Showing posts with label bead soup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bead soup. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Freeform Peyote Neckpiece: the aftermath

Part of my process when designing my freeform peyote neckpiece for the Head-to-Head Challenge was to pick out many, many different seed beads sizes and shapes in the various colors I had chosen to work with.

Following the advice of several experts, I combined similarly-colored beads in larger containers, so that (in theory) my bead selection in that color group would be truly random. Not surprisingly (since I know myself all too well) this "bead soup" approach didn't work at all for me, and I had to re-sort the beads before I could stitch. But, being basically lazy, I only sorted enough to stitch with, and only sorted by size (meaning, for example, that if I had chosen 7 different shades of 11/0 Delicas to use, I only re-sorted these into one large pile of mixed orange Delicas, not into their original 7 shades).

Now that the neckpiece is finished, I have a lot of bead sorting to do - I simply have to restore order and usability to this mess - I am just too OCD-inclined to work with unsorted beads!
 

If you look at the unembellished back of the necklace, you can see that I have 8 different bead soups to sort:


  • orange
  • orange-purple
  • purple
  • purple-blue
  • blue
  • blue-green
  • green
  • green-orange
I decided to start by sorting the greens - and since it has been a few months since I worked with the greens, I forgot (at first) about there being  green-orange and  green-blue soups - I dumped out the green soup, starting sorting, and the light bulb came on. So I dumped all 3 side by side, and began by just pulling all the greens out of the green-orange and green-blue soups. Then I could dump the remaining blues in the blue bucket, the remaining oranges in the orange bucket, and dig into the now-larger pile of greens!

3 bead soups containing various green seed beads

mixed green seed beads

Sorting the greens was relatively easy, albeit time-consuming. I had only chosen 2 different shades in 11/0 Delicas, one light, one dark - easy. Only one 11/0, one 11/0 triangle, one 8/0, and one 4 mm cube - not bad. The 11/0 and the light-colored 11/0 Delica were very, very similar, so I actually had to roll each of these side to side, looking for the silver lining in the Delica. But all-in-all, not too bad.

Then I moved on to the blues - 
 sorting the blue bead soup

I had many, many more colors and shapes of blue beads to choose from, and it looks like I chose most of them! For the initial round of sorting, I was easily able to isolate the 11/0 triangles, the 6/0s, the indigo-colored 11/0 Delicas, and the 8/0 Delicas. But I put 6 different blue 11/0 Delicas in the mix, and 4 11/0 rounds. I decided that the better part of valor at first was to pull out the beads I was 100% sure of, and then just make a large pile of mixed Delicas and a large pile of mixed 11/0 rounds, and once I finish this initial pass, I'll go back with my optivisor and further sort the Delicas and 11/0 rounds. 

This will be the same approach I have to take with the oranges and the purples, where I also used quite a few shades of Delicas and 11/0s.

I'll be glad when this is behind me!  

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

BSBP Deconstructed: Vintaj Charm Bracelet

For those of you looking for my BSBP reveal, it is here (3 posts down!) - I hope you'll click, and take a look at my entire reveal!

This is the 3rd in a series of posts devoted to deconstructing my design process for the Bead Soup Blog Party reveal, providing the nitty gritty, behind-the-scenes details than went into one of my creations. The first project I deconstructed was the gemstone chip kumihimo lariat, and the second was my sari ribbon and enameled bead necklace.

Today's post focuses on my Vintaj Charm (or cha-cha) bracelet.

Thus far in the BSBP process, I have created 2 pieces, but only succeeded in using 2 clasps sent to me by my partner, Kate. In order to meet the BSBP challenge, I need to design a piece using one of the fabulous focals Kate sent. So that was my goal when I started this bracelet.

generous selection of focals I had to choose from

I chose the bird, because he (she?) seemed most suited for a bracelet. After all, I had already made 2 necklaces! I was ready for a bracelet!

I had a lot (a LOT) of bead choices from Kate, and many of them were of a palette that seemed perfectly suited for Vintaj Natural Brass, which I love. However, the silver bird did not go so well with the Vintaj, so I decided to patinate him, and settled on iris blue - I just love Vintaj and blue together. And many of the beads I wanted to use were blue, so this seemed perfect.

silver bird, before patination


bluebird, after patination and doming (to sit on the wrist better)

The patination process is described here.

Next, I started piling up all the beads and findings I wanted to use for this bracelet.

 Vintaj chain for the bracelet core, luscious kyanite up at the top left, freshwater pearls (top right), faceted Czech glass in smoky quartz at bottom right, and some beads and headpins I enameled to match the kyanite and my bluebird!

 Huge purple iris Czech faceted beads, some blue glass cubes I adore (and wish I had more of), and some rustic carved beads that look wooden to me, but are glass (according to my partner!) - also wish I had more of THESE!

I no longer had a clasp in my stash to use for this bracelet, so I created one (beadwoven):
beadwoven toggle (the purple jumpring is a place holder, to remind me of where I reinforced the toggle ring, so when I attach it to the bracelet, I'll attach it in the reinforced spot!)

OK. Time to quit prepping, and start making a bracelet!

bare bones of the bracelet completed, with the chain, focal, and clasp

It fits great, it lies perfectly on the wrist - time to start attaching dangles!

First to be attached was my sweet little bee charm from Kate, which I had patinated to a bronzy color:
At this point, I named this bracelet "The Birds and the Bees" - clever, huh?

