Saturday, September 17, 2011

A serving of Bead Soup

I hope you all are hungry for some jewelry inspiration.  I am partaking in a really great art event called the Bead Soup Blog Party.  Recently my partner Kari, over at Pearl and Pebble sent me a lovely mix of beady ingredients.  We were challenged by our hostess, Lori Anderson, to use our ingredients and make a lovely item to post on our blogs today.




The pendant, which is so lovely, is from Muddy Fingers.  This would be a challenge for me, as I have never really utilized ceramic in my beading endeavors before.  I do love the color, the pattern and the exquisite texture this pendant has.  I also received all kinds of wonderful stones and a clasp that is way too pretty to reside on the back of one's neck. For this reason I made two pieces and used both the clasp and the focal as center pieces. 

      


I picked up the spacers and the larger green faceted beads in a lovely shop called Bead Heaven in Downers Grove.  I splurged on something I probably would have not usually purchased for myself, as I was on vacation and I had the blog party to complete.  I think my investment paid off.  When stringing this piece I used color blocking, which is something I have never done in jewelry.  I love how the blog party has stretched me creatively.





The clasp is one I have been hording for quite some time, many years in fact.  I purchased it at Bead in Button and loved the little moon on it.  Again, I justified the specialness of this project to use a quality item.  I used blog party as opportunity to read up a bit more on photography and display.  I think I may have learned a little as the close ups are more interesting picures. 
                         

 


For the second piece, I wanted to showcase the clasp.  The focal here is from Bead Heaven and I used a few more of the accent beads from Kari.  I pushed myself again and did not do a symmetrical pattern.  I made lots of mini patterns in a slightly random way.   This necklace had to be strung twice.  The first time I made it, I put the pendant really close to the focal and my clasp would not lay correctly. I took it to an artsy gathering and consulted with my pals.  They were able to advise that the clasp move up a bit.  I am grateful for their input, as it really made a difference.  Can you see why I did not want to hide that clasp?  It is so pretty!




I still have some beads left from this wonderful exchange.  The large white ocean jasper is totally stumping me, due to their scale.  I hope to use the momentum of this experience to stretch myself to use them in something soon. 

Thanks for stopping by!  There is so much more soup to share.  Please stop over to the Bead Soup Blog Party to see the links for all the other players, they would love to have you!

Cheers,

Rhea

66 comments:

  1. Beauiful soothing palette, great job.

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  2. I love both pieces! Really great design... This BSBP is so cool.

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  3. Lovely Rhea! The green faceted beads are perfect! This is why self indulgence is crucial and hoarding is good:) Thanks for being such a terrific partner. Enjoy your hop!

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  4. Great job and I love your asymmetrical design showcasing the clasp.

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  5. Both pieces are beautiful Rhea. You certainly rose up to the challenge.
    Congratulations!

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  6. What a beautiful soup you had! I love what you've made with it.

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  7. Both necklaces are beautiful but I am totally in love with the first one. Those are so totally my colors.

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  8. LOVE both of your necklaces, Rhea! One day I'll have to jump into the soup, too. It sure looks like fun. Thanks for sharing your awesome creations.
    xo
    Debbie (from ArtCharms)
    ===^..^===

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  9. Your Bead Soup pieces are just wonderful.

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  10. They are both lovely pieces but I have to say I love the first one. There is just something about it. . . :o) xx

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  11. Very nice! Good job with the clasp--that can be tricky to get the placement just right!

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  12. Two beautifully designed pieces and your photos are great!

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  13. I am SO sorry for being late — today our internet provider decided to crash. My stress level is through the roof, to say the least! They’re still working on it, but it’s like dial-up.

    I love that you used a technique you haven't used before, AND treated yourself to a clasp you had been hoarding!

    I hope you’ll participate again!

    Love, Lori

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  14. Love, love, did I mention I love the first necklace with the ceramic pendant!! Amazingly beautiful work and soup mix!!!

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  15. I am in love with that first necklace! Gorgeous! I love the way you used all of the gemstones and the second piece, the way you incorporated the clasp... perfection! Well done!

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  16. Beautiful pieces Rhea! And perfect idea making two necklaces!

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  17. Both necklaces are gorgeous, love that clasp!

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  18. fantastic green focal - I love that piece!

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  19. Beautiful! I love the ceramic pendant piece especially (what a knockout pendant!) and I think you've really made the second piece work by putting the clasp where you did - love the asymmetry.

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  20. Great, I love what you did with your beadsoup, the colors are awsom;)
    Greetings
    Sabrina

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  21. What lovely pieces! I love the idea of color blocking in jewelry - I wasnt to try it now!

