jewellery design

Beadsoup Blog Party 7 Reveal!

ImageShebaMakeda 31 Comments

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Welcome to the THIRD reveal of the 7th BeadSoup Blog Party!  My partner is the lovely and cheerful Ana Cravidao of AC Beads in Portugal.  Ana sent me a fun assortment of beads in one of my favourite colour combos – red and gold (my living room is red and gold!).  She sent a big ornate bronze finish disc with matching chain, accent beads and toggle, some silk and satin ribbon and an interesting assortment of glass beads in a variety of cool shapes.

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As soon as i took out the disc and viewed the filigree pattern, i immediately knew i would be wrapping the smaller beads around the perimeter. I did so by weaving in the tiny glass pearls with some aged brass wire as well as wired the little glass star right in the centre of the disc.  Then i took the silk string and wove that though the disc as well for an extra pop of colour.  I initially tried interweaving it with the chain but found it too distracting.  Finally created some dangles with some of the other beads and then double wrapped the chain through a loosely wire wrapped bail, attached the toggle clasp and done!

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Here’s what i sent Ana – a lampwork focal, button clasp and three accent beads made by moi (i’ve been practicing making dot beads) , plus an assortment of coordinating glass and bone beads from my jewellery-making stash from way back before i ever discovered lampworking. Since i only use my own handmade beads in my jewellery now, these poor store-bought beads have been sitting untouched for almost 10 years – it was really time for them to get some love!

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Here’s a better pic of the beads and clasp i made… my dots are really improving considering this type of precision beadmaking doesn’t come naturally to me at all.  You can see what Ana did with the BeadSoup i sent her, here: http://acbeads.blogspot.pt/2013/04/party-time-festa.html.

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As always, my thanks our lovely host Lori Anderson, creator of the Beadsoup Blog Party who soldiered on through organizing this BeadSoup while managing some pretty significant health issues.  Wishing you all the best in health and happiness Lori!  As always this was a lot of fun and gave me the chance to exercise my much ignored jewellery designing skills.  Can’t wait for BeadSoup Blog Party #8! To see the full list of the other 3rd reveal participants click HERE, for the 1st and 2nd reveal participants click HERE and HERE.  Enjoy!!

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6th BeadSoup Blog party results!!

ShebaMakeda 37 Comments

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Once again, I’m thrilled to be part of Lori Anderson’s 6th BeadSoup Blog Party where 400 beadmakers and jewellery designers from around the world exchange blind packages to spur their creativity.  This time around my partner is Joanna Matuszczyk, a jewellery designer from Poland. This is the bead soup she sent me:

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Quite the lovely variety, huh?  I love the well-coordinated mix of all the different textures and shapes plus it’s in my favourite colour too – PURPLE!!  I’ve never worked with materials like bamboo, ribbon, copper or fabric beads (except the glass beads/gemstones), so it really took me out of my comfort zone.  Now, I tried to use everything but honestly I just could not figure out how to work those felted butterflies in… i think they will have to be separate piece… maybe a fun dangly necklace on a silver chain? We’ll see…

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First thing i decided was that i was going to use ALL of those lovely ribbons – it was such a perfect mix of colours, plus i couldn’t resist the lush effect.  Then i turned the ceramic button into the clasp and knotted the loop created from doubling the ribbon strands into the catch with a few copper jump rings (which i made!) to keep the strands in place.  Then, i lightened the edge of the bamboo tube to match the ribbons and wrapped it first with the brown crocheted ribbon (incredibly cool and retro) then with masses of copper wire to create a hook for the dangly mix of glass and gemstones.  Final touch was stuffing the knitted balls into the bamboo tube to create a fun and unusual focal.

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I’m pretty happy with this necklace, especially since when i first received the package, i had absolutely NO idea what to do with all that ribbon nor the fabric beads.  But then… that’s the point of the BSBP – to get us all to experiment with materials we normally never or rarely use and discover some new ways to invigorate our own designs… and of course to have FUN!!  

OK… I’m off to check out the other Bead Soups, grab a cup of tea and join me!  There were three reveals this time around (i’m in the 3rd)  – you can find them all here (or by clicking the picture below): http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.ca/2012/06/participants-of-6th-bead-soup-blog-party.html