Bead Soup Swap & Create Reveal

It's been many years since there's been a Bead Soup Reveal. Several years ago, it was THE challenge of the year for bead and jewelry artists/bloggers. When Lori Anderson, the originator (and bead soup hostess with the mostest) became sick, the swap fell to the wayside. Now that she's more healthy, she's brought it back to life, and I couldn't be more excited. Partners were assigned and beads were swapped several months ago. I shared what I sent to and received from my partner, Robin Reed, in a post and video a couple of months back. Now, it's time to reveal what I made with all that soup!

Let me remind you quickly of the gloriousness that Robin bestowed upon me. 

So much awesome!

The rules of the swap are pretty clear: send at least one focal, one clasp, and some coordinating beads. Make something with at least the focal and clasp that was sent to you. You don't even have to include the focal and clasp in the same piece, just use them. You can make one piece or twenty. I made six.

Soon after going through the soup that Robin sent me, I sketched out an idea for the amethyst focal she included. It was unlike anything I've ever made before, and I wasn't sure I could make it work, but I had to try. It's always a learning experience. That's kinda the fun of the challenge - using pieces that you didn't select and making them work. And, y'all, this WORKED!

When I saw the trapezoidal shape of the stone pendant, I didn't think I could get it to fit in with my more romantic-boho style. I knew it needed some softening somehow, some ruffles. With a little copper wire and patience, I created a focal that fit me much better. Robin included amethyst beads and the copper toggle clasp in my soup so I included those with more copper wire and completed the necklace. With that, I could have been done with my makes for this challenge. But, I knew I wasn't. 

When I started working on my Chain Link Earring Tutorial series, I spied a chain link that I knew would be fun to test out a resin technique on. And, I had saved the tissue papers that Robin used to wrap my soup (because, of course I did). I combined those two bits along with one of the freshwater pearls Robin provided to make a sweet pair of earrings.

And, because it's been my jam recently, I recorded the process of how these Tissue Paper and Resin Earrings were created. 

After that, I kept looking through my bead soup for more inspiration but struggled. I really wanted to make something that combined these two elements.

That brass piece that Robin altered is so gorgeous. And, those pistachio-colored freshwater pearls were the first thing I opened, and they just sing to me. I know these two elements can be combined, but I absolutely cannot seem to figure it out. . . yet. I did try to combine these with some of the Indian glass beads, but the long necklace I tried to make immediately became too heavy.

I kept coming back to the soup for several days looking for more ways to use some of the elements Robin blessed me with. Eventually, the brass hammered "pages" spoke to me. 

I altered one of them (she sent me three) by attaching an internal snap ring (from the hardware store) with rivets so that I could hang some of the smaller Indian glass beads from it. A medium-sized glass bead hangs from the brass page itself. And, larger glass beads were combined with small brass spacer beads and darkened steel wire (to match the snap ring) to create a chain. Something about the colors of the glass and the mixed metals give this necklace a very Moroccan feel to me. 

While I was sorting through the Indian glass beads to find the smaller beads for the dangles, I happened upon a few of them that actually matched (previous searches through them yielded no matches - isn't that weird?) So, I decided to create a few pairs of earrings with them. First, I hammered and aged several of the copper washers Robin sent. Then I combined them with the glass beads and copper wire.

The results are stunning.

You can almost see it in this picture, but I made spiral headpins with copper wire for this pair.

Since I had one more pair of matching beads that I wanted to use, I dipped into my stash of pre-cut and prepared tin pairs to create this last contribution.

And, that's everything I've made (so far) with the soup Robin sent me. Make sure to head over to her Facebook Page - Artistry: Handcrafted Bead Designs to see what she created with the Bead Soup I sent her. As well, if you're interested in these types of challenges, make sure to join Bead Soup Cafe on Facebook so you can be aware of future events. And now, here's the list of participants. Many of these link to the pages where they'll be revealing their makes. You can also visit Lori's blog where she has the complete, updated list of participants (I'll be updating it as I hop.)

Lori Anderson, hostess

Anastasia Urbanski

Andrea Garvens

Ann Snyder Rishell

Bee Kuhlman

Becky Pancake

Birgit Klughardt

Bobbie Rafferty

Bridget Torres

Candida Castleberry

Christina Hickman

Divya N

Donna Hoblit

Dorit Woldenga

Elaine Robitaille

Elisabeth Auld

Ginger Bishop

Heather Canepa

Hope Smitherman (you're HERE)

Inge von Roos

Jackie Locantore

Jayne Capps

Jenny Kyrlach

Jennifer Reeb

Jill Bradley

Joan Williams

Jodie Marshall

Joyce Becker

Kate Dufour

Kathleen Breeding

Kathy Lindemer

Katie Nielson-Nunez

Katrina Baslow

Kelly Hosford Patterson

Kim Hutchinson

Lisa Baxa

Lisa Long

Lorelei Eurto

Lucy Clasen

Marianna Wehner

Melissa Trudinger

Monica Dockery

Natalie Ettinger

Natalie Moton

Pamela Traub

Raquel Rosario

Robin Reed

Rochelle Brisson

Sarah Beardslee

Shaiha Williams

Susan Kelly

Terri Gauthier

Terry Jeanette Carter

Valerie Norton

Enjoy hopping through the list. I know I will!