My Bead Hoarders Creation.....

This year I decided to participate in Lori Anderson's, 2nd Annual Bead Hoarders Blog hop. Unfortunately my husbands grandmother passed away on Thursday and we headed out of town for the funeral. 

I had several piles of beads that I have hoarded and had intentions of making several pieces from them but alas that didn't happen. I decided to show you the one sole piece that I was able to make and of course I wanted to show you my favorite hoard pile.

I adore Labradorite! So this is my hoarded pile of it!

      

 To me there is just something special about it. I love the neutrality of the gray shade, but I'm sure the flash is what does it for me. It's seems like such a simple stone but then a certain light hits it and bam! it's like a light show. I like to think that it holds it beauty for just the right time and them surprises you with it. I look for it every where I go all the time when I shop i am just simply drawn to it.

So here is the only piece I was able to make.....

I decided to make a piece for myself a multi strand  bracelet. Now that I am back home there will be a pair of earrings made to match.

I wish that I was able to have made more from my other piles of hoarded goodies but I will just hoard them until next years Hoarders Blog hop!

Here's a list of all the participants  and as always a big shout out to Lori Anderson for making it all happen! Now I am off to hop!

     

Lori Anderson	PrettyThings  (Hostess)
Audrey Belanger	Toki No Hourosha
Jenny Kyrlach	Wonder and Whimsy
Kathy Lindemer	Bay Moon Design
Lori Schneider	Bead Addict
Dee Elgie	Cherry Obsidia
Dolores Raml	CraftyD's Creations
Rebecca Ednie	Eclectic Endeavors
Lili Krist	http://emjestudio.blogspot.com/
Marybeth Rich	http://forestofjewels.blogspot.com/
Hannah Rosner	Good River Valley
Nicole Prince	http://healingbeading.blogspot.com/
Deana Hager	http://justdeesarts.blogspot.com/
Jackie Ryan	http://kydojewellery.blogspot.co.uk/
Elsie Deliz-Fonseca	http://ladelizchica.blogspot.com/
Mowse Doyle	http://mowsemadethis.blogspot.com/
Evelyn Shelby	http://raindropcreationsbyevelyn.blogspot.com
Lisa Johnson	http://spudandmrsbutters.blogspot.com/
Terri Gauthier	http://terrisbloomingideas.blogspot.com/
Patti Pruhs	http://threebeadsandastring.blogspot.com
Shai Williams	http://www.shaihasramblings.com/
Andrea Glick	Zenith Jade
K Hutchinson	https://jumbledhutch.wordpress.com
Marci Brooks	That Nothing Be Wasted
Jo-Ann Woolverton	It's a Beadiful Creation
Jasvanti Patel	Jewelrybyjasvanti.blogspot.com
Laurie Vyselaar	Lefthandjewelry.wordpress.com
Lisa Knappenberger	LIRaysaDesigns.blogspot.com
Mary Lindell	marylindell.com
Niky Sayers	silverniknats.blogspot.co.uk
Sandra McGriff	skyescreativechaos.blogspot.com
Patricia Handschuh	thecolorofdreams.blogspot.com
Erin Prais-Hintz	treasures-found.blogspot.com
Maria Rosa Sharrow	willowstreetshops.blogspot.com
Kathleen Breeding	www.99bobotw.blogspot.com
Monique Urquhart	www.ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com
Jackie Locantore	www.artfire.com/ext/shop/blog/MorningStar
Sheryl Stephens	The Babbling Beader
Becky Pancake	www.beckypancakebeaddesigns.blogspot.com
Mona Arnott	www.bijouxgemsjoy.blogspot.ca
Michelle Escano	www.cabbycraft.com
Denise McCabe	www.cabewoman.blogspot.com
Carolyn Lawson	www.carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com
Sheila Prose	www.catswithbeads.blogspot.com
Kim Dworak	www.cianciblue.blogspot.com
Iveth Caruso	www.CreativeAtelier.net/blog
Deborah Apodaca	www.deborahapodacadesigns.blogspot.com/
Elizabeth Bunn	www.elizabethbeads.blogspot.com
Janine Lucas	www.esfera.me/travel/blog/travel-stories
Kari Asbury	Hippie Chick Design
Inge von Roos	Inge's Blog
Divya N	www.jewelsofsayuri.com
Debbie Rasmussen	www.kepirasmussen.blogspot.com
KJ	www.kjsbeadaciousbeads.blogspot.com/
Klaudete Koon	www.klaudetekoon.blogspot.com
Ghislaine Kruse-van Erp	www.kruseartllc.com
Ginger Bishop	www.lilmummylikes.blogspot.com
Kelly Schermerhorn	www.meanderingwithkelly.blogspot.com
Mischelle Andrade	www.micheladasmusings.blogspot.com
Sue Kelly	Mid-Life Greater Expectations
Rachel Mallis	www.mintmonarch.com/#!Blog/c1jlz
Susan McClelland	www.mistheword12.com
Mary K McGraw	MK's Creative Musings
Tania Spivey	Moobie Grace Designs
Stephanie Perry	Mustard Seed by Stephanie Perry
Mitzie Crider	www.NeedfulLuxuries.Blogspot.com
Nicole Rennell	Www.nicolerennell.com/blog
Nicole Valentine	www.nvalentine.blogspot.com
Karen Mitchell	www.overthemoon-design.com
Tammy Adams	www.paisleylizard.com/blog/
Patty Miller	www.pattymillerbeads.blogspot.com
Blanca Medina	www.peru-medesigns.com
Stephanie Haussler	www.pixybugdesigns.blogspot.com
Roxanne Mendoza	www.roxidesigns.blogspot.com
Claire Fabian	www.saraccino.blogspot.com
Bridget Torres	www.shears58.net
Donetta Farrington	www.simplygorgeous-donetta.blogspot.com
Lee Koopman	www.stregajewellry.wordpress.com
Deb Fortin	www.studiok24.blogspot.ca
Susan Walls	Www.susansartcircus.com/blog
Cece Cormier	The Beading Yogini
Heather Otto	www.thecrafthopper.com
Lizzie Clarke	www.theneedtobead.blogspot.co.uk
Elizabeth Hodges	www.thewhisperingseas.blogspot.com
Fay Wolfenden	www.torchfairy.blogspot.com
Kelly Hosford Patterson	www.TravelingSideShow.blogspot.com
Nan Smith	Nanmade Jewelry
Jayne Capps	wwww.mamasgototdoodle.blogspot.com

