Simmer your creativity...Bead Soup!

If a pot is cooking, the friendship will stay warm.
~ Arab proverb

"Rêver du Printemps" Soup

Ingredients (from gourmand Emma at FredBean's Nook):
1 aquaterra focal bead
4 smoky gray glass rounds
4 incredible beaded bead tubes
1 cream glass flower bead
8 sterling silver daisy spacers 1 sweet sterling silver toggle
1 delightfully sweet Anne-Julie Aubrey illustration from Emma's business card

Add to these staples from my pantry:
1 orange enameled filigree bead from Barbara Lewis
assorted creamy white river jasper beads
5 repurposed flower links
lots of brushed silver plated curb chain
1 bezel setting

Stir, simmer, string, wrap, cook under UV lamp for 15 minutes and enjoy!

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Have you ever started cooking something with no clear idea of what it will be?

You start with a bit of this and add a pinch of that, stopping to taste and sample along the way, until the dish morphs into a completely different thing than you though, but yummy just the same?

That is the way that I cook...and bead. I don't always have a plan in mind. I prefer to let my ingredients chart the course. Sometimes you end up throwing it out and sometimes you end up licking the pot.

But when you start with fresh, quality ingredients, the end result is always a success.

These beaded beads from my partner Emma Thomas of FredBean's Nook were so delicious from the moment I opened the cute little box...I just wanted to eat them up raw! But I knew that I had to "cook" up something great with them so I stopped fondling them and trying to decipher how they were made. Sometimes a little magic is a good thing. I have no idea how she does that but they are the best pop of color and texture ever! I have no patience for seed beads so I really appreciate the time and patience it must have taken to make them. You should definitely go check out her jewelry at her Etsy site. She uses these little beaded tubes in some really cool designs. My favorite is the Vibrant Forest pendant.


The little Moo card that accompanied my goodies was so enchanting. That is the piece that changed the whole dish for me! I was playing around with my Gel du Soleil resin on Sunday and her card was sitting there beside my soup ingredients as my muse, and it was the perfect match to the colors. I took a chance and decided to make that the focal of my Bead Soup. I have since found out that the artist that created this image is Anne-Julie Aubry from France. Her hauntingly whimsical designs are adorable. Anne-Julie was described on her website as being "a distant dreamer" which is where the name came from..."rêver du printemps" means "dreaming of spring," which to those of us pounded by snow can attest that it seems like it is a distant dream.


I used the aquaterra focal bead with the soothing green color and balanced that with a hot orange Moroccan enamel bead I bought from Barbara Lewis at Painting with Fire.

I made that the clasp with the toggle bar and two of Emma's beaded beads. The toggle ring was repurposed as a charm holder under the pendant as a way to draw the eye down to the focal with the sweet little cream flower and use it in an unexpected way.

I decided to make this necklace really long with the chain in the back. The sweet little flowers are an upcycle from an old piece of jewelry in my ever-growing stash.

Thanks so much to Lori Anderson for this wonderful opportunity to play with all of you! I am ever so grateful that you stopped by to taste what was cooking in my pot!

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And if you are excited about challenges, I invite you to join me in my monthly Inspired by... challenge. For February, we are Inspired by...The Solar System . If you are interested in participating, the deadline to enter has been extended until February 28th. You can read all about it here.

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And if you would just like to be entered into a drawing, I am giving away a bracelet I made inspired by William Morris vintage wallpaper called "Aberdeen Ferns." You can enter by answering the question on this post here.

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Check It Out::Bead Soup Participants!

1. Lori, Pretty Things Blog
2. Mallory, For the Love of Beads
3. Terri, Blooming Ideas
4. Cindy, Sweet Bead Studio
5. Lorelei, Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
6. Kerry, Kab's Creative Concepts
7. Erin, Treasures Found you are here!
8. Jeannette, Jeannette Blix Wire and Metal Jewelry
9. Adrienne, Adrienne Designs
10. Nan, Spirit Rattles
11. Laurel, Rue's Daftique
12. Nancy, Beading From the Heart
13. Mary, MK's Creative Musings
14. Cassie, The Glass Beadle
15. Dot, Winchell Clayworks
16. Sharon, Sharon's Jewelry Garden
17. Lisa, Lo and Behold
18. Norma, Bead Dreams and Moonlit Fantaseas
19. Judith, Judith B.
20. Debbie, Prairie Emporium
21. Maria, Garden Path Beads
22. Susan, Kaplan Creations Jewelry and Glass Design
23. Melissa, Melissa Meman: Art, Love, Life
24. Marianna, Pretty Shiny Things
25. Lisa, Joolz by Lisa
26. Cristi, 2 If By Sea
27. Sandra, Marbella Jewelry Design
28. Maria, Greene Earth Originals
29. Barbara, Jewelry of Distinction
30. Leslie, Bei Mondi
31. Loretta, Designs by Loretta
32. Linda, Bella Bead Jewelry
33. Kathie, The Bead Cult
34. Patty, Plays With Fire
35. Nicki, Nicki's Reef
36. Anne Marie, Heart's Desire
37. Mary, Mary Harding Jewelry
38. Jayne, Mama's Got to Doodle
39. Emanda, Artemesia's Studio
40. Whitney, Whitney Lassini
41. Marcie, La Bella Joya
42. Suzann, Beadphoria
43. Jen, Jen Judd Rocks
44. Julie, Credit River Art Glass
45. Janiece, J Birds Garden
46. Kate, Organic Odysseys
47. Laurie, The Mermaid Tale
48. Michelle, My Crazy Crafty Adventure
49. Sue, Sue Beads
50. Janeen, Wild Vanilla Designs
51. Nancy, The Rabbit Muse
52. Kristie, Artisan Clay
53. Regina, Regina's Writings
54. Tari, Pearl and Pebble
55. Lyn, Lyn Foley
56. Beth, Sunshine Daydreamz
57. Cathryn, Chile Cats
58. Emma, Fred Bean's Nook
59. Connie, Cetta Cheese Chatter
60. Juli, Jul's Beads
61. Julie, RockerJewlz
62. Libby, LibbyLeu and Glass Too
63. Melanie, Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
64. Katie, My Life and My Beads
65. Zuleykha, Zuleykha's Polymer Clay
66. Rekella, Me But a Little More in Depth
67. Ricki, What's New at Ricki Voges Design
68. Lisa, Lucid Moon Studio
69. Jo, Daisychain Jewellery
70. Lynette, Rock Hill Designs
71. Lynne, Island Girl's Insights
72. Chas, One Woman's Haven
73. Ruthie, Rose Works Jewelry
74. Elizabeth, Turquoise Sky
75. Maire, Maire Dodd
76. Janet, Singing Woods
77. Eileen, Dorset Hill Beads
78. Julie, Miss Kitten's Jewels
79. Joann, Jo's Jewels
80. Patti, PJ Clark Designs
81. Mel, Kookie Designs
82. Erin, Every Heart Crafts
83. Dale, Flights of Fancy
84. Dee, Runako Designs

Enjoy the day!