Saturday, March 3, 2012

Bead Soup Blog Party...Revealing the Soup!

 Well, it's finally here...The big reveal!  I think this has been a fun, challenging, and rewarding experience as a designer.  Many thanks to my talented partner, Lara Lutrick, for the colorful soup including her beautiful lampwork, and to Lori Anderson for being a most gracious host. 

Please check out my partner Lara's blog to see what she's up to at  
And you can shop in her etsy store for beautiful lampwork beads at

As a reminder...Here's my original soup from Lara...


First of all, I love the lampwork that Lara sent.  It's so pretty and the colors are like a fiesta to me!  That being said, I found my challenge was using the slider ring.  It was hands~down my favorite soup ingredient, but I had never worked with one before. 
 (Kind of like someone who'd never met garlic before...whoa...this stuff is great!) 
I messed around with all kinds of things and ideas before I came up with my seed bead bail idea that incorporated the lampwork bead that went with the focal.

I experimented with different beads and found myself with less and less space to work in...
Do any of you do that?  I'll clear my spot, and an hour later I'm working in three square inches of space...Aagghhhhh!!!!!!!!!

 I adore wire, so I felt compelled to add a little wire work in, since I just happened to have the right color...

 Well, my fellow bloggers... I ended up trying a new color combo, and a  new bead shape.  I got a new perspective on the blogging world.  The best thing is connecting with fellow artists, getting to know all of you, and sharing our creativity.

Thank you again to our gracious hostess, Lori, and to my BSBP partner Lara...May the beads be with you!

For links to all of the Bead Soup Blog Party participants, please visit Lori's blog at  http://www.prettythingsblog.com/