And now we must pause, and you must use your imagination. Because I made dangles with all those beads you saw in the above photos - the kyanite, pearls, glass, enameled beads, yada yada yada - and attached them on either side of the bird, and I have to admit, it looked awful. The bracelet was too chunky on either side of my streamlined focal, and the proportions were just all wrong. When worn, it looked great, because you could only see HALF OF IT AT A TIME - either the nice, streamlined bird lying on the wrist, or the other side, with all the chunky dangles. But when it was lying on the table? Yuck. I couldn't even photograph it. [At this point, the bracelet was renamed "the Bluebird of Crappiness"]

After a few days of pondering, I made that decision to take it all apart, and I started over, basically, with just the chain and the toggle, adding dangles. I needed a few more, because of all the space opened up by the departure of the bird - so I was able to add these beauties from Kate:

these gorgeous blue beads were my favorite thing from my soup stash!

So here are various shots of my finished bracelet:
I absolutely love this bracelet - it is heavy and chunky, the color are divine, and it makes a delicious sound as the beads clank against each other.

But here's my dilemma - I have made 3 BSBP pieces, and I still haven't used a focal - now what do I do?

Stay tuned!


Saturday, August 25, 2012

My BSBP Reveal

This is my second time to participate in Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party (BSBP), and once again, I found myself challenged! [If you're interested, my first BSBP reveal is here.]

Here's how the BSBP works: you submit your name; get paired with a partner; exchange a focal bead, a clasp, and some coordinating beads with your partner; design a piece (or pieces) using the focal, the clasp, and incorporating some beads from your own soup, plus the extra beads from your partner if you wish, then wait until the reveal day to post your designs on your blog.

As a reminder, here are the beads I received from my partner, Kate Richbourg:

This box was crammed full of treasure - here are some "outtakes:"

semiprecious gemstone chips, kyanite, glass, howlite

3 silver clasps and some sari ribbon

various silver focals and charms

copper wire, solder, polishing pads

Amazing, right? I had no idea where to start!

Here are my completed designs - I will save the design chit chat for another day, so if you want the gory details, I'll be sharing them here over the next few days.

 kumihimo lariat, with Kate's gemstone chips and wing toggle (with amethyst patina)

enameled bead necklace, using sari ribbon and toggle (patinated antique gold) from Kate

copper cuff with sari ribbon and Kate's bird focal (patinated blue)

copper cuff, different view

charm/cha-cha bracelet, chock full of beads from my partner

charm bracelet detail, showing the sweet bee charm from Kate (which I patinated antique gold)

Spinner ring, using copper and large Czech glass crystal from my partner

If I worked from now until Christmas, I don't think I could use up all the beads my generous partner sent me!

As a reminder, here are some of the beads I sent Kate:
enameled beads in blue and brown, plus brown freshwater pearls

copper toggle with enameled bar

copper wire-wrapped pendant

I can't wait to see what she's created! Please pop over and see Kate's reveal, and I hope you can spend some time hopping around and visiting the other BSBP participants - we appreciate your comments!

Here is a list, to help you with your hopping:
Hostess, Lori Anderson, Pretty Things

Agi Kiss, Moonsafari Beads 
Alice Peterson, Alice Dreaming
Alison Sachs, Beads by Earthtones
Amanda Dittloff, Passion Smashin'
Andra Marasteanu, Bijoux de Monanage
Angie Szlovak, SweetBeads
Anitra Gordy, Leelu Creations
Ann Sherwood, Ann's Blog
Arlene Dean, A Glass Bash
Audrey Belanger, Dreams of an Absolution
Barb Solem, Vivi Magoo Presents
Barbara Blaszczyk, laboratorim Flory
Bianca Odenthal, Zydies Glasperlen
Birgit Klughardt, GitesBeads
Bobbie Rafferty, Beadsong Jewelry
Bonnie Coursolle,  Jasper Gems
Cece Cormier, The Beading Yogini
Charlene Jacka, Clay Space
Cherrie Fick, En La Lumie're
Cheryl Foiles, Get Your Bead On
Christie Murrow, Charis Designs Jewelry

Christina Miles, Wings n Scales
Christina Stofmeel, Feng Beads
Christine Stonefield, Sweet Girl Design
Cindy Cima Edwards, Live to Design
CJ Bauschka, 4 His Glory Creations
Claire Smith, Embergrass Jewelry
Cynthia Riggs, Cynth's Blog
Dana Fowler, Trunk Full of Treasure
Dawn Pierro, Turtle Moon Designs
Dee Elgie, Cherry Obsidia
Donetta Farrington, Simply Gorgeous

Dot Lewallwn, Speedie Beadie
Eileen Snyder, Dorset Hill Beads
Elizabeth Bunn, Elizabeth Beads
Eva Kovacs, Ewa gyongyos vilaga!
Evelyn Duberry, Sheba Makeda
Fay Wolfenden, Torch Fairy
Fen Li, Bead Flora Jewels
Gail Zwang, Angel Moose Enterprises
Geneva Collins, Torque Story
Grace Dorsey, Fan of the Flame
Gretchen Nation,  Art Food Lodging

Hannah Annear, Squintessential
Hajer Waheed, My Beaded World
Heather Goldsmith, As I Bead It
Heather Otto, The Craft Hopper
Heidi Kingman, My Bead Therapy
Hope Smitherman, Crafty Hope
Isolina Perez, Isolina Perez
Jacqueline Keller, CreARTelier
Jane Haag, Did You Make Something Today?
Janeen Sorensen, Wild Vanilla Designs
Jean Peter, Jean P. Designs

Jennifer Judd, Jen Judd Rocks
Jennifer L Justman, Soul's Fire Designs
Joanna Matuszczyk, Bizuteria z filcu
Joanne Brown, Jo's Jewels
Joanne Lockwood, Jo Bunkum
Joyce Becker, Joyce's Joyful Gems
Judy Riley, Three Red Beads
Karen Mitchell, Over the Moon Design
Karen Williams, Baublicious
Karin von Hoeren, Creative Ideen

