7th Bead Soup Blog Party Reveal

I received the most wonderful soup from Susan of Libellula Jewelry. (She has a shop called Cicada Silver too.) She wrapped each ingredient individually in tissue paper and packaged it all in a handmade box. She labeled everything so beautifully, it was so hard for me to take it all apart. I just loved looking at it and going thru it again and again. Susan does really wonderful metal work. She etches and solders and makes her own jump rings and head pins.  Along with all the metal, came glass, ceramic and gemstone beads.

The first piece I made was this necklace using one of the focals she sent. This etched pendant is colored with a pretty shade of turquoise and bezeled beautifully.Inside the pendant is a little piece of paper that says 'seek peace'. I love that it says that. I also used one of the clasps that she sent. It is a hand formed copper hook. The beads are beads I made out of bright green, turquoise and ivory and then etched. I love this necklace and have worn it already many times.

The next piece is a bracelet using most of the pink beads she sent. The cherry quartz, the pink opal and the pink adventurine carved focal. I just had to add that pop of green with the flower bead. I like that it echos the flowers in the main focal.

 The next piece is a simple pair of earrings. Using the earwires, headpins, hammered rings and turquoise Susan sent. I love how well the balled ends of the ear wires, matched the color of the orange sea foam quartz.

Susan sent me so many wonderful pieces and I just couldn't get all of the pieces done that I want to make. The button clasp is one of my favorite things she sent. I just couldn't make up my mind how to use it. Over the next couple of days I am hoping to get two more pieces done. I will post pictures as soon as I can. Susan was lots of fun to work with. I wish we lived closer because I would love learn some of what she knows about metal. 

Here is how you can get to Susan's Blog to see what she made with the beads I sent her. Here is a link to the rest of the participates in the blog hop

Awhile back I took Kerry Bogert's Aspire to Wire course. It really was so much fun. Every morning for thirty days there was a new project. Really just like Christmas everyday for a month. She is very talented and I learned a lot of different things. Her tutorials where well written and the photos were great! This class has put a lot of different ideas swirling around in my head. I have not gotten to make many of the projects, but here are two. I love how both of them turned out. Hope to work on some of the other projects soon.

The Soup I sent Susan

This is the soup I sent my partner Susan of Libellula Jewelry.I was trying to listen to what Lori Anderson wrote in a couple of the emails she sent all of the Bead Soup participates and get my soup ready before I had a partner. And I did pretty much have it done.  I was very happy with the color combination of the two sets of beads I had made and the lampwork focal. It was what metal I was sending with it, that had  me stumped. I finally decided on the brass. I thought it looked good with the colors of the beads and kinda gave it that beachy look that I love, and I really wanted to include that little fish bead(silly, I know). But that made the clasp a bit of a problem for me. I had the triangular one in my stash, but I really wanted to make one. I had recently found the 16 gauge brass wire at my hardware store. So I made a simple clasp with a double wrap of wire. I had recently taken Kerry Bogert's on line course, where she explained how to patina brass and it worked!  I also included a length of brass chain.

I also sent two enamel beads that could be used for a focal. A couple of pressed glass beads and a length of sari silk.

It was fun to put this soup together and I hope Susan enjoys working with it.

New Beads

I don't always get to go out in the winter and make beads. But this past weekend we had temperatures in the 50's, so I went out and and had a great time!  Lots of  blues, greens and turquoise of course, since these are my favorite colors. But I threw in some purple and some red, white and blue too. 

My parents gave me a couple button mandrels for Christmas. These buttons are kinda fun to make. They are kinda thick, but I think they will be great for some of the knitting my mom and Kate do. I also think I am going to use one for a project in the Aspire to Wire eCourse with Kerry Bogert that I am currently taking. Every project has been amazing!

New Scissor Fobs

I made a bunch of scissor fobs today! These are so much fun to make. They are great for that small pair of scissors that you are using for quilting, knitting or stitching. I also know people use them for zipper pulls. I have taken the pictures and they will all be in my Etsy shop in the next day or two. Look at http://www.etsy.com/shop/snazzydoodle

Today is the BSBH Reveal!!

So today is the day! Well it is the first reveal day. This hop has gotten so big (399 participants!) that Lori Anderson of Pretty Little things, the organizer and fearless leader of this whole thing had to separate it into three different reveal dates!! So today we get to hop around to about 130 different blogs and see what everyone has created.

Here is a picture of the soup that my partner Linda Landig sent me. Lots of pretty stuff! And look at the colors, don't they look great together. I just love the dragonfly pendant, which is by Shaterra Clay Studio.

And this is what I did with all of that. I added some of my own lampwork beads and just a couple enamel beads and a few other little things and came up with three different pieces.

The first is a bracelet. I made the square lampwork beads first, I just couldn't find the right color yellowy orange that is in the pendant, so I was trying some the different yellowy oranges in my glass stash. So I had them all together in a pile on my bead table and I really liked how they all together.

 

I used the clasp that Linda sent in this piece and some of the small purple glass beads. Added in the lampwork, some enamel beads, some brass chain and spacers and there you have it. I really love how this came out! It will be a great fall bracelet.

