Bead Soup Blog Party 7 - Second Reveal

It is April 13 and the postponed second reveal day for the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party.

Here is what I received from my partner, Cheryl Brown.

Bead Soup from Cheryl

The combination of the copper, cream, blues and purples are beautiful.

I wanted to do more that just string the components into a necklace. I had just purchased  Mastering Peyote Stitch by Melinda Barta. 

I really liked the leaves on the cover piece. I played with some different copper and bronze coloured beads before decided on the final combination. It is edged with some purple charlottes and centres of ivory.

Once the leaves were made it was a challenge to figure out how to work them into the necklace. Using knottable beadwire I secured the lowest leaf in the centre of the length of wire. I strung a few copper daisy spacers over both ends of the wire. I secured the next leaf on one of the wires, brought them together again and added a few more daisy spacers. The third leaf was secured to the other wire and the ends were brought together again. A few more daisy spacers completed the branch that would hang below the owl.

In progress, forming the branch below the owl

I then finished the necklace with small round pearls, large copper daisy spacers and lampwork beads from Cheryl, to which I add fire polished beads, paper beads and more small copper daisy spacers.

Once I had everything strung I had the challenge of what to use for a closure. The one that Cheryl sent was not going to work for me, it was much to big for the necklace. I did not have any smaller copper clasps in my stash. Wanting to have it finish so I could wear it, I took apart an older piece that needed to be reworked anyways.

Completed necklace

Detail of focal

With the necklace finished I had to now make something that used the amazing toggle that Cheryl sent. It is perfect to be the centre piece of a bracelet. I used some of the flat disc shaped lampwork beads, to which I added more paper beads, Swarovski crystals, copper wavy discs (similar to the silver ones I sent Cheryl), fire polished beads and some of the purple charlottes used on the leaves.

Completed bracelet

The last thing that I wanted to do was to figure out what to do with the lampwork headpins. I have never used headpins like this before.

Lampwork headpins

As I browsed thru my various drawers of stash I came across these very large white lucite trillums. I placed one of the headpins thru the centre of the trillum and relized that it would make an amazing ring. I then had to find my ring mandel in the chaos of my work area. Once I found it, it was just a matter of wrapping around the mandel to form the correct size ring and the securing the end of the headpin at the base of the flower.

Lampwork studded trillum rings

Ring on my hand

I have enjoyed wearing the necklace and bracelet since I finished them last month. The rings may have to wait for a special event to make their debut.

Collage of soup and finished pieces

Thanks go out to our amazing host Lori Anderson and my partner Cheryl Brown.

Now take sometime to hop around to the other amazing beaders and see what they have made. Here is the link to the complete list. I know that will be hopping around over the course of the weekend.

Happy Beading!!

2010 in review

It is the end of another year and here is my review of my beading this year. The year started out with the resizing of String Quartet and ended with colourful snowflakes.

Here are a few favourites -

The dotted bead collection

 Dragon's Blood Necklace

Little Black Dress Necklace

Lizzie's Trio of bracelets

In July I took classes with the very talented Marcia DeCoster @ beadfx. Here are my beaded beads.

Bellismo Beaded Beads

From her book Beaded Opulence my two favourites.

 

 Dark Indigo Quetzal Ring

Urchin Bead

From Laura McCabe's  Creating Crystal Jewelry with Swarovksi I finally did the Crown Jewel.

Bermuda Crown Jewel

My third box in my dragon series is my Smaug box.

 

 Smaug Box

Of the many Rypan Design projects and samples here are my favourites this year. The first two were contemporary Ukrainian necklaces designed for a young Ukraninian-American graduate.

Contemporary Ukrainian Necklaces

Twig Willow Twist

Freeform Rings

Today was the first day of the Fall Canadian Bead Oasis Show. I decided to take a class, so I signed up for Jelcy Romberg's Freeform silver ring. I don't do alot of wire work so the class was a great way to do something that I don't normally do. We did two practice rings using parawire.

 

Here is my first using red and copper.

The second using shades of purple and a rose gold.

 

 

The final one was with the good wire, argentium silver wire.

Dark Indigo Quetzal Ring

In my on going Marcia DeCoster project obsession, I have finished the Quetzal ring from Beaded Opulence.

This is made with layers of right angle weave, embellished with tiny crystals. The band is right angle weave as well. I have not done all of the embellishement in the instructions, but I like how it looks.

It feels like it will be a great ring to wear to work.

Oasis projects

I took two classes at last weekend's Bead Oasis show. The first was viking knit with Jelcy Romberg. It was a challenge to learn how to do this wirework bracelet.

It was amazing to see the transformation of the not so beautiful wire woven tube after it was pulled thru the drawing plate. I have more wire to try this again.

The second class was bezel a Swarovski with Sharron Weinberger. I finished what was going to be a pendant into a ring. I feel that I am now better able to work on projects in Laura McCabe's book.

Beadwork - Pearl Ring

Here is a ring with a Swarovski pearl and herringbone stitch. It is from the new issue of Beadwork, designed by Maria Teresa Ferreira.

This was an interesting piece to make. I liked how you did the different parts and then assembled them. I was able to finish this piece in an afternoon. I look forward to making others with different colour pearls or even a crystal.

Beadwork - Niece beading

It is almost the end of our week up in cottage country. I have shown my eldest niece, Lauren, how to do a basic diagonal weave. She has made a ring, bracelet and is working on a bracelet.

Of course my youngest niece, Elizabeth, could not be left out. So I made her a ring, bracelet and necklace.

Elizabeth has decided that I am not allowed to photograph her new necklace.

I am working on a star box for my nephew Mackenzie, should have it finished by the end of the weekend.