Bead Soup Blog Party - Our Soups

I'm so excited to be part of the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party.  This is my first time to participate and I have already learned so much that I will change/improve when I participate in the next one..... the next one will not involve that thing that brings out the biggest fear in me....that thing called the "UNKNOWN".  Fear of the unknown, the not experienced - it can be a paralyzing thing for me !!

My partner and I had a frustrating week or so of not being able to communicate.  I was receiving her messages but my reply messages were hiding in her spam folder.... thanks to facebook we finally connected, addresses were exchanged,  and our soups have arrived.



Here is the soup I received from Billi S Rothove - Billi is a polymer clay artist and all of the beads are her own creation:

This is a very bright and colorful soup and handmade with love.  Bright colors are definitely outside my comfort zone as I tend toward more muted and earthy colors.  Initially I was at a complete loss for ideas as to what I might create with my soup - so - I shared the pictures and chatted with some of my dear friends who bead, as well as with Lori, and now the ideas are coming one after another.  Thank you ladies for opening my mind to all the possibilities!!  At the moment they are all ideas, no actual creating done - but I am truly looking forward to the reveal on April 6.

Here is the soup I sent Billi - as you can see, I chose my usual rustic, earthy, muted colors, including some unakite and buttermilk jasper beads, a few crystazzi's for a bit of bling and some copper components.  I etched the copper focal and painted it with a Vintaj patina.  This soup seems to be giving Billi a bit of trouble too, but no worries, I know we will both have fun with the challenge !

I'm looking forward to meeting the 500+ bead soup participants and seeing what everyone has done with their soups.  Look for me and Billi in the 2nd reveal.  Until then - happy beading !!

Bead Soup Blog Party - My Partner

I'm so excited to be participating in this year's Bead  Soup Blog Party !! 

 My partner is Billi RS Rothove, designer at Billi's Paper Batiks.  


Unfortunately, facebook has punished Billi for being too friendly and she's not able to interact for 30 days.  Many of us have experienced this "penalty" - send one too many friend requests or like too many pages in one day and BOOM.... it's time out for you !!   I hope Billi is back soon - in the meantime fellow bead soupers - please follow her blog:  http://www.billi-rs-rothove.blogspot.com/

Here are some of Billi's polymer clay designs and a look at her very busy studio.

 

I've got Billi's bead soup mix prepared - just needs a little packaging and in the mail it goes on Monday.  I hope she loves it  -  and I'm looking forward to seeing what Billi has cooked up for me.

Here's a sneak peek at Billi's soup.

We are in the second reveal on April 6.   Wow - that seems so far off - but I know time flies when you're having fun.  More pictures to come when we each receive our soups.

YOJ Weeks 4 and 5

Whew - has been a busy few weeks so I've been playing a lot of catch up..... now it's time to catch up on the YOJ blog posts and these will be short and sweet.

WEEK 4

The theme for week 4 was "Not from the Mall".  Of course I interpreted that to mean not your every day, run of the mill, factory created piece of jewelry ~ something different from the rows upon rows of earrings, pendants, bracelets etc found at your local mall.

I started with some white magnesite stars in a few different sizes, built a frame around the largest star and wrapped it with wire in a shooting star design then linked a few white rondelle and copper beads together.

A little chain, some stars, a handmade clasp and things start falling in to place.

Final results:   cascading shooting stars in an asymmetrical nicely balanced design.

I did learn a new lesson about tumbling this week.  Magnesite has a lot of iron in it.  During the tumbling process with soapy water and steel shot the copper became coated with rust which required a good bit of scrubbing with a wire brush to remove.  I think I'll skip the tumbling stage when working with magnesite in the future!!

WEEK 5

I love the theme for week 5 "Deja Vu" and wanted to make a piece that took me back to a memorable time....a time revisited.  I really loved the mod era of the 1960's - the bright clothes, flower power, peace signs, nehru collars, bell sleeves and of course, bell bottoms !!

Metal embossing is one of my favorite techniques.  I started with a Vintaj 32mm brass blank, 20 gauge brass wire, Vintaj patinas, and an embossing folder with a retro feel, and a few seed beads for movement.

After embossing the metal is painted and, once dried, the excess paint is sanded off.  The difficulty here is making mirror images, something I've been working to improve on.  Mirror images are more difficult than you might think as the brain wants to make identical images - I have to fight with my brain during the entire process !! 

I'm really digging the results - I think they go nicely with the retro 60's dress I found on the web.

WEEK 6

Week 6 = "Embrace"

.......at the moment my only thought about this them is embracing my inner child.........

Embrace your inner child and enjoy your day !!