I knew in my next piece I would need to use the dragonfly pendant. Linda also sent some yellow leopard skin jasper beads. I wasn't sure if they would look good with the lampwork beads I made, but when I put them together I liked how it looked. I stayed with the brass for the metal. This necklace is simple, but I like how it turned out.

And just for good measure....I wanted to use these really cute purple beads that I got from Linda. I had the little metal bead caps and thought they would look so cute dangling below.

Make sure you check out all the other blogs this week and come on back for the other reveal days August 11 and August 25. But for now you can check out all of these. Thanks for looking!!

 Hostess, Lori Anderson, PrettyThingsBlog.com

Alice Craddick,  Alice's Beads and Baubles

Alicia Marinache,  All The Pretty Things

Amanda Tibbetts,  Amanda Made

Amber Dawn Goldish, Inventive Soul

Annita Wilson,  AW Jewelry

Beti Horvath, Stringing Fool

Birgitta Lejonklou,  Create With Spirit   

Candida Castleberry,    Spinning Spun Sugar

Carolyn Lawson, Carolyn's Creations

Cassie Donlen, Glass Beadle

Cheri Reed,  Creative Designs by Cheri

Cheryl McCloud,  One Thing Leads to Another

Cheryl Roe, BeadRoe

Christina Hickman, Vintage Treasures Jewelry

Christine Hendrickson,  Clamworks

Cilla Watkins, Tell Your Girlfriends

Cindy Wilson, Mommy's Dream

Cindy Wimmer, Sweet Bead Studio

Cory Celaya, Art With Moxie

Cory Tompkins, Tealwater Designs

Cris Peacock, Cris' Page

Cynthia Deis, Shiny Little Things

Cynthia Machata, Antiquity Travelers

Cynthia Wainscott, Exotic Peru

Dana Hickey, Magpie Approved

Dana James, Dana's Jewelry Designs

Dana Lang, Tumblestone Handmakery

Debbie Price, Green Shoot Jewellery Designs

Denielle Hagerman, Some Beads and Other Things

Diane Valasek, Dragonfly Close

Doris Stumpf, Glaszwerg

Dyanne Everett-Cantrell, Dee-Liteful Jewelry Creations

Elaine Robitaille, Too Aquarius

Eleanor Burian-Mohr, The Charmed Life

Enikö Fabian, Perl-eni

Erin Prais-Hintz, Treasures Found

Heather Davis, Blissful Garden Beads

Heidi Post, Ex Post Facto Jewelry

Hilary Frye, FryeStyle

Ilenia Ruzza, Ilenia's Unique Beaded and Painted Jewelry

Inge von Roos, Inge's Blog

Jami Shipp, Celebrating Life

Jayne Capps, Mama's Got to Doodle

Jean A. Well, Jean A. Wells Handcrafted Artisan Jewelry

Jean Yates, Snap Out of It Jean! There's Beading to Do!

Jennifer Cameron, Glass Addictions

Jennifer Pottner, Rock Candy Beads

Jennifer VanBenschoten,  Jewelry, Art and Life

Jenny Davies-Reazor, Jenny Davies-Reazor

Jenny Vidberg, Shyme Design

Jessica Dickens, My Jewelry, My Life, Me

Jessica Klaaren, Beadful-Things by Jessica

JJ Jacobs, Coming Abstractions

Joan Williams, Lilruby Jewelry

Judith Johnston, Judith Johnston

Judy Riggs, Rigglettes

Judy Turner, Silver Rains

Julie Anne Leggett, The Peaceful Bead

K Hutchinson, Jumbled Hutch

Karen Meador, Dreamcatcher Ranch

Karyn Bonfiglio, Plus Size Bangles

Katherine Gale, Terra Beadworks
Kathleen Lange Klik, Modern Nature Studio

Katja Benevol Gabrijelcic, Slovonske Technobe

Kelli Jacobson, Creative Moon

Kelly Ramstack, Adventures with Kelly

Keri Lee Sereika, Pink Lemonade

Kim Ballor, Vitamin C... A Daily Dose of Creativity

Kim Bender-Hora, KimmyKat

Kirsi Luostarinen, Kirsi Luo Korut

Kitty Bozzini, Kitty Lampwork

Laura Demoya, The Bead Therapist

Laurie Hanna, Laurie's Jewelbox

Leah Curtis, Beady Eyed Bunny

Lesley Watt, The Gossiping Goddess

Linda Inhelder, Must-Haves Jewelry

Linda Landig, Linda's Bead Blog & Meanderings

Lisa Liddy, Metal Me This

Lori Dorrington, Lori's Adventures in Etsy Land

Lori Poppe, Adventures in Creativity with Lorillijean

Mallory Hoffman, For the Love of Beads

Marge Beebe, Rock Creek Creations

Marianna Boylan, Pretty Shiny Things

Marion Simmons, Shade Tree Studio

Marla Gibson, Spice Box Design

Marta Weaver, Marta Weaver Jewelry

Marti Conrad, Marti C's Clay Blog

Maryse Fritzsch-Thillens, GlassBeadArt, Lampwork Beads

Melanie Brooks, Earthenwood Studio

Michelle Hardy, Firefly Visions

Mikala Coates, Maybe Just Perhaps

Mowse Doyle, HoCArt

Nan Emmett, Spirit Rattles - Spirited Earth

Nancy Boylan, Snazzy Doodle Designs

Nancy Peterson, Beading From the Heart

Nicole Rennell, Nicole Rennell Designs

Niki Meiners, 365 Days of Craft

Niky Sayers, Silver Nik Nats

Norma Turvey, Moonlit Fantaseas
Paige Maxim, Paige Maxim Designs
Pamela Gangler, She Always Loved Pink