Karla Morgan, Texas Pepper Jams
Kashmira Patel, Sadafule .. always in bloom!
Kate Richbourg, We Can Make That at Home

Katrin Lembke, AllesPerle
Kathy Combs, Torched in Texas
Kathy Lindemer, Bay Moon Design
Kay Thomerson, Kayz Kreationz
Kelley Fogle, My Life, One Bead at at Time
Kelly Hosford Patterson, Traveling Side Show

Klaudette Koon, Only Road
Lara Lutrick, Lampwork Beads by Lara
Laura Guenther, Blue Antiquities

Laurie Lalonde, Simply Mod Jewelry
Lilik Kristiani, Soul of My Embodiment
Linda Younkman, Lindy's Designs
Lisa Chapman, Beach Cat Beads
Lisa Lodge, Pine Ridge Treasures
Loretta Carstensen, Designs by Loretta
Lori Bergmann, Lori Bergmann Design
Lori Dorrington, Lori's Adventures in Etsy Land
Lupe Meter, Gem's PC Corner
Lynn Davis, LLYYNN

Malin de Koning, Beading by Malin
Mandi Effron, Craft-o-licious
Mandy Williamson, Mimi's Beading
Margot Potter, The Impatient Crafter
Maria Rosa Sharrow, Willow Street Shops
Marianne Baxter, Simply Seablime Jewelry
Marina Dobrynina, Savon Feutre
Marjolein Trewavas, Room for Change
Marelene Cupo, Amazing Designs
Marsha Neal, Marsha Neal Studio

Marta Kaczerowska, uhuhu
Mary Govaars, MLH Jewelry Designs
Melissa Trudinger, Bead Recipes
Menka Gupta, Menka's Jewelry Blog
Michelle Burnett, Reverie and Revival
Michelle Escano-Caballero, The Cabby Crafter
Miko Wiropati, Uniquely Yunikua
Milla Hope,  LB Creative Arts and Crafts
Mimi Gardner, Other Curiosities
Miranda Ackerley, MirandackArts
Natalie McKenna, grubbi

Noemi Baena, fuego, metal, y color
Pam Ferrari, Ferrari Originals
Pam Sears, Crazy Creative Corner
Penny Neville, Copper Penny
Rachel Baron, R. Baron Designs
Rachel Myers, Rockabead Jewelry
Rana Wilson, Definitive Designs by R. Wilson
Rebecca Anderson, Song Beads
Rebecca Sirevaag, Becca's Place
Riki Schumacher, Riki Jewelry

Rose Binoya, Ahtee's Blog
Rossana De Gaspari, Rdegas Blog

Sandi James, Do Be Do Bead Do
Sandi Volpe, Sandi Volpe
Sandra Wollberg, City of Brass Stories
Sarah Goode, Pookledo

Sarah Small, blog by salla
Shai Williams, Shaiha's Ramblings
Shawn Mills, Shawn Marie Designs with Bent Wire
Sheila Davis, Stone Designs by Sheila

Sheryl Stephens, Babble Bead
Shiraz Biggie, Secret Song Designs


Solange Collin,  Ahowin Handcrafted Jewelry
Sonya Stille, Dreamin' of Beads
Stephanie Dixon, The Dixon Chick
Susan Kennedy, Sue Beads
Susan Sheehan, Strands of Thought
Suzann Sladcik Wilson, Beadphoria
Sweet Freedom, Sweet Freedom Designs
Tabatha Dinger, Modernly Created
Tania Hagen, Pelima Jewellery Design

Tanya Boden, Fusion Muse
Terri Gauthier, Blooming Ideas
Terry Carter, Tapping Flamingo
Tracy Stillman, Tracy Stillman Designs


Thanks so much for taking the time to visit my blog, and to leave a comment. I really appreciate it! If you are interested in design details and behind-the-scenes creation tidbits, please come back over the next few days, as I will be going in-depth into the creation of each of the pieces I've shown you today. Thanks!

edited to add: kumihimo lariat design process is detailed here
                       enameled bead necklace with sari ribbon is detailed here! 
                       Vintaj charm bracelet design process detailed here! 
                       sari ribbon cuff with blue bird is detailed here!
                       crystal spinner ring is detailed here!
 

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Was it only a week ago?

Wow - remember last Saturday, when I was so relieved, because the light bulbs had come on, and an idea for my Bead Soup had formed? I had pored over my Bead Soup stash, carefully pulling the components I wanted to combine, and proceeded to patinate my clasps accordingly. Which is a commitment, by the way - once the metals are patinated and sealed, you're locked into a path!

I worked on some other things this week, and on Thursday I started to work in earnest on my BSBP project. And ran into a huge roadblock: the components I had been so excited about last week? No longer go together. Seriously. Has this ever happened to you? I blame the Bead Fairy, who isn't always kind to me. (She gets a big kick out of coming into my studio and HIDING things from me - devilish imp!)

I spent several hours Thursday, and many hours yesterday, moving the chosen pieces around, playing with them. But it was a definite no-go. I promise, the individual components I chose last week DID go together! But anyway, inspiration (of sorts) struck me last night, while I was fretting about it at home.

The BSBP rules require me to use the focal and clasp (both of which are now patinated, though I didn't reveal my patinated focal in this post) - so I am going to split them into 2 different designs. I didn't want to do this, but I just can't force a design I'm not happy with. Does anyone else see the resemblance between the Bead Soup Challenge and arranged marriages? Not the partnering, but trying to make the soup components go together - sometimes it's a harmonious design, and sometimes the components just fight each other and have to be separated!

So instead of one discordant creation, now I'll be making 2 designs that I love!


