Time for the Bead Soup Reveal!

I have to say this has been a blast and has really allowed me to play and create pieces of jewelry that I wouldn't normally. I've gone big and bold while I usually prefer petite, I've learned to knot and I've gone heavily ornate. and you know what?? I liked it! annnnd I think I wanna do more of it :D I even took apart a vintage necklace to re-use the beads in my creation, this was another first for me, taking the beads from a necklace that wasn't already broken. I surprised myself and enjoyed that too!

Courtney sent some really great ingredients, some were already favs and others have become new favs. Some were in shapes I might not have tried or used if not for this swap and I find myself looking at those shapes in other beads now too - I think my stash may grow a bit this year. I've been trying really hard to use only what I have for the past year, I think it may be ok to splurge a bit before too terribly long!

and now......The Reveal!!

Sand Dollar Focal - Dreaming of Marrakesh
This focal brought to mind the breathtaking colors of an ocean sunset and the bounty of mermaid treasures. In creating my mood boards the visual word play brought me around to Marrakesh and more of those same breathtaking colors and exotic treasures. We travelled from the sands of the ocean to the sands of Marrakesh in all its riches, to a style of jewelry that is bold with an exotic beauty and I really like it!

From Courtneys Soup Ingredients :

• Stamped Brass Sand Dollar Focal
• Polymer disc focal
• FW Pearls in shades of blue, white, browns and purple
• Big gorgeous puffy silver beads
• Mother of pearl round bead frames in ocean blue
• Copper toggle clasp

From my pantry :

• copper plated brass filigree stampings
• copper beads
• copper wire in various gauges
• coppery topaz and rose cathedral glass beads
• deep ocean blue and coppery FW Pearls
• white and copper glass pearls
• silver plate moon connectors
• shell discs

Skeleton key Focal : Key to my Heart

There is no doubt here that Pirates of the Caribbean granted a very generous amount of inspiration from the watery blues of the labradorite and "Black Pearls" to the lines and opera length of the talismans Calypso wore around her neck. It is with a knowing nod to the love affair between Calypso and Davy Jones, that I present to you the Key to my Heart.

From Courtneys Ingredients

• Antique Skeleton key
• Labradorite faceted coins, cubes and rondelles
• black onyx beads
• silver hook

From my pantry:

• labradorite wheels
• labradorite focal heart
• copper wire in various gauges
• deep ocean blue and black FW pearls
• bronzite rounds
• vintage ceramic and brass beads
• sterling silver wire
• steel baling wire (yes, from a hay bale)
• vitrial finish Swarovski crystals
• midnight black softflex beading wire
• 6mm black rainbow ceramic beads
• 11/o emerald seed beads
• 10/o black seed beads

Torch Enameled Bead : Kreuz mit Frühlingsblumen

While debating which ingredients to play with next I stumbled upon a photo of a sunrise in gorgeous pinks and purples - almost the exact shades of the quartz and dyed agate Courtney had sent. Pinks and purples then were the color to work with here and one of those gorgeous enameled beads just happened to be purple. Very spring like shades, the daffodils have begun blooming here so the colors were very fitting, and as my daughter Paige pointed out, very Easter like. Several weeks ago I had read a blog post on Berlin Iron and had been wanting to make a piece of filigree in a similar style ever since, now seemed to be the perfect time.

Better pic! Last nights hurried photos color was a bit off - todays pic in filtered daylight, much better!!



From Courtneys Ingredients

• Faceted Rose Quartz
• Dyed Agate
• Enameled Filigree Bead

From my Pantry:

• micro faceted rose quartz
• copper wire
• fine silver wire
• copper beads
• Swarovski crystals
• Miyuki fringe beads

Well, I've had my fun! Let's head on over to Courtney's BLOG and see what she's done with the ingredients I sent her! Just in case the hyperlink didn't work........http://beadsbybreul.blogspot.com/ Then if you've got your coffee and your comfy chair you can continue on the hop with these wonderfully talented peeps!



Have fun and we'll see you next time!