Welcome to the 8th Annual Bead Soup Blog Hop Party!!!

Hello!

I am so glad you could make it!

I have my saucy party frock on, I've spiked the fruit punch and my soup has been simmering on the stove for a good long month now. 

I was extremely excited to participate this year as I was in dire need of a challenge and new beads!

Oh, boy, did I get both in abundance!!!

I was very lucky to be paired up with the supremely talented Sharon Driscoll .

Sharon is a lamp worker (whispered in an awed hush) and what this woman can do in glass is nothing short of magnificent.

Lamp worked beads are hard for me to afford, I fill and fill my shopping cart and then sigh while I sadly close out the screen and wait for the right moment to invest in such fine artisan beads.

So you can imagine my utter joy in not only being paired with an experienced one, but 

SHE SENT ME SPECIAL MADE BEADS!!!!!

Her color scheme of turquoise and orange was accented by a chartreuse green and off white.

She sent so much beady goodness, I sat for several hours, confounded and overwhelmed,

thinking, "How on earth am I going to use all of this and more importantly, how will I ever do her glass justice?"

But Sharon reassured me... "you don't have to use all of it."  

So I concentrated on my favorite pieces of the lot.

The first was this glorious long tube bead;

Isn't it wonderful?

I had some weavings from Maire done up in charcoal linen and chartreuse seed beads that I had been struggling to create something with. These weavings were the perfect compliment! So I went with a forging technique of hammered neck cuff bars, a centerpiece of woven linen and seed beads and then created an extra long antiqued copper headpin to slide the orange, white, turquoise, brown and chartreuse glass bead onto.

I feel the simplicity of the design allows the bead to stand out, but its lines of woven seed beads compliment the chevron lines in the long glass tube. There is a mix of textures and materials you do not often see playing along this piece and I am very pleased with the end result.

So I made matching earrings!

Who's a happy bead girl!?!

Next up.....

The hypnotic swirled bead.

I got lost in this bead. 

I wanted to carry it in my pocket for always, it made me so happy.

Instead I busted out some gemstones and a chunk of amber I had been hoarding. Then bit the bullet and using sterling silver stock, I wire-wrapped the heck out of this piece, using the forged sterling "S" clasp that Sharon had sent along with her soup.

Red coral, Amazonite, Taiwan Jade, Soo Joo Jade, Chalcedony and bits of Turquoise create a flow of color that leads the eye right to the mother pendant of Sharon's glass focal and amber briolette.

I know this makes you happy, these colors are so uplifting!

And now for the piece de resistance....

Chosen as such because it spoke to me.

It said "Shannon, you must feature me in a necklace made of metal, drenched in one of your favorite color combinations to wear, with textures that mimic the currents of color inside me."

I swear. 

That's what it said.

And so I obeyed...

I cut rippled patterned brass and copper sheet into diamond shapes, carefully scribing around the focal bead as a template. I then cut the the diamonds out, ground and hammered the edges and busted up yet another pair of hole punch pliers, double hole punching both sides of all 4 metal pieces, plus a triangle drop to hang from the lamp work bead. Tumbled, treated to soot black patina, distressed and then washed with a cabos water blue patina before sealing and assembling to a copper chain and diamond shaped, forged clasp, also treated to the same colors.

A tiny white glass bead dangles from its extender chain.

I love this piece hard.

And yes, I had a matched pair of turquoise dotted earthy brown glass Sharon included and so I continued with a pair of earrings;

 I hope you enjoyed what I had the honor to create with Sharon's bead soup, it was such a pleasurable experience for me!

As a thank you for visiting, I would like to offer the final piece of Sharon's glass, along with a necklace kit, as a give-away.

Using these beads, linen cording and clasp, you can create a variation of the project I stepped out for the

 Bead Soup Book.

Sharon has been such a generous bead soup partner, I know she would feel the same as I, letting someone else enjoy such luscious glass in fun, bright colors, perfect for the upcoming summer!

So please leave a comment and include your own blog link so I can connect with you when I draw a number next Saturday. 

Please visit Sharon's Bead Soup post to see what she has been cookin up with the soup ingredients I sent her,

here.

And please enjoy shopping her lovely glass goodies in her etsy shop 

here.

Thank you to our lovely hostess, Lori Anderson, who overcame personal trials and tribulation in order for the Bead Soup Party to go on.

We love you, Lori!

Thank you for bringing us all together!