For one, I'm going to fire up the torch and work a little flame magic - I love torching beads! I just wish I could show you my process and progress (or lack thereof) as I work through this Bead Soup Challenge. It's frustrating to sit on all this stuff until the reveal date! I'm trying to take pics as I go, though - but sometimes I forget.
Have a great weekend! It'll be 99 degrees here today, as I fire up the torch - yuk!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Did you hear it?

Yesterday, around 5PM, I breathed a BIG sigh of relief - did you hear it?

I'm participating in the Bead Soup Blog Party Swap again, and I've had my generous soup mix for several weeks, and have been really stressing about how to bring it all together. According to the rules of the swap, I have to use a focal, a clasp, and some of the beads, and I was really struggling to come up with an idea that would incorporate all 3, because I didn't want to design one piece for the focal, one for the clasp, and yet another to use the pretty beads! That's crazy talk!


Every few days I would pull out the box, remove the contents, push stuff around, get frustrated, and put it off to another day. But I'm running out of days!

I'd worry about it at home, wake up at night with possible ideas, shoot down my ideas when I arrived at my work space, then lather...rinse...repeat. This is how I was starting to feel:

I decided to try again yesterday, with a determination to really dig in, focus, and not give up until I had a plan! And finally, it started to come together.

Mind you, I haven't actually designed anything - haven't even made any sketches, but I have a workable idea in mind, and that's enough for now!

Saturday, June 30, 2012

It's Bead Soup Blog Party Time Again - Meet my Partner!

Bead Soup Blog Party (BSBP) - what is it? It's the brainchild of Lori Anderson, who gets this thing rolling a couple of times a year. Every time, the party gets larger, and larger... and this time, it's so large that the party has been split into 3 separate "mini-parties".

Lori gathers all the participants together (virtually, of course), parses them into pairs, and each member of a pair mails their partner a focal bead, some matching beads, and a clasp (the "soup"). The partner then adds in some beads from their own bead stash, and creates jewelry magic! Then on the reveal day, all the participants reveal their creations on their individual blogs, and everyone (not just participants - everyone is invited to THIS party!) hops around visiting blogs, and oohing and aahing. It's a lot of fun!

I last participated in Lori's Bead Soup Party in August of last year - and this is one of the pieces I designed with my soup:

This year, I am paired with the talented Kate Richbourg. Kate started working and teaching beads in 1992, and this year marks her 20th anniversary as a jewelry instructor. She started at The Bead Shop of Palo Alto CA in what she thought would be just a temporary job until she went back to school to get an advanced degree. 20 years later, Kate reports she has no Master's, but she does have a career that she loves!

Kate was Class Director and instructor at The Bead Shop for 10 years. During that time she also traveled around the country teaching classes. She left The Bead Shop in 2002 and opened her own bead store, Beadissimo in San Francisco, focusing on classes and interesting beads from around the world. Her store ran its course and closed in 2008. She then went on to become Director of Education for Beaducation.com, where she helped broaden their online class offerings and did "all kinds of educational stuff" for them. You can check out her free classes on their website!

Kate and Beaducation amicably parted ways in January of this year and now she teaches and writes full time. She has a book on Soldering coming out at the end of this year. Her book came about when she pitched the idea to create a book for the home metalworker based on her class experiences. Folks can preorder through her website or on Amazon.com. Kate's videos are also available in her Etsy shop.

Kate and I will be mailing our soups to each other next week, and I hope she loves what I've put together. I am so excited about this challenge, and can't wait to see what Kate sends me. The reveal date for our creations is August 25 - so stay tuned! What we design is top secret until the reveal! But I'll be posting pictures of the soup Kate sends me as soon as I get it, plus some behind-the-scenes info about the creation of Kate's soup - but I'm not allowed to post any of that until after she receives it. No spoiling the surprise!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Freeform Wire Wrapped Bracelet

I combined a bead soup mix of blues, pinks, and neutral colors with Vintaj Natural Brass wire to create this freeform wire-wrapped cuff. The bead mix includes aquamarine rondelles; freshwater pearls in peacock blue, pink, and off white, and a mixture of seed beads and small Czech firepolish beads in pinks, blues, and bronze.

Freeform wire work is my preferred way to work with wire, because wire is not my friend! Wire likes to bend, break, and just generally be uncooperative when I work with it, so creating formal, structured pieces is a real challenge for me. I get better results when I either let the wire do whatever it pleases, as with this cuff, OR when I beat the wire into submission with hammers. Either way, I win!

Monday, March 19, 2012

There's a right way, and a wrong way...

To make bead soup.

I used to keep my leftover beads in small plastic tubs, obsessively sorted by color. Since I am more of a bead weaver than a bead stringer, most of my leftover beads are seed beads.

I liked these tubs because they were a nice size, no taking up too much space on my workbench, and they stacked, each one nesting in the one below it. They were very stable when stacked, which was a good thing, since they didn't have lids. And lids would have made the whole system less attractive and functional for me, anyway, since I would have had to open the lids everytime I need to access one of the soups, and the stack of tubs would have been over 15 inches tall! Ridiculous!

But then came the day when we needed to move the stacked tubs of seed beads to the back room, for some reason. Who can remember these details now? All I know is that my assistant was carrying them, and the next thing I heard was a really loud "Shit!!!!" from the back room, and I walked back there to find this:

That black shoe belongs to the bead-dropper.

We spent the rest of the day resorting all the beads, because I have a touch of OCD, and I just couldn't have the colors mingling .... ewwww.  And then we weighed out the colors and packaged them in sealed ziploc bags and sold them as bead soup!

And I do not let the leftover beads build up like this anymore.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

A Matching Bracelet for my long ago BSBP necklace

Remember all the way back to last year's BSBP (Bead Soup Blog Party)?

