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It's finally here. I'm in the last reveal (the 3rd one) for the monstrous Bead Soup Blog Party. Lori Anderson of Pretty Things blog hosts this every year and this time around, there was about 540 participants from all over the world. The basis is this: you sign up for the party, she matches you up with a partner, you communicate, exchange beads and then get to work designing something with your 'soup' from your partner. You have to send and use a focal and clasp, along with a few co-ordinating beads. You are only required to use the focal and clasp, but it's so much fun trying to use everything you receive. This is my 3rd or 4th soup, can't remember for sure. And my partner this time is Ann Sherwood from Ann's Blog. Be sure to check out what she made with the soup I sent her. If you want to see the soup I received from Ann, click here.
And here's my pieces. I absolutely loved the ceramice dragonfly focal she sent me. But I had the hardest time coming up with something that I thought would do it justice and let it shine. I finally hit inspiration in a book my friend Karla Morgan from Texas Pepper Jams lent me about multi-strand necklaces. (You have to check out their pepper jams. They're to die for! And she's also participating in this 3rd reveal for the BSBP, so see what she made with her soup.) So here is my Floating Free necklace with the dragonfly focal. This was my first time trying to texture, patina and create my own bale from copper strip wire and then rivet it to the focal. I was terrified I'd break the focal while trying to rivet. But I think it turned out great. I used the ribbon Ann sent me, the focal, and a few of the green discs she sent. And here's a pair of earrings made with some more of the green discs and the big hole beads used in the necklace.
Next up, is my Sweetheart necklace made with the pink and white freshwater pearls Ann sent me and the wonderful blingy clasp she sent. I thought it went very well and matched wonderfully with the shell focal I had and the Pink Rhodondite puff beads as well as some pewter beads I had in my stash.
So there you have it. My 3 pieces for the BSBP reveal. I'm still working on some earrings to match the second necklace and an idea for the wire knitz Ann sent me, plus the cute little pewter flower beads. I've never worked with wire knitz before, so I'm having a little bit of a hard time getting my idea to work. Be sure to check out all the participants for the third reveal here on Lori's blog, Pretty Things. She also has links to the first 2 reveals if you haven't had a chance to check them out yet. These pieces will probably be available in my shop, KayzKreationz shortly.
A couple of weeks ago, I received my bead soup from my partner Ann Sherwood, for Lori Anderson's 7th Bead Soup Blog Party. It took me a while to get pictures of it so I could post it here. Here's what Ann sent me. This wonderful ceramic Dragonfly focal. She couldn't remember the artist. I love dragonfly's. Plus the great Swarovski beads, 5 each of 3 different colors, this gorgeous blingy pewter toggle clasp, these great pewter flower beads and 2 hole connectors, this strand of tourmaline (I also LOVE tourmaline),these pearls, plus this great ribbon and wire knitz. I've never worked with wire knitz and really like the look of it, but not sure how to use it. Isn't it a great soup? The only problem is, I'm having the dickens of a time, figuring out what I want to do with it. I love them all, I'm just not liking any of my designs. I've google online several times, trying to figure out what/how to work with the wire knitz. I've come up with several designs for the focal, but nothing is really coming together. And I'm running out of time. I have to use the focal and the clasp and my reveal is the 13th of April. So stay tuned and see if I get past my design block with this wonderful soup and what comes of it.
And here's what I sent Ann. She said she loved it. Be sure to watch her blog to see what she creates with the soup I sent her, Ann's Blog.
And if you're looking for some of my Stained Glass, Mosaics or Fused Glass designs for your Home or Garden, check out my shop, KayzKreationz. You'll also find some of mine and my mom's beaded, wire-wrapped jewelry there, like this great Boot Jewelry with these Jasper stones.
