can't believe it is March already...I mean, what happened to January and February?  Anyway, the moon and stars must have aligned when Lori Anderson's randomizer picked me as one of the lucky participants in her Bead Soup Blog Party - her fifth and largest party to date!  This is my first time participating, and I was matched with the talented Natasha Lutes of N's Whims.  Here is a recap of what Natasha sent me:

Gorgeous semi-precious gemstones, including turquoise (my personal all-time favorite!)

A beautiful dichroic glass focal, which is quite large, with gorgeous hues of blues, yellows, and brown. The mix also included a few extra glass beads that coordinated with the colors of the focal.

Pearls and glass rondelles.

And last....but not least...a huge mix of Vintaj components!  Look at that star!  Focal perhaps? 

The Vintaj mix also included 2 clasp choices.

I have never used Vintaj components, or dichroic glass.  This is not to say that I don't have any Vintaj in my stash....I just have never used it before!  This was a challenge ... the whole point of this soup!  I was so excited to receive this very generous soup from Natasha....thank you!

I mulled over my design for days.  I was stumped on how to use the dichroic glass.  I had other brass filigrees and tried to wrap it, making the focal into a pendant.  That failed (in my mind).  I happened to have a large filigree that I thought would make a good back drop for the focal.  So, I combined the two...

Instead of just joining the chain to the focal, which just was not interesting to me, I wire wrapped the vintaj star component, some of the beads, and the vintaj filigree bead to the chain.  The toggle clasps on the side....not the back of the necklace. 

I was happy with this design, as the eye travels around the necklace - instead of just focusing on the pendant.  I used extra beads and the small, vintaj star charm and made a dangle that sits on top of the dichroic and filigree focal. 

Since I don't like soup leftovers, I also made a bracelet and two pair of earrings.

I love multi-strand bracelets - and I wanted to use this clasp!

Here is a picture of everything I made -

My niece has already claimed everything I made...thank you Rachel!   

Thank you for stopping by, and your comments mean so much to me!

  Please visit all of the participants by following the links below.

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 You are here!

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

Bead Soup Ingredients!

I received my Bead Soup ingredients from my partner Natasha Lutes today!

The package:

The ingredients!

The focal:

While these are colors I am used to...the shape I am not!  I see some creative wire wrapping in my future!

The clasps - vintaj (yeah!)

Most of my work involves silver -- a little copper, but mostly silver.  This will be fun!

She even gave me LOTS of coordinating Vintaj components:

 And, some coordinating semi-precious gemstones:

And last...but certainly not least...she gave me some peacock pearls and a few glass rondelles:

I have have several designs floating in my head...can't wait to start working on this!!!

Many thanks to Natasha for this gift!  And, of course, thank you Lori Anderson for hosting this party!  Stay tuned for the big reveal on March 3!!!

Bead Soup Blog Party - Teaser

I feel so honored - and downright scared - to have been "randomly" selected as one of the participants of Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party!  I have only recently plunged into Blogland and opened an Etsy store, so my self-confidence is lacking!  But, I know this challenge will push me, creatively speaking, and for that, Lori, I thank you so much for this opportunity!

My partner for this venture is Natasha Lutes of N's Whims. A Wisconsin girl!!  My entire family (except me) is from Wisconsin - Cheese Heads and Packer Backers through and through - sorry about the game last week :(

I struggled with what to send her, but received emails from Lori telling us to send what we ourselves like...so that's what I did.  Then I struggled for two days on how to package the soup!  I have seen the extent of what other people have done with their packaging - it's like Christmas, or a special Birthday event!  I am afraid that my creativity in the packaging department just isn't there lately, but I did my best. Here is a sneak peak:

I sure hope she likes it! The big reveal date is March 3rd - 200 participants!  How exciting is that?!

Thanks for stopping by!