This is the necklace I created with my bead soup:

I like this necklace, but I almost feel naked if I don't wear bracelets, so I finally got around to making a bracelet to go with this piece:

This bracelet has the keishe pearls and glass from the necklace, button pearls, more faceted aventurine plus some faceted green fire agate, some brown freshwater pearls, and more of the turquoise-colored seed beads from the bead soup. I used Vintaj Natural Brass findings, chain, etc. and wound some green sari ribbon through the larger chain. I love this bracelet!

I hand-forged the toggle from Vintaj Natural Brass wire.

And that's not all I made to go with the necklace....

Friday, September 16, 2011

The Bead Soup is SERVED! Par-tay!!

Wow - This was my first Bead Soup Challenge, first time I have ever done anything like this, and it was fun, but it was a true challenge. I taught myself some new techniques, and the following is a LONG, detailed account of my journey from beginning to end:

These are the beads I received from my delightful BSBP (Bead Soup Blog Party) partner, Tammy Jones:



I'll be breaking this beautiful assortment down individually, and trying to describe my creative process as I looked at the mix, and at the individual components, but as you can see in the above picture, I received a lot of beads, in various sizes, shapes, textures, and colors. The mix includes various turquoise nuggets in different shades and shapes, 4 irregular red bamboo coral nuggets, 11 irregular orange sponge coral nuggets, 2 larger irregular orange sponge coral nuggets, 10 faceted aventurine rounds, a very long strand of turquoise-colored glass beads, a silver toggle, and a large carnelian ring.

Before I get into the nitty gritty, I want to go ahead and reveal a grouped photo of all the pieces I created from Tammy's beads. I normally would save this for the end, but this was a really long process for me, so this is a long post, and I know folks are hopping around trying to see everyone's pretties, and some people won't have the patience for all my ramblings! So here they are:


2 necklaces, a bracelet, and a pair of earrings. Some of the jewelry-making techniques I used in my collection include:
  • Beadweaving: tubular peyote, circular peyote, herringbone, and netting
  • Wire and Metal Work
  • Stringing
If you want the gory details, stay tuned!! And at the end of this post, you'll find links to all the BSBP participants, to help you with your blog hopping and commenting.

According to the BSBP rules, I had to use the focal and the clasp I received; the use of any of the other beads I received was optional, and I was to incorporate beads from my own stash in my design. So I decided the best place to start designing was with the focal!

And obviously, some of the steps in this process overlap each other, because several ideas would suddenly occur to me at once.



This is a close up of the large carnelian ring I received. It is 2-1/4 inches in diameter, and has holes on either side.

Now I love to make big jewelry, but even for me this was a big focal piece. And to be honest, it was a little confounding, because while I have worked with donuts before, and this ring is essentially a big, drilled donut, I kept looking at it, and looking at the rest of the beads Tammy sent me, and drawing a blank. Do I string beads through the middle of the carnelian ring? Do I just wrap around either side of it, and leave the middle empty? Do I weave some sort of bail for it, and dangle something from the bottom hole? What to do, what to do?

And I kept looking at all the beads I'd received, and trying to pair them with the carnelian ring, and with each other, and trying to decide if the ring should just be center of a big multistranded soup necklace, or what?

After several days of pondering, and drawing, and thinking, and sketching, I finally decided that I couldn't figure out a way to incorporate all these beads into ONE finished design. It was making my head hurt! So I decided to let go, and focus on just a few of the beads I'd received.

I was drawn to these faceted aventurine beads, and really wanted to incorporate them into my piece. So I put them next to the carnelian ring, and pondered and sketched some more.


I starting rummaging through my OWN stash of beads, and pulling things I liked with the aventurine.

And I looked at the toggle, which I knew I had to use, and I just felt that proportionally, it was too small for anything I was coming up with for the carnelian ring.



It was at about this time, staring at the aventurine, staring at the carnelian ring, and looking at the beads I had pulled from my own stash, that I knew I really wanted to focus on the calming green colors that Tammy had sent me, like the aventurine and the strand of small turquoise-colored glass beads. I starting thinking even further outside my box, and a thought occurred to me: "What if I camouflage the carnelian ring, so it still serves as the focal, and yet is green?" How would I even do this?

I thought about wrapping it in green satin ribbon, or leather. Unh-uh.

Then I looked at my Delicas, and found the perfect color of aventurine green. But how do I stitch them onto the ring so that it is still usable as a focal? I knew peyote was the only stitch that would cover the carnelian evenly enough that no orange would show through. But how to envelope the carnelian ring in peyote? So I just decided to give it a try.



This was a critical juncture. I liked the stitching, and decided to continue encircling the ring with seafoam green delicas in a tight peyote stitch. But I had to decide what to do about the holes in the carnelian ring. Do I just stitch over them? If I do, I limit the ways I can use the focal when I finish stitching (and yes, I still had not come up with my "vision").

Or should I put headpins in them as placeholders, so that if I want wrapped loops on my finished ring, I'll be able to make them. And if I decide I don't want wrapped loops later in the process, I can always clip them off. But if I don't put them in, there's no going back and adding them through this tight stitch!

And if I go the headpin route, what metal do I use? Because THAT determines my clasp. Period.

I had pulled a couple of strands of pearls that I really liked with the aventurine - one was a beautiful ecru small keishe pearl that I actually ended up using in this finished piece, and the other was an incredible coppery-bronzy larger keishe, that had shades of orange, and went beautifully with the sponge coral. And at this stage, I didn't want to rule out the addition of some of Tammy's coral beads to this finished piece. I preferred Vintaj Natural Brass to silver when looking at all these beads together: the 2 strands of pearls, the long strand of turquoise-colored glass beads, the aventurine, and the sponge coral. So I grabbed 2 long Vintaj Natural Brass headpins, shoved them through the holes in the carnelian ring as placeholders, and kept stitching. And boy, did those headpins complicate the stitching.