About 3 weeks ago, Bill from ZNETSHOWS contacted me, saying he really liked my blog and my jewelry 'kreationz'. He was getting ready for the Tucson Gem Mall and he said, although they make great 'sea glass' items they don't design very well. So he was looking for some designers to send a sample box of their sea glass and crystal components. In exchange, we would design jewelry with the pieces, send him our pictures, and if our designs were chosen, they would pay for us to ship the jewelry to them and they would display it at the Tucson Gem Mall show. We would also need to send a business card or two and have ID tags on our jewelry to identify it as ours. This sounded like a great opportunity and so much fun, so I agreed. I eagerly awaited my package and here it is. It contained some clear faceted crystal beads, some light green faceted beads, etched and smooth 'sea glass' pendants, some light teal dagger beads and chips, some light green oval beads and some silver heart and square components. Aren't they great?
I started thinking about what I could do with them and immediately came up with the idea for my Romance Dangle Earrings. I checked out a couple of color palettes and really liked the pink with the light green for these earrings. Then I got the idea of using some silk/nylon ribbons I had just made and squishing them together in between some of the glass beads and the silver square beads for this Romance Bracelet. I checked another color palette and loved the oranges with the light greens. It reminded me of Autumn, so out came Sweet Autumn necklace with the small orange agate beads from my stash, the light green faceted beads, the clear faceted crystal beads and the silver hearts. I had 3 silver/pewter leaves that I color/patina'd with some patina inks I've been playing with and attached them. Then I had this remnant of this great ruffly ribbon that just seemed to call out to be in this necklace. I was actually only going to use a small piece of it and attach a heart toggle clasp I had, but I think it like it long like this. It will slip right over your head. Finally, I had 3 more light green large beads/pendants and decided to wrap them with copper and add the orange agate beads for another fall/autumn themed bracelet. It also has 3 little dangles on the lobster claw clasp. It's call All Wrapped Up.
So I've sent my pictures in and hopefully, my designs will be chosen and taken to Tucson for display. I can't wait to hear whether they're good enough. When they're returned to me, they'll be available either in my Etsy shop, KayzKreationz, here on my blog or on my facebook page, KayzKreationzGlassKreationz. So be sure to check back. Do you like them? And if you're looking for some great Cultured Sea Glass Beads to design with be sure to check out ZNETSHOWS. And be sure to check out the other design team members HERE.
Back at the end of September, I signed up for a Design Challenge on Sharyl's Jewelry blog. It was in conjunction with NKP Designs, using some of her artbeads. We were mailed a packet of beads and asked to design a piece of jewelry. The idea was to see what 10 different jewelry designers would come up with using the same beads. I loved the beads. The colors were fantastic and I had several ideas right away. We were required to use the large focal artbead and at least 2 other of the artbeads. Then we could use the rest of the beads or beads from our stash to finish our piece. I thought my beads all complimented themselves so well, I decided to use only the beads I received in my piece along with the silk and the chain. This is what I finally settled on. I'm loving using Sari silk ribbons in my jewelry lately and I had the perfect colors left from some silks I'd gotten from Marsha Neal's studio that I had used in my Bead Soup Blog Party piece in August. I found this chain that just seemed to say "Use me" with these beads and the silks. And the toggle fit perfectly, too. What do you think? How did I do with my beads and the Bead Challenge? Be sure to visit Sharyl's Jewelry blog for the rest of the participants and see what the other 9 designers did with their beads. Here's the beads I started with (I forgot to take a pic before I started designing, so this is the pic of the beads from Sharyl's website for the challenge):
And here's my finished piece:
If you're interested in purchasing this piece, let me know. I'll be putting it in my Etsy shop, KayzKreationz shortly. And if you're looking for Stained Glass, Mosaics or Fused Glass kreationz for your Home or Garden, be sure to check my shop out.
You can also find me on twitter: KayzKreationz
And on facebook: KayzKreationzGlassKreationz
And if you're interested in keeping up with what I'm doing, sign up for my e-mail newsletter on the sidebar. I don't e-mail out very often, but you never know when I will and what might be in the e-mail.
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