Robin Kae Reed                                          http://www.willowdragon.blogspot.com/
Melissa Trudinger                                      https://beadrecipes.wordpress.com/
Regina Wood                                                  Gina's Designs

                                                
                                                             

Bead Soup Reveal And Giveaways......

Bead Soup 2014

It's reveal time for the 8th Bead Soup Blog Hop. Most of you know our lovely hostess Lori Anderson without her this fun and challenging event could NEVER happen.

This year I was paired with the talented, sweet,kind and I call her marvelous Marge Beebe, if you click her name it will take you to her blog. Marge sent me 3 focals, a couple of toggles, a tree charm,some coordinating beads,some micro macrame fiber and soutache.

To Marge I sent the following....

3 Of the soldered pendants I make 2 are butterfly wings and another is a feather. A filigree pendant I made using a vintage typewriter key and vintage rhinestone chain along with a vintage clock hand and some coordinating beads. Then the natural stone lot with some matching goodies and a clasp.

 So when I first opened her package I looked at what she sent me and I loved the variety, it was like sensory overload, loads of color,neutrals,fibers,tiny beads,stone beads, three focals. I laid everything out and pondered where to begin. I was stumped for a few days and every day I would look at what she sent me and yeah nothing, no good ideas,zilch. Then it was like a bam ideas just started flowing I had so many ideas I wasn't sure which ones to use, but I finally decided and here they are...

 

The stone focal was very pretty, I thought about adding matching jasper beads but that would make it overly neutral so I decided to jazz it up with some different colors of briolette beads, some are stone, others glass, just to give it a punch of color. Because I adore color.

Next up was the soapstone flower focal which let me tell you is huge, I don't ever recall working with a focal that big so this one was challenging. I actually kept it in my purse to look at and try to find some beads to match. Well  I found a ton of matching beads and bought like 7 strands that I thought would look nice with it and do you know what? I didn't even use a single bead off of those 7 strands. Instead I decided to copper foil and solder around the edges of the focal to give it a little pop, added a big link chain which I ran some brown ribbon through the links,added a few metal beads to the bail and this is what it looks like....

and lastly my favorite....

The purple round focal got drilled, some czech beads, a little wire wrapping and it became this.