At about the point you see in the pic above, the peyote tube I was stitching quit turning freely around the carnelian ring, because the stitched tube was starting to curve too much, and glass doesn't bend very well! So I was already starting to have to pass my needle and thread through the ring with each pass of a bead so I didn't have thread wrapped around the ring. And with the addition of the headpins, that thread started to catch on something or other with every pass. Oh well, one must suffer for one's art, I guess.

Finished ring, with headpins still protruding. You can sort of still see the carnelian between my stitches at the bottom edge of the ring.


Side view of the ring, clearing showing the underlying carnelian between my stitches. Those are actually transparent Delicas, too, so while they block part of the underlying ring from showing,
it's not really completely hidden. Just camouflaged!

Time to ponder some more. I looked at that great expanse of (now green) focal ring, and tried to come up with a design. I drew it as a center focal, with multiple strands coming off the wrapped loops I could create on each side. I drew it as an asymmetrical side focal, with multiple strands coming from the bottom wrapped loop, draping gracefully down and then up to the back, while a single chain came from the top wrapped loop to meet the other strands in the back. I drew some other stuff. But I was unhappy with everything, because even though my focal was green, it was still big, and it was plain, and it was taking up a lot of space.

Oooooh! I had a thought! What if I embellish the ring? I think I might have started to drool. Because I LOVE to embellish! In fact, they don't call me "the Queen of Embellishing" for nothing!

Here was my initial, simple thought: "How do I get some beads on this tightly stitched ring in a way that will attractively fill the dead space, and what beads do I use?" As I say all the time, "so many beads, so little time."

I carried my green ring around, looking at all my seed beads, and discovered that I had some Tilas that were a terrific match for both the green and the bronze. And I love Tilas.

I had my coral beads in the back of my head, and I knew I was now going to create Tila Flowers, one of my favorite ways to use Tilas, so I rummaged through my personal bead stash, looking for some smaller coral or red beads that matched.



I found some round, bright red bamboo coral 6mm beads, perfect for the flower centers.

I found some bright red Czech fire-polished crystals for the "petals".

And I filled in the rest of the flower pattern with bronze seed beads, teal seed beads, coral-red Delicas, and those turquoise-colored glass beads Tammy sent me.

I had initially thought these beads were turquoise, but when I took some off the strand, they reminded me a lot of size 6 seed beads. A LOT. They were a little irregular in shape and length, but they acted like size 6 Czech seed beads, and so I decided to treat them like size 6 seed beads.

And then I got curious, and decided to sacrifice one (since I had hundreds and hundreds of them), and I tapped it with a hammer, and sure enough, these beads were glass! Not that it mattered - I had already decided to use them as seed beads, but I was kind of pleased with my bead diagnostics!

So here is the first flower I made, threads still attached, awaiting my next move.

I love how it matched the ring, and envisioned 5 of these flowers covering more than half of the ring, overlapping each other and filling most of the hole in the middle of the green ring. So I stitched up 4 more flowers.

And then came the day I had dreaded: attaching the woven flowers to the ring, I knew this would not be easy. The green delicas were sewn so tightly, and so close to the carnelian, and many of them had multiple thread passes through them, so it was a bit of challenge, and a feat of engineering!
But it turned out just as I planned it, and I love the result. It is a big, structural focal piece, measuring 3-5/8 inches from top to bottom, and while you can still see the green ring, it is no longer a big, boring, dead space - it is a focal attraction! It calls attention to itself.

Meaning the rest of the necklace needs to be subtle. NOT my strong point.
Back of the ring, showing how my flowers even hide my wrapped loops.

Clearly this ring is too big to support a single strand necklace, and I had basically known from the beginning that I was working toward a multistrand result.

And now I have a side focal piece, so the question was how to bring the strands up to a clasp, and what kind of clasp? Something simple in the back, so as not to detract from the focal? Or something on the opposite side of the necklace, to balance the focal and allow for the placement of the strands, which otherwise would have to start clumping together when they reached the neck, and that's never comfortable.

And just when I was making my decision, my friend, Sonya, came in wearing a necklace she had just made, using a pattern in the Bead & Button Fall 2011 issue of WireWork. I loved the connectors on her necklace, so I decided to adapt them into a clasp, using Vintaj Natural Brass.


The largest Vintaj Natural Brass wire I had was 18g, which I hammered flat, leaving a nice textured look, but when I finished it felt a little flimsy to work as a clasp, so I tumbled it for a loooong time, but never really got the hardness I wanted. So I decided to make 2 identical clasps from the 18g wire and then wire them together, for a thicker, stronger piece. Simple, huh?

If you said "yes," you have clearly never worked much with wire!

It took hours and hours to get 2 pieces of wire to bend identically, to my satisfaction. Once I did, I hammered them, then wrapped them together with more Vintaj Natural Brass Wire, adding a couple of my BSBP aventurine beads in the curves.

Then I formed an S-hook from the 18g Vintaj Natural Brass wire, and cut some large jumprings for the S-hook to go into, so that the large S-hook and the large clasp would both lie flat. And the 18g jumprings weren't sturdy enough, so I wired a couple of them together, and finally added an aventurine and freshwater pearl dangle (from my own stash) to the tip of the S-hook. Clasp complete!

I used Vintaj Natural Brass chain to connect the focal ring and the clasp together around the neck.

On to the strands!

The 1st strand was a cake walk. I knew I wanted to use the faceted aventurine, and I had some delicate Vintaj Natural Brass chain, so I used some Vintaj Natural Brass headpins to make aventurine dangles, spread out over the length of the chain from focal to clasp, with a nice soft drape. This look, all by itself, was wonderful, and would have been a great finished necklace, except the strand literally wasn't heavy enough to balance the clasp and the focal, and I wanted to add more beads anyway! So on to strand 2!