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  22. Loving this one...very pleasing to eye. This soup mix is very tasty. Gorgeous!

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  23. Great job showcasing all the elements. Love the color scheme, too. So calm and serene.

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  24. Rhea - you have done a truly wonderful job with your Bead Soup! I love the colors you played with, and that ceramic focal is to die for, isn't it? I can also see why you didn't want to hide that lovely clasp. I think your solution was clever. Great work!

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  25. Awesome job! Beautiful! Love the colors and that clasp!

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  26. Both are really beautiful, and you can layer them together too. Love the clasps...ooohhh!

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  27. Very pretty, you really showcased both the focal and the clasp.

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  28. What a beautiful ceramic pendant. You've really done it justice with your choice of colour and the colour blocking technique. It's delicate yet substantial... great necklace!

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  29. I really like both pieces. They are each different. The texture and color in that ceramic focal are great. I like the color blocking with it, too. Very nice.

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  30. Gorgeous!!!!! Wonderful use of the beads, there both so pretty, hard to pick a favorite!
    Wish I would have gotten in on this swap. How fun!!!
    hugs Lynn

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  31. I really like how the necklace with the ceramic pendant turned out, you picked the perfect beads to go with it! And nice to see you treated yourself to that clasp, I think all of us jewelry makers are hoarders ...

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  32. Great pieces and what a wonderful color palette!

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  33. stunning pieces, what a beautiful focal in the first piece

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  34. So lovely. Those greens are gorgeous. Isn't it funny how we buy nice things to make our jewelry and then we hoard them because they are too nice!!

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  35. Both necklaces are gorgeous. That color scheme is classic, and you've complimented the ceramic focal very well with the green beads and spacers. I really love what you've done!

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  36. Soft, easy on the eye, both pieces are elegant, and totally wearable. I love the little spacers between the tigereye, they really make those sections pop. Both of the clasps are just gorgeous!

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  37. Wonderful! You have created a terrific piece of wearable art. I like your use of color and texture, and the toggle clasp is stunning. Thank you for sharing your artistic process along the way. Cheers!
    Lori

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  38. very chic! I loved reading about your designing process

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  39. Your necklaces are so pretty and I love the way they are served up on a silver platter!

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  40. Very pretty! I love the focals on both necklaces and such nice colors too! Great job!

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  41. They both turned out lovely, and so did your photos!

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  42. Especially love the first piece... what a pretty focal. You did a great job!

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  43. You are a very talented designer! I love the beads you got and what you did with them...wow!

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  44. Nice work...I can see why you wanted to showcase that toggle - it's one of my favorite go to toggles! :)

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  45. You did a nice job combining kind of earthy focals with very feminine neck strands -- great textures and contrasts. Pretty!

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  46. Love the contrasts and designs. Nice job.

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  47. Absolutely stunning!! We’re all being pushed outside our comfort zones — with amazing results!

    Enjoy the hop,
    Emanda
    http://artemisiastudio.blogspot.com/2011/09/bead-soup-reveal.html

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  48. These pieces are really beautiful! They have such an earthy feel to them, which I love. The focal pendant on the 2nd piece is gorgeous, what is it?

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  49. Lovely necklaces! I really like the soft, earthy feel of them. I think the daisy spacers in the first necklace echoes the pattern in the focal in a way that I like. Small detail, but one that I fell for. Great job!

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  50. Lovely necklace, the colours are really delicate

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  51. Both pieces are gorgeous! Like the color-blocking on the first necklace. That's something I've not tried before. Nice!

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  52. Both pieces are so beautifully designed and executed.

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  53. I really like what you've done with both pieces, and both of those clasps are so unique! I really like that first focal too and how you put everything together! Lovely color combinations!

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  54. It's great how you stretched your creativity and also treated yourself to materials you really love. Both pieces are fabulous.

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  55. Waving HI from the other side of the state! Love the necklaces you made and the colors are pretty too!

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  56. Lovely necklaces! Love the ceramic pendant as well!

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  57. Both are lovely..the beads you chose work beautifully with the pendant given to you by your partner. It's a beautiful clasp and it was great that you chose to showcase that as well.
    jenni

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  58. Beautiful necklaces Rhea! Very elegant. Wasn't this fun?!

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  59. Trying something new was the spirit of the PArty and you did it great!
    Ambra

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  60. You came up with some great pieces!! :)

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All the comments and feedback you leave affirms my creative spirit on a very deep level. I am grateful for your time and readership!