Broken Butterfly Bead :(

After participating in the Bead Soup Blog Party, I put the pieces I made on a necklace stand on our dresser. Just so I could look at it but mostly cause I didn't know where to put it. One morning, my husband comes to me and says that he was really sorry and told me not to get mad. He had accidentally knocked the necklace stand over and the pretty orange butterfly bead broke into many pieces. 

This is what the bead looked like before.....

and after.......

Now it gives me an excuse to make a new one.  :)

Bead Soup Blog Party: The reveal!

Hosted by Lori Anderson

It's Bead Soup Blog Party time!!!!!!!!
This is the longest post I've ever written but it's also the most exciting. Last month, I got to participate in my first ever Bead Soup Blog Party. What happens is each participant gets paired with a partner and they exchange a 'soup' of beads. The partners are meant to challenge each other by getting her to work outside her comfort level.  This was definitely a challenge for me as I've never worked with copper or brass before.

When I first got my package from Shanti Johnson, I immediately loved the colors.  It was so bright and orange-y and pretty.  My next thought was "What am I going to do with these????????"
  

My delicious soup from Shanti

It took a while but I started working with the brass 'hope' focal  first. This is what I made with the brass materials but it was too simple and I didn't like it, so I took it apart.

I have a soft spot for butterflies so naturally the orange butterfly beads were one of my favourites in the mix. They became the focals for this necklace:

Copper leaf toggle clasp.  So pretty!

Other than the two butterfly stone beads, I used some turquoise stones, brown wooden beads that went will with some orange rondelles. I love the leaf toggle, so I used that in this piece.

As I looked at the rest of the beads, I really couldn't figure out what to do. I've never used copper before. My main material for my jewellery pieces were silver and pearls. As I finished that butterfly piece I actually ran out of copper materials.  So I thought, "Why can't I mix colours together?" and that's how this necklace came about: A mixture of copper and silver.  haha...  I know, I cheated.

This necklace was made from a two-toned Swarovski crystal and one of the focal rings from Shanti. Isn't it beautiful?

This necklace is now on sale in my Etsy store. Just click on the link below.





This brass bracelet uses the really cute elephant clasp and some brass rings.  I thought, I would just add a litte bit of me to at least one piece, so I decided to sprinkle it with some white, creamrose, and bronze Swarovski pearls.

I started my beading hobby by making earrings and I can't believe through this whole bead soup, I only made one pair of earrings.  These are the pretty turquoise stones with brass chains.

Well, that's all I had time to make.  It was such a learning process and so much fun.  I'll be blog hopping now.  First hop will be to my partner, Shanti, who gave me all those wonderful beads.  Here is what I gave here.  Click to see her post of what she made with my soup. www.sunshinebliss.com

Here's all the participants of BSBP:

Visit my Pinterest (will be updated once I get to all the posts) to see all the awesome creations or visit each persons blog below.

Bead Soup Blog Party: My beads have arrived!!!!

My partner Shanti Johnson and I shipped our beads at the same time, so, of course we got them at the same time. Except I "got" mine a few days later cause it was cold and snowy this week and no one wanted to walk/drive the "long" distance to the mailbox that was down the street. But, yesterday, I went to check the mailbox and was so excited to see the package that I literally danced/jumped all the way back home. 

Shanti sent me a beautiful bead soup mix. I love the colours and the toggles. Here's the soup of beads and some closer shots. 

The mixture had two orange butterfly focal beads which I can't wait to use.  I love butterflies and I'm always looking for more butterflies to make into jewellery. There's also a leaf toggle and a cute little elephant clasp. Another favourite are the orange rondelle beads. Love them! 

Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet but it is definitely going to take me out of my comfort zone of pearls and bridal jewellery making. Can't wait to get started!

Did you notice the editing done on the pictures? I just discovered an updated version of Picassa that integrated Picnik's editing tools.  Love it!

Remember the Bead Soup Blog Hop is on March 3rd! 
Also, visit Shanti's blog to see what I sent her!
And of course, go check out Lori Anderson's blog, the host of this party.

Bead Soup Blog Party

I was fortunate enough to be chosen to be part of the "Bead Soup Blog Party" hosted by Lori Anderson of Pretty Things Blog. One of the reasons why I wanted to be part of the Bead Soup was so that I can create something that I wouldn't normally make. Trying to think "outside the box".  It also sounded like tons of fun! What I didn't realize was that it spurred on this new desire to blog more often. We'll see what happens!

My wonderful partner Shanti Johnson and I sent each other our 'bead soup' this week.  Can't wait to see what's inside and create something really, really pretty!

Here is what I sent her:

A teaser of the beads I sent...

Of course, I can't reveal the bead soup just yet.  You'll just have to wait till we both get our beads!