If you remember, MY challenge with these strands was to be subtle, because I already had a focal that commanded attention, and couldn't really afford to be busy in the strands. So I added a simple, unadorned piece of Vintaj Natural Brass as strand 2.

For strand 3, I had always envisioned a delicate beadwoven rope, using the turquoise-colored Czech seed beads Tammy sent me. Here they are again:

I thought about a spiral, or a Russian Spiral, or even tubular herringbone, but they all seemed too...something. Either too big, or to busy, or I didn't have the right matching bead. Something.

So what does a crazy person do when working against a deadline? She decides to learn a brand NEW stitch, one that she has always and forever sworn NEVER to learn, because every time she reads instructions for it, she gets a headache. And what is this delightful stitch? Netting.

I found a pattern with instructions, chose a size 15 seed bead then went with my design, and took everything home for the weekend. And spent 3 days trying to figure it out. But I finally got it. (HINT: doing the same, wrong thing over and over again will never have a different result, and will never turn out right. Feel free quote me on that. LOL)


And I couldn't be happier with the result! It's the perfect size for this design.


Next? Strand 4. I used the ecru keishe pearls I had chosen from my stash, and added a few teal Czech fire-polished crystals for a little color balance.

Next? Strand 5. I strung Tammy's smaller sponge coral nuggets with my copper-colored large keishe pearls, and held it up to the already 4-strand necklace. And it looked fine, but when I took it away, I realized the necklace was better without this 5th strand. It was just too much. But I liked the strand, so I set it aside.



One BSBP project complete!



Project 2: I decided to use these 2 larger nuggets of sponge coral for a pair of earrings.

I added some of the copper-colored keishe pearls, and the last 2 adventurine beads I received in the swap.


Project 3: Here are those smaller sponge coral nuggets that I almost added as part of a 5th strand for my 1st necklace:


As I said earlier, I had already strung them with those luscious copper-colored freshwater pearls, and loved the result. So I made it longer, and decided to add a Swarovski Cosmic Ring as a focal. I stitched up a square stitch bail using copper-colored Delicas for the Cosmic Ring, restrung the pearls and sponge coral, and had one piece of sponge coral left, so I added it to the Vintaj Natural Brass chain extender in the back of the necklace as a dangle (trust me, it's back there!)

I am really happy with this necklace!



So, 3 projects done, and I have a lot of turquoise and bamboo coral left. And I still have a silver toggle to use.

Interestingly, 2 of these nuggets are drilled through the long side, and 2 are drilled through the short side. For a little added degree of difficulty.



I went a little Project Runway about now. My head was all "But what about the cohesiveness of your collection? You, are OUT!! Auf Wiedersehen!" I love bamboo coral, turquoise, and silver together, Heidi, but I have used all this Vintaj Natural Brass everywhere else! But then I slapped myself, and got down to business.

While digging through my box of personal bead soup, I had set aside everything turquoise and coral, and I also found a large piece of bamboo coral, so my first thought was "Cha-Cha". After all, I love the embellishing!

I made lots and lots of dangles for this bracelet, using sterling silver rolo chain as the base. I put the large piece of bamboo coral in the center as a focal, and the 2 pieces that are drilled through their long sides lie between the focal piece and the clasp. I hung all the dangles, and then had to make more dangles, because there were dangle-free spots, in my opinion. And you can't really have too many dangles! Even the 2 left-over bamboo coral nuggets from Tammy were turned into dangles.

Once done to my satisfaction, the large bamboo coral focal piece looked a little bare, so I used 16g sterling silver wire to create a hammered curlicue, and attached it to the focal bead.



One side...

and the other side of the Cha-cha bracelet.


The silver toggle clasp, and its own dangle.

So here is my complete collection again.

Thanks for reading all of this (if you did), and I hope you'll leave some comments!

This was a lot of fun, and a huge challenge for me, and I want to thank Lori Anderson for all her hard work and communications in getting this endeavor organized, and for the opportunity to participate.

These are the beads I sent my BSBP partner, Tammy. Tammy is the editor of Jewelry Making Daily, and can also be found on Facebook. It has been wonderful working with her and getting to know her, and I can't wait to see what she makes with my beads! Please visit her blog and take a look!



If you want to visit some of the talented folks participating in BSBP, here is a complete, semi-alphabetical list, broken up into small of 10 pairs to make it seem a little more manageable! {I'm all the way down at #177!}  As a matter of fact, I strongly recommend you give us "bottom-dwellers" (bottom of the list, that is) a fair shake, and start at the bottom of the list for your blog hopping!!

We know you can't visit all of us in one day! But maybe you can visit a few of us each day for the next week or two. I'm sure you will see some amazing designs, and you might even learn some neat stuff!


The Hostess, Lori Anderson and her partner, Manuela Wutschke

1. Aimee Wheaton and Barbara York
2. Alice Craddick and Sandra Richardson
3. Alison Sachs and Amy Severino
4. Allison Scott and Cynthia Abner
5. Amanda Cargill Austin and Charlene Sevier
6. Amanda Davie and Patsy Evins
7. Amber Dawn and Kim Ballor
8. Ambra Gostoli and Christine Hansen
9. Amy Freeland and Christine Altmiller
10. Ana Krepel-Novak and Eleanor Snare


11. Andrea Morici and Hope Smitherman
12. Andrea Trank and Jayne Capps
13. Andrea Turini and Charlene Jacka
14. Angela May and Emanda Johnson
15. Anitra Gordy and Elizabeth Owens Dwy
16. Ann Rishell and Debbie Price
17. Ann Sherwood and Lynne Bowland
18. Anna Lear and Barbe Saint John
19. Anna Sabina and and Erin Siegel
19. Nan Emmett and Erin Siegel
20. Astrid Boyce and Birgitta Lejonklou


