8th Bead Soup Party

Welcome to the 8th Bead Soup Party!

I have the honor of being paired with a marvelous glass bead artist from Germany named Sabine Dittrich. I like to ask for an international partner, because it is fun to make a new friend in another part of the world who shares your same passion. Hello, friend!

Now I know that every partner I have ever had has sent a tasty helping of mystery soup ingredients to work with, but I think that I hit the motherlode with this one! Miss Sabine was exceedingly generous. She sent me so much to play with that I really wasn't able to use it all, even though I did make five necklaces and a pair of earrings. See the picture below to see what I am talking about!

photo courtesy of Sabine

She sent the soup in such a sweet array of packaging, too! It really felt like Christmas in March when I got them! My daughter is already putting dibs on several of these sweet and sassy bags and I don't blame her!

photo courtesy of Sabine

Now you would think that if I got all this in March I would have started back then. Then you don't know me very well! I have a tendency to wait until the last possible moment to do anything. And this was no exception. I know that our hostess, Miss Lori Anderson, had to postpone the reveal by a week due to some health issues, but I can't tell you how relieved I was to have that extra time! Every single piece I made was done this week, some just yesterday. Now I realize that if I had more time, I could have possibly used it all, but that would just mean I would have procrastinated even more! (Who's with me on that?!)

 On with the Soup!

Hit the Spot
I was so in love with the strand of 13 round glass beads that Miss Sabine made just for me. Each one of them was so different, yet completely coordinated. These are quite large beads - about 18mm - and all with the same palette of burgundy base with white, coral turquoise, gray and blue dots. I could have used more than one in a design, but I felt they were each so special, that I wanted them to be the star in different designs, and now I seem to have a whole collection going on! I happened to have some glowing lucite pumpkin shaped beads that worked perfectly with this palette. But I needed some other beads that would carry the visual weight. I found these large wood nuggets just lying around and thought they would do the trick, that are also very lightweight. I used some of the silver plated bicone spacers and one of the three clasps that Miss Sabine Sent. I designed this so that the dottie bead would be off to the side, but found that it looks equally good with the clasp to the side (as pictured) instead of just to the back.  

You've Got a Lot of Verve
Again, those dottie beads intrigue me! I picked this one with swirly blue-green portholes, as if peering into an underwater world. I paired it with a black and white ceramic dottie bead from Jangles, a copper pinwheel spacer and some brass colored dottie rondelles. See that fabric? That is the most luscious shibori silk called Firefall (< ---- click the link to see the amazing color I am talking about) from Lisa Kan at Aria Design Studio. She sent me some of this amazing material to play with and I will tell you that I have been stumped by it. Shibori is pleated silk ribbon that is hand dyed in small batches. Within the pleats is a color explosion! You really have to get some of it for yourself! Most of the projects I have seen using it are bead embroidery or silk flowers. I wanted to try something different. So I strung a lucite bead onto some wire and then knotted the silk onto the bead, wrapping it around with the wire to cage it. I quite like the way the folds show the different tones and it lends a soft, touchable element to the piece. At the bottom I added the copper tassel but jazzed it up with the addition of some Swarovski bicone crystals, hung from a copper rollo chain. [As an aside... clearly, I have an obsession with tassels, since nearly all my pieces had them!]

Subtly Sonorous
Back in 2010 I had the privilege of attending a two day workshop by Miss Stephanie Lee at ArtBliss in Washington, D.C. She is delightful and in my top 3 list of all-time favorite teachers. It is there that I learned to solder, a skill that I have yet to really put into practice. One of the classes was called Pipe Dreams. We made really funky soldered components using copper pipe, wire, brass and filigree. This one uses a twisted wire for a rope edge detail. I have never actually made one thing with those little experiments. A total travesty! But when I picked out this cute dottie bead I saw that pipe bezel sitting there as if it has been waiting all this time for just the right design! I love long necklaces that you just throw on and go, and I used a marvelous vintage barrel chain that I recently scored. I used a faux suede tassel from John Bead for color and movement and to soften the design. Doesn't it look just right? The unexpected surprise was that the little suede tassel has a metalized top and when it moves back and forth inside the pipe bezel there is a sweet little bell sound that is Subtly Sonorous! I see more of this style coming in my future! Fire up the torch!

Under Her Spell
Now this bead was particularly stunning. It was so LARGE! It was DOUBLE-SIDED! It has EVERY COLOR in nature in it! This focal bead that Miss Sabine made herself, demanded something truly special. Holding this bead in my hand, I can't help but marvel at the intricacies of it. I truly cannot take a picture that does it justice. Suffice it to say that there are whole worlds going on in that bead - different worlds in each side - and it really is magical. It had me under its spell!

I struggled a bit with how best to balance the size and weight of this bead with the dazzling array of colors. Happily, I stumbled on a few strands of multi-colored keishi pearls that I had bought at last years Bead & Button Show (Finally! I used something from a Bead & Button show purchase before going to the next one!). I wove double strands together with some rhinestone rondelles and soft silver accents, like the oval bead and the leaf toggle from my soup, and the openwork filigree cloud pewter component from Green Girl Studios (also a Bead & Button Show 2013 purchase! Yea, me! I truly have a sickness, this bead hoarding addiction).

At the bottom of the focal, I added a small silvered glass bead from my friend Julianna of Julsbeads in a tiger stripe orange and soft swirly lavender with some of the wavy chip beads Sabine sent. There was  also this funky little bead with what looked like a crown on top of a ball in the soup. I turned it upside down to catch a tumble of stray chain for a tassel. I plan to wear this to church for Mother's Day tomorrow as I am the cantor leading the congregation in song so I need to look my best!


Of course, you can tell there is a lot of soup left to play with... the Czech glass, copper daisies, Japanese cord, a Murano glass bead from Venice, a fine silver crab and the Bali fish and pod beads... but that will have to wait for another day! I did say that I made 5 necklaces and a pair of earrings, didn't I? Well, you will have to wait... the last one will be for my reveal for Earrings Everyday We're All Ears challenge reveal on May 16th! Still time to join!

Here are the bead soups that I sent to Miss Sabine.

Please go to Perlendschungel blog to see what she made with my ingredients! I can't wait!

photo by Brandi Hussey

Did you know that there is a Bead Soup book that Miss Lori Anderson put together inspired by these hops? Did you know that I am one of the artists in that book? It really was an honor to be a part of it, and it is filled with some dynamite designs by some very talented people from around the world. It is an oft-referenced book on my shelf. Check it out!

In the spirit of sharing, I would like to pass the Bead Soup love on to you... I will select one of the remaining dottie rounds made by Miss Sabine and pair that up with a special little soup of my own to send to one commenter on this blog chosen at random. I will reveal the winner on Friday, May 16th.

How do you enter? Simple.

Just leave a comment on this post telling me which one of these is your favorite Bead Soup creation.....but BE SURE that your email is turned on in your profile or that you leave it in the comment. If I can't email you, you can't win!

Now.... off to the BEAD SOUP HOP!