Bead Soup Treasures

A couple of weeks ago, I introduced you to my multitalented BSBP (Bead Soup Blog Party) partner, Kate Richbourg.

This week, I received a treasure trove of beads and findings from Kate - I am blown away by what she sent! She stuffed so much treasure in the box that I can't even fit it in one photo, so here are some shots of what Kate sent me.

This box is just PART of what Kate sent - I love how Kate photographed everything in the box, and then turned the photo into a great label so I'd know what was what. That's the pic resting in the top of the box - it reminded me of those paper labels in the box of Whitman's Samplers, warning you of which chocolates contain nuts (I hate nuts!).

Here are some pics of some of the goodies in this box (I decided to just photograph representative beads instead of the entire stash, because there are just so many beads I could never photograph them all, and do them justice.)

Sari ribbon

metal clasps - all beautiful, but I am fascinated by the wing!

metal charms

gemstone chips

crystals, vintage glass, Czech glass, gemstones, freshwater pearls

chips (again), kyanite, Venetian glass, crystals, glass, howlite


But wait, there's more!

copper wire solder, flat copper wire, 10g round copper wire, polish pads

Such an amazing assortment! I really am overwhelmed - thanks so much, Kate!

Here is what I sent Kate - as you can see, I have a real problem figuring out how to photograph these soups to best show them off!

I like this photo, but you can't really tell what's in there:

Here is my second attempt:

(l-r) black-gold amazonite, matrix jasper (left over from the pendant), chocolate freshwater pearls,

enameled metal beads and bead caps, wire-wrapped heart in copper and jasper, and copper toggle with enameled bar

I'm going to come back later this week and present tutorials on how I made the wire-wrapped copper pendant and the copper toggle.

Now I am in the market for a little inspiration, or fairy dust, or something. I have a few vague ideas for my BSBP treasures, but nothing's really jumping out at me right now. I'm glad I have a few more weeks until the reveal!