Welcome to the 8th Annual Blog Soup Party

So since this is mainly a paper crafting blog, I’d better explain that right? The Blog Soup Party blog hop shows off the work of over 400 jewelry designers. We’ve all been brave enough to take up the challenge of sending our partner a mixture of beads and findings, known as a bead soup, and once received, we promised to make something using that soup and post it today! We had to send a focal piece and a clasp along with some supporting beads that are in a different style than our partner normally uses. At a minimum we need to use the focal and clasp in one or more pieces. They can be jewelry or something else like a key chain, zipper pull or mixed media piece.

I was partnered with Michelle Wigginton of Adorned on Adelaide. I sent her quite a few black and white items several of which could be used as a focal and lots of beads in black, white or both! I am looking forward to seeing what she’s made. I’m sure she will have a photo of what I sent her on her blog.

Michelle sent me almost all earth tone items which are way out of my comfort zone. In the necklace above, I used the lovely flower pendant she made (awesome), the jasper beads, purplish brown Czech beads and a snippet of the silk ribbon. I added some tiny copper beads and copper spacers. One side is wire work and the other side is stringing. The pattern on the right side repeats towards the back and I used a purchased toggle clasp.

The clasp Michelle sent was quite daunting for me. It was an inch wide which is way larger than the clasps I usually use. I thought it might tangle in my long hair if I used it on a necklace, it was too big for a bracelet I’d be comfortable wearing and I don’t have any beads that would coordinate with a clasp that large. It is quite antiqued too and I don’t usually work with metal that dark. But I was determined to  use it somehow. So I wire wrapped a rustic smoky quartz briolette bead into the center using 28 g silver wire, antiqued it with liver of sulphur, polished the highlights and now I can use it as a pendant!

So, what's left? I am going to use the recycled glass beads on an ocean necklace I’ve recently started. I think so anyway. The funky scarab, which I love (I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was a kid) will probably be worked into a mixed media canvas of some sort. The piacasso beads are headed into a necklace for my 13 yo son. Honestly, I have no idea where the rest of the ribbon is headed but it will go to good use.

Thanks for joining me. To see more of the blog hop, visit Lori Anderson’s blog Pretty Things. She is the brilliant and tireless organizer of the entire thing and has done so while being quite sick and even hospitalized so I’d like to thank her for all her work. You rock girlfriend!

Enjoy, Rebecca