I am doing a giveaway for all three necklaces, it's open to U.S. residents only, all you have to do is leave a comment and become a follower of my blog. I will draw on June 1st just in case there are some late hopper's.

I want to thank Lori for putting together this event and especially to Marge it was a pleasure getting to know you and thanks for helping me to stretch my creativity with the lovely soup you sent me!

I Got My Soup

I got my soup in the mail this past week and have run into issues that have not allowed me to show it, such as, work, dead camera batteries,chaperoning a school field trip and let's not leave out a bit of slacking.

I first want to show you what  Marge Beebe sent me......Fist of all I love the creative packaging all my soup neatly organized in this coffee cup (oh yeah, I love a good coffee) it's like she's a mind reader or something...

 

Then here is what my soup looks like.......

I love the little extra bead bins, no one can ever have enough bead storage, then there were these little make-up sponges which I thought was super clever for use with paints,patinas,glue etc... But boy was my face a little red when Marge told me she added them just so the beads wouldn't rattle. Oh well I was still excited to have and use them.

In my ignorance I had no idea what either types of the fibers Marge sent me were, so of course I had to ask and the thin stuff is for micro macrame and the others are for soutache. I thought I would look up how to soutache, it's gorgeous but that's just not happening. I am punked out by sewing, my sister gifted me an awesome sewing machine when she purchased a new one and on a rare occasion, when I am feeling brave I take it out of it's case with the intention of sewing something, I then promptly put  it back in it's case and run like hell. I really need to get over this fear of the sewing machine,I love power tools though??? Strange huh?

I am so glad that she sent me so many options, as I am in hopes of challenging myself to use a little of all the variety she sent. 

Oh and here is what I sent to Marge. I was a little worried that my soup would be a little difficult for her to work with but to my great pleasure she seemed to like it....

A filigree pendant with vintage typewriter key, vintage clock hand and a few matching goodies,next batch is brown Chalcedony pendant,agate beads,clasp and spacers,then a soldered feather pendant(made by me) along with some coordinating beads and spacers and then a couple of my soldered butterfly pendants as a little bonus to play with later.

I'm up for the challenge and I hope my lovely partner The Marvelous Marge is too. Thanks for the soup and for being just a downright awesome person!

 

Introducing My Bead Soup Partner And A Picture Teaser....

Introducing My Bead Soup Partner

I would like to introduce you all to my bead soup partner for this years Bead Soup Block Party, Her name is Marge Beebe and her blog can be found HERE. She is an amazingly, lovely, talented, artist with a super interesting job,huge family who lives out in the boonies of Wisconsin. 

Our styles are totally different, Lori Anderson does a great job of pairing people this way so that we can stretch our wings a bit and work with different mediums than we normally do. I am super excited this year to have Marge as my partner!

So here's the teaser picture of the Soups I put together and am sending the marvelous Marge Beebe.

I hope she likes at least one of these suckers. I tried hard for them to be something she could work with and yet could also be challenging. These babies are going out first thing in the morning.

Goals

I am in desperate need of setting goals and adhering to them. Christmas is a very busy time for me business wise and I work hard for months and then it never fails every year after the Christmas season I feel so burnt out that I create nothing for a month or two and I need to get myself out of this rut and get motivated again. 

I have been buying all sorts of beady goodness and not just a few things but a crap ton of supplies, new tools, beads and just about anything that suits my fancy hoping that it would inspire me to create so far nada, nothing,zilch. 

I have been spending some time organizing my studio and supplies and doing a little redecorating of my studio hoping that the muses will return to me. I would love to create again but am just not feeling it.

What I really need to do is get back to soldering which I find not only relaxing but loads of fun. I have so many ideas of things to put between glass these are a few of my soldered creations of the past...

Wish me luck with this lack of motivation thing that I have going on right now because I need all the luck I can get with it.

It's Here,It's Here It's Finally Here Bead Soup Blog Party 8...

The 8th annual bead soup blog party sign ups have started...Here's the info

The lovely,Lori Anderson  is the innovator of this blog hop and has been the coordinator,hostess,communicator,match maker and just down right awesome (she is doing all of this with some health struggles) lady. I can't begin to image the  kind of work goes into something of this magnitude it's not just a handful of people, we're talking last year better than 500, if I'm not mistaken and to top it off from all over the globe!!  You my dear are a frickin'  Rock Star!!!!

This year there will be only one reveal date a just 24 hours to sign up, so what am I doing here going to sign up to have some fun!! 

See you soon with more info....