21. B.R. Kuhlman and Deanna Chase
22. Barbara Bechtel and Bryna Lumb
23. Barbara Blaszczyk and DaviniaDesign
24. Barbara Judy and Holly Westfall
25. Barbara Lewis and Cathie Carroll
26. Barrie Edwards and Lyn Foley
27. Becky Fairclough and Jana Tarhala
28. Bella Borgouise and Gillian Lehman
29. Beth and Evie McCord and Erin Prais-Hintz
30. Beth Bricker and Heather Pyle


31. Beth Emery and Cassie Donlen
32. Bobbie Rafferty and Cindy Cima Edwards
33. Candice McGinnis and Sally Anderson
34. Carol Bradley and Cece Cormier
35. Cathy Khoury and Molly Alexander
36. Carol Tannahill and Hilary Frye
37. Carrie Tahquechi and Cris Peacock
38. Cat Pruitt and Cindy Gimbrone
39. Charlene Gary and Doris Stumpf
40. Charlotte Pevny and Kate Gardenghi


41. Cherrie Fick and Cathie Carroll
41. Claire Maunsell and Cherrie Fick
42. Cheryl Roe and Jenny Vidberg
43. Chris White and Norma Turvey
44. Christa Murphy and Kathy Alderfer
45. Christie Murrow and Dana James
46. Christina Miles and Collette Collins
47. Christine Brandel and Elizabeth Woodford
48. Christine Damm and Cynthia Deis
49. Christine Hendrickson and Debbie Goering
50. Christine Stonefield and Dee Wingrove-Smith


51. Cilla Watkins and Johanna Rhodes
52. Cindy Wimmer and Riki Schumacher
53. CJ Baushka and Cory Celaya
54. Courtney Breul and Joanna Matuszczyk
55. Cristi Clothier and Kathleen Robinson Young
56. Cryss Thain and Serena Trent
57. Cynthia Tucker and Kitty Durmaj
58. Dana Johnson Jones and Eva Sherman
59. Davinia Algeri and Janet McDonald
60. Deci Worland and Lara Lutrick


61. Diana Ptaszynski and Kristy Abner
62. Diane Cook and Kerry Bogert
63. Diane Hawkey and Jen Judd Velasquez
64. Dorcas Midkiff and Jill Harris
65. Doris Radlicki and Heather Goldsmith
66. Dot Lewallen and Gaea Cannaday
67. Elisabeth Auld and Jennifer Justman
68. Erin Fickert-Rowland and Geanina Grigore
69. Erin Grant and Julie Jones
70. Eszter Czibulyas and Helena Fritz


71. Fiona Christie and Michelle Heim
72. Gail Zwang and Genea Crivello-Knable
73. Geneva Collins and Jana Haag
74. Gretchen Nation and Heidi Post
75. Heather DeSimone and Karin Slaton
76. Heather Marley and Terry Carter
77. Ingrid McCue and Jennifer Pride
78. Jackie Ryan and Nicole Keller
79. Janna Harttgen and Joanne Tinley
80. Jean Yates and Lori Anderson


81. Jelveh Jaferian and Jenny Davies-Reazor
82. Jenni Connolly and Jennifer Heynen
83. Jennifer Cameron and Kristi Bowman
84. Jennifer Geldard and Lisa Liddy
85. Jennifer VanBenschoten and Kim Hora
86. Jess Italia Lincoln and Lori Greenberg
87. Jill MacKay and Lori Bergmann
88. JJ Jacobs and Karen Tremblay
89. Joyce Becker and Kathy Welsh
90. Judy Glende and Karen Sinkowski


91. Judy Riley and Kelly Morgan
92. JuLee Wolfe and Julie Bean
93. Julianna Cannon and Julianna Kis
94. Julie Nordine and Lesley Watt
95. K. Hutchinson and Shea Zukowski
96. Karen Firnberg and Karyn Bonfiglio
97. Karen Williams and Kimberly Roberts
98. Karen Zanco and Polly Barker
99. Kari Carrigan and Laura Twiford
100. Karin von Hoeren and Laura Blanck


101. Kate Richbourg and Lorelei Eurto
102. Kathleen Lange Klik and Maria Clark
103. Kathy Engstrom and Keri Lee Sereika
104. Kay Thomerson and Loretta Carstensen
105. Kelley Fogle and Laurel Bielec
106. Kelly Ramstack and Sally Anderson
107. Kim Stevens and Tiffany Long
108. Kristi Harrison and Mandy Williamson
109. Kristi Kyle and Lana Kinney
110. Kristina Johansson and Sue Hodgkinson


111. Kym Hunter and Laura Sanger
112. Laura Zeiner and Susan Kennedy
113. Laurel Steven and Mary McGraw
114. Laurie Hanna and Lisa Boucher
115. Lesley Weir and Liz DeLuca
116. Linda Djokic and Tracey Weiser
117. Linda Inhelder and Pam Brisse
118. Linda Landig and Lori Dorrington
119. Linda Murphy and Lisa Hamilton
119. Line Labrecque and Marianne Baxter
120. Lisa Lodge and Monica Johnson


121. Lois Moon and Melissa Muir
122. Lola Surwillo and Therese Frank
123. Lori Bowring Michaud and Marci Brooks
124. Lupe Meter and Norma Agron
125. Maggie Towne and Marge Beebe
126. Malin de Koning and Susie Hibdon
127. Mallory Hoffman and Shirley Moore
128. Marcie Abney and Patty Miller
129. Marcy Lamberson and Melissa Clarke
130. Margot Potter and Suzann Sladcik Wilson


131. Maria Grimes and Wendy Blum
132. Maