I enjoyed opening each of the little wrapped packages of beads! My swap partner Joyce Becker chose beautiful beads and lovely colors that all make a delicious and appealing bead soup. The pearls, Adventurine and mother of pearl all churn together to make a lovely ocean mix of colors and shapes. The Lotus flower focal is very exotic and I can envision wearing it in a long necklace. The oblong lampwork pendant is swirled with colors that match the other beads. I am excited to begin the design process and see how these lovely beads inspire me.
I added the gold elongated beads to spotlight the handmade brass embossed, painted and glazed Vintaj art beads that Joyce Becker made. She included the teal rondelles that she matched so perfectly. I needed ear wires to match so took a trip to the bead store. The brass seemed more gold than what I usually think of as brass and I don’t have much for findings in gold. But I like the shine and brightness that the gold brings and I’m excited about wearing them with a teal top.
LILLY PILLY NECKLACE WITH EARRINGS
The Lilly Pilly mother of pearl focal from Artbeads needed to be adorned with the Adventurine rounds and silver star fish to complement the shine in the elongated mother of pearl beads. It’s almost as if we transported to the sea where we can enjoy the smell of the air and warmth of the sun. I can almost feel the sand under my feet...wouldn’t that be wonderful! The star fish looks much darker in the picture than in real. I’m not sure why they cast such a shadow during the photo shoot.
LAMPWORK PENDANT NECKLACE
I first slid and knotted the
elongated carved mother of pearl beads onto a silk ribbon and added a rolo tube
to attach the focal too. I enjoyed bringing sparkle and width to the Lampwork
Art Bead by wrapping it with 22 gauge silver wire (another recent bead store
purchase). I think the earrings match well and are created using the pearl
drops, Adventurine and silver spacers (which I also added to the end of the
focal).
DRAGONFLY AVENTURINE NECKLACE AND EARRINGS
I have owned this silver
circle chain for a very long time and it seemed to be in hibernation while it
waited so it could shine in this design. It brought together a beautiful design
with all of the different shapes of Aventurine skipping through the park of
circles. The dragonfly focal is laying on a sterling silver loop with the word
RESPECT. Respect life, respect nature, respect the earth, respect the
individuality of each person. Which of the earring pairs do you want to wear
with this necklace?
VINTAJ TREE EARRINGS
Joyce Becker handmade the beautiful
Vintaj brass embossed, painted and glazed tree components that I used to make
earrings with Swarovski crystals in my favorite colors of turquoise and purple.
I will enjoy wearing them and they are keepers as mementos of the fun that we
have had creating jewelry. I am also showing my bead board as I try to think of
a design to use white and teal rice pearls. I used 28 gauge tarnish resistant
silver argentine wire to make a little flower from the white pearls but the wire
breaks very easy so I’m on to a new design.
In the end, I used .45mm silver beading wire to string the rice
pearls and the accent silver beads. I had the square beads with two holes
side-by-side allowing me to double strand the bracelet. I also had a square
magnetic clasp with crystals that matched the square components within the
bracelet. I am pleased with the results and happy that I found something that
worked. The rice pearls have a iridescent teal shine and that is the more
dominant color when looking at them in the sunlight. That color didn’t come
through in the photo but does a photo ever do the piece justice compared to
holding it in person?
THE ENTIRE COLLECTION
This is a photo of the entire jewelry
collection from one bead swap with add in’s from my stash. It is surprising that
new beads that come matched up for inspiration can lead to all of this!
Thank
you to Joyce Becker for being my bead soup swap partner! I enjoyed getting to
know you and wish Oregon and Minnesota were next door neighbors so that we could
have tea and share jewelry tips and techniques.
The Bead Soup Swap & Participants:
Lori Anderson, hostess
