Bead Soup Blog Hop - The Reveal

In spite of the late start, I've managed to create two pieces from some of the fabulous components sent to me by my partner, Janet, of JayBee Jewelry Designs. To the right, you can see the original mix of elements that she sent to me. I wish that I had the time to design and create something with all of them but the flood clean up had to be done before anything else.

For the first design, I used copper rings to make a chain mail base. I added the enameled clasp and gorgeous copper focal pendant that Janet made for me. My intent was to use some of the sari silk to weave in between the links but there would not have been enough left for the other design I wanted to try. So, I used organza ribbon instead. If I try this technique again, I will not use a sheer ribbon but something that will make a bolder statement.

Enameled Clasp

Hand-made copper pendant focal

For my second piece, I started with the sari silk as a base. I loosely braided and randomly wire wrapped it with 24 gauge copper wire. Next came the beaded fringe pendant, inspired by a tutorial I found on the Art Jewelry Elements blog. I did not have enough of the lime green nylon cord, so I alternated it with some dark green nylon cord that I had on hand for the fringe. In retrospect, I can see that there are way too many dangles but that's hindsight for you. *smile* And I remember why I don't work with seed beads often too.

Both designs had me thinking 'outside of the box' that I normally work in but that is the point of the bead soup blog hop, right? To challenge us to try new techniques, work with components we may not have used before and to learn from our 'mistakes' along the way.

Last minute edit: I completed a third piece this morning. I made paper beads and strung them with glass beads from my stash and the lovely radiant orchid beads from Janet. The magazine pages that I used to make the paper beads had more of the radiant orchid colour on them than the final beads would suggest.

I can't wait to see the creations of all the other participants. Hop over to Lori's site to see the full list. You won't be able to visit them all in one day. Over 500 people signed up this time!