Patricia Johnson, Patricia L. Johnson Glass Art

Patti Vanderbloemen, My Addictions ... Handcrafted Jewelry by Patti

Perri Jackson, Shaktipaj Designs

Raida Disbrow, Havana Beads

Renetha Stanziano, Lamplight Crafts

Shannon Hicks, Falling Into the Sky

Shannon LeVart, Miss Fickle Media

Sharon Driscoll, Right Turn Art Werks

Shelby Foxwell, Sundown Bead Designs Rhetoric

Shelley Graham Turner, Fabric of My Life

Sherri Stokey, Knot Just Macrame

Shirley Moore, Beads and Bread

Skylar Bre'z, Brising Beads

Stacie Florer, Soul to Substance

Stacie Stamper, Park Avenue

Stacy Alderson, Iridal's Attic

Stephanie Haussler, Pixybug Designs

Stephanie Stamper, Rainy Day Designs

Sue Hamel, The Bottle Cork and Crystal

Suzette Bentley, Ellie's Bijoux

Szarka, Magpie Gemstones

Tammy Jones, Jewelry Making Daily

Tania Tebbit, Glass, Craft, & Artful Goodness

Tanty Sri Hartanti, TJewellicious by Tanti

Terry Matuszyk, Pink Chapeau

Tina Bosh, Every Good and Perfect Gift

Tracy Bell, Copper, Glass and Recycled Trash

Vonna Maslanka, Just Vonna

Stacked Bracelets

A while back I ran across the blog of Tracy Statler Make Bracelets. She was hosting the blog challenge Wrapped, Stacked and Layered. Although I didn't participate in this challenge, it really got me thinking that I wanted to do this! I loved the idea of all the different bracelets all layered together.

So this is what I have come up with so far. All in copper. I hammered out the copper bangles first and connected them with a brass rivet. I had gone to a local shop that had a class on making the bangle with the coiled rose. The bracelet with the cream beads uses waxed linen and copper chain that I attached a bunch of cream flower beads to. The light turquoise wrap bracelet is made of larger seed beads and copper split rings. I found a tutorial to make this bracelet on The Gossiping Goddess blog. This bracelet is so easy and really has a nice feel to it. The last bracelet is the bracelet I made last month that has some of my lampwork beads and the names of my husband and both of my kids on it. I love how they all jangle on my wrist. I think I will keep making bracelets to add to this stack, maybe I can make it go up to my elbow!! The next stack I am going to make is going to be in black and silver....I can't wait to get started!

Costa Rica

My family is planning a really big trip! And we are all so excited. My daughter Kate and I decided it would be fun if we made necklaces...or at least pendants for each of the girls. And even though we have never been there, we picked out colors that we felt were Costa Rican colors...is there such a thing?!

Well, this is what we came up with. Lots of flowers and leaves in coral, turquoise, blues, yellow and green.  I even made a little copper and sterling flower..well, just because I thought it would be fun!

So what do you think?

A Brown and Blue Treasury

It is always so nice when someone chooses one of your items to be in their treasury. Jennifer Teasdale of Jtartful Designs put together this combination of blues and browns, and she included my lampwork bracelet!  I think there are some interesting things in it, and it all looks great together. Thanks Jennifer!

Lots of Bracelets!

I have a friend of mine who needed a few bracelets to give as gifts. So I thought I would get to work on them right away. These are some of the ones I have been working on. I showed them to her yesterday and she was really happy with all of them! Yeah!!

Beads and Bracelets

These are a bunch of beads I made the other day. I was so happy when I opened the kiln the next day, that I made some more! I have already posted some pendant necklaces on Etsy. They are very simple pendants, but I just love them.

I also made some bracelets this weekend and plan on getting them on Etsy this week. I really love the colors in these beads! On two of the bracelets I have fused fine silver into little rings and then I hammer them and put some texture in them. I use these for some of the links between the beads. It is so much fun to come up with these different designs and I love when they turn out so pretty!

Wrapping Up the Blog Hop

I have had so much fun looking at everyone's blogs and seeing all of the different jewelry that was made.  Everyone is so talented and all the finished pieces looked so different. It is so interesting to see all the different components people like to work with.  Thank you all for your really nice comments. And thank you Lori for hosting this hop, it is an incredible amount of time you dedicate to this project. I really look forward to the next one in January.