7th Annual Bead Soup Blog Hop Party - Round 2!

Welcome to the 7th Annual Bead Soup doo-hickey!  Sorry for delay in getting my post up.  My son went on a camping trip with the Boy Scouts this weekend. He was supposed to have left yesterday afternoon, leaving me with all kinds of creative time while his Dad was at work.  Alas, it was not to be...it rained really hard and they decided to give the ground time to dry up, so they left out this morning.  There went my Friday night crash session!  No worries, though!

For those of you in a parallel universe who have never heard of the Bead Soup Party, it is a fun challenge/swap/show and tell/blog hop dreamed up by the talented and super sweet Lori Anderson.  Participants get paired up and they swap a bead soup mix. This can include just about anything...not very many limitations, except for maybe plastic, or stuff you would otherwise throw away!  You must include a focal-sized component, and a premium clasp.  Premium?  Not just a lobster or spring ring type...more fancy!  In turn, the recipients of said bead soup can create whatever their heart desires, as long as it includes the focal and the clasp, and they don't even have to be in the same piece!

So, now that we are all on the same wavelength, let me introduce you to my partner, Pia Kaven!  She is a fabulous lampwork artist who sent me some gorgeous beads!

At first, I was sure I would be able to create something fabulous and innovative in my sleep with these!  I mean, look at them, how could I not?  After sitting down to work with them, though, the ideas just weren't coming.  The embossed beads were my 1st priority...that yummy big focal is really heavy, so I wanted it to be balanced.  After a few iterations, I decided to create a wire frame around it. I sketched out several ideas and finally came up with this.

I textured the copper wire and wrapped the focal onto it, then embellished it with one of the smaller spacer beads Pia sent.  I knotted several of the coordinating beads on some leather cord in a teal color that I got in a box of cool goodies from Melinda Orr. I made some little tubes from some etched copper to wrap the leather with, inspired by Keirsten Giles' lovely copper work, then connected the leather section to some copper chain.  Finishing touches include some Czech glass flowers (old habits are hard to break) and a swirly copper hook clasp I made.

With the smaller embossed beads, I created earrings in the same design.

The clasp Pia sent was very sweet...I couldn't fit it into my idea for the main design, though, so I decided it would make a perfect clasp for one of my Swarovski rosary bracelets.  Another one of Pia's beads...this one with swirly seafoam-y color...was added as the Pater bead.

Here is what I sent Pia...go and visit her blog and see what I created.

For the full list of participants of this round, go over to Lori's blog... there are a lot of us, so have fun!