Soup's On... or a Soupcon of Beadery

Welcome to my stop for the 6th Bead Soup Blog Hop Party.  My partner, the lovely and talented Dyanne Everett-Cantrell, sent me my "soup" ~ a focal bead, a clasp, and some goodies to go in between. (You can find Dyanne's blog here.)  My task was to create using the elements she gave me.

To be perfectly honest... I was stumped.  For one thing, I've never worked with a clasp this large.  I usually make bracelets and pendants and earrings and charms... and didn't think it would work for those... which left me in the Wide Wide World of Necklaces.

Dyanne recently started lampworking and made the focal bead herself.  In fact, it was her first focal ever.  I wanted to do it justice.

Its shape and colors seemed very Salvador Dali-esque to me, and for a while, I thought that's how I would go.

But how else would I evoke Dali?  I found some cool mustaches on etsy, but they were shipping from Israel and I, of course, had agreed to ANY REVEAL DATE AT ALL... meaning today -- the first reveal date.

So it was back to the Bead Cave...

...where I panicked.

(In the Bead Cave, no one can hear you scream.)

I needed to make something eclectic, something not-too-symmetrical, something that made me try new things but was still me, so I thought I would make a triple-strand necklace.

That probably sounds like a no-brainer to many beaders, but I'm a wire wrapper.  I am crimp bead challenged.  I failed jump rings 101.  I'm not a pretty-things kind of jewelry designer.  And I rarely plan ahead.  I have a story in my head and then I jump in and start making.

So I thought and I thought and I thought.  

I dipped into my stash of aventurine and ordered some cool Swarovski crystals.

And then I started.  Three separate strands, each different and unique, all blending together.  Here's what emerged.


A strand of aventurine and seed beads...

...a strand with the green lampwork beads and sterling chain and the aforementioned Swarovski crystals...

...and a wildly eclectic strand...

 

...with the focal bead at its center.

Put 'em together and what have you got?  

A little chaos...

... followed by order...

... followed by matching earrings.

 I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my silver beads and talking charms.  An anklet!  I would...

... and wish that I hadn't dropped the last bead...

...only to have the cat run off with it...

...and drop it down the floor heater.

Remember that part where I said I didn't plan?  Well... even without that last bead, and even if my ankles were half their size, I was going to need more inspirational talking charms and some more of those silver beads.

Back to the Bead Cave for me.

But for you... get on the Blog Hop Train (AKA The Bead Soup Blog Party) and see what other beady delights await!