7th Bead Soup Blog Party -- FIRST REVEAL!

Hello everybody!  I am so excited, it is time for me to show you what I made with my bead soup in Lori Anderson's fun Bead Soup Party!!!  I am part of the first reveal group.

First, here is the bead soup I received from my partner Grace Rotenberg ~

It was a colorful mixture of milifloral glass beads, other glass beads, some ceramic beads, and a few metal components, including a piece from an old bracelet.

I added lots of wire, some other metal components, and satin rat tail cording and went to town creating some jewelry that I will be giving to an artsy friend.  I was able to make a necklace, bracelet, and earrings for this set ~

The bracelet ~

The necklace ~

the earrings ~

I sent Grace some various pearl, glass, porcelain,  and shell beads, with some vintage earrings thrown in for fun.  I love to cut up vintage earrings and incorporate them into mixed media projects and jewelry, and since Grace makes beautiful steampunk style jewelry I thought she might be able to do the same.  Can't wait to see what she creates!

 Here is the bead soup I sent ~ one organza bag holds the beads and one holds the vintage earrings ~

a few vintage earrings ~ 

I have linked the master list for you to view here ~

Bead Soup Party 1st Reveal!

Please be sure to check out the beautiful creations that others have made.  I love to hear from you, so be sure to leave me a comment or follow my blog. I will repay the favor!  Happy browsing and beading!

I wish you a joyful and creative day ~ Pam

Bead Soup Party

Hello everyone!  I apologize for the lapse in blog posts, it has been a wee bit crazy busy lately.  I wanted to share photos of the bead soup I sent my partner Grace in the 7th annual bead soup party (challenge).  I haven't heard from my partner, but the delivery confirmation on the package I sent was February 13th, so hopefully she has looked at her package by now.  I hope she likes it!!!

First photo is of the bead soup (left) and the extra vintage earrings (right).  I packaged both in organza bags.

Here is the bead soup, it is a mixture of shell beads, different pearls, some glass and ceramic beads with a silver closure ~

Here is a photo of some of the vintage earrings I sent, except the bottom right earring.  I sent a variety or vintage earrings (only one of each style, gotta mix things up), but I do not have photos of some of the styles (at least not out of the organza bag, yikes) since I have used the partner earring or piece of several items in my mixed media projects or for pendants. This pic is reflective of the style of the pieces, or the partner of several of the pieces I sent.  I love vintage jewelry that I can cut up or use in other pieces.  It is really fun to upcycle or recreate items.  I wanted to send these as a bonus, since Grace does steampunk jewelry, and I think she could do something amazing with the vintage items.  Hope she likes these too! 

I received a very different type bead soup from Grace. :) Here is the bead soup as it  was packaged ~

 Here is the bead soup out of the plastic bags ~

I have to say, the beads are not my usual style, which is OK since that is part of the fun of the challenge.  Truthfully though, I had a moment of panic when I opened the package, especially with the eyeball beads and the lumpy bumpy glass bead that looked like it had lots of fish eyeballs on it.  They kind of scared me.  :)  The milifloral beads are colorful and interesting, but not my normal style either. The funny thing too is I have beads like the ceramic beads but mine are heart shaped.  I have never used them because they are a bit bigger (like almost two inches) than those in the bead soup, and I wasn't sure what to do with them once I received them.  Do you ever do that?  Order something and when you get it think, Why did I order this???  What was I thinking of making?  Anyway, after thinking about the variety of beads in the bead soup and what I could create with them, I got busy.  First, I grabbed my trusty wire and instantly felt calmer and more grounded.  After cutting and twisting my way through things I had a bracelet, necklace, and a pair of earrings!  How cool is that???  I blended some items in my  jewelry making stash to create a gift set for a friend, and I am pretty sure she will love it.  Her eclectic and international style is in line with the bead soup I received, and with the use of wire it fits my style of jewelry making too, perfect match.  

The reveal isn't until March 30, but here is a sneak peek of one item I made, using two of the most challenging to me anyway, he he he beads ~  

So happy I was able to create something with this colorful variety of beads!  I am thrilled that something that kind of had me panicked ended up turning out well.  It is good to try something outside our comfort zone every now and them.  I can't wait to see what other participants do with the huge variety of bead soups that went out.  Once reveal day arrives I will share photos of all the items I created. 

So my message to you today is try something that scares you, or that you would not normally do.  You might end up with something interesting, creative, or even spectacular.  At the very least you will expand your horizons!  :)  

I wish you a joyful and creative week ~ Pam 

Class is Live!

Hello everyone!  Happy snowy blowy cold January 26th! Woo, our winter has been crazy different this year, has yours?  Well, if you would like to play in the snow yet stay toasty warm, consider signing up for my Upcycled Snowman Class at The Art Studio.

These fun little snowpeeps are kind of addicting to make, I have to warn you!  You can customize them for holidays too, so gather your supplies and create a lasting Valentine for your sweetie by making an upcycled snow peep.  The class is priced at $5.99, so it is a wonderful bargain.  

In addition to the great classes already listed, there are other brand spanking new classes available now, two by talented instructor Christy Butters.  Both look like SOOO much fun, one class is a Valentine's Day Mixed Media Wall Hanging class, and one is a Valentine's Day Cards Mixed Media class.  You can check them both out at The Art Studio.  Another talented instructor, Mo will have a new class soon, so stay tuned!

Well, I am off to work on another upcoming class, I have a sneak peek for you below.  It is a fabric art journal or mini album class, and it is boatloads of fun.  Definitely addicting!  I recently made 20 of these little art journals, and gave most away as gifts.  Stay tuned for when the class will be available at The Art Studio.  

One other wee bit of info, I signed up today for something that looks like boatloads of fun ~ Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party.  Check out the deets here.  Signups are only until Sunday January 27th, so zip over there pronto.  I like to tinker with beads and wires, usually in my art journals, art quilts, and in embellies for my scrappy projects, and in ornaments versus making jewelry.  I do make jewelry, but not as much as I would like.  This bead soup blog party sounds like so much fun, I can't WAIT to play!  As a lover of pretty much all things sparklie, this is gonna be fun!  It is good to try something new, isn't it?  We all need to find time to nourish our creative spirits, and keep our brains and fingers nimble.  :) I hope you will try one of the great classes at The Art Studio and learn a new technique or how to create a fun or inspiring project soon.  You won't be sorry, I promise!   

Stay warm this week!  I wish you a joyful and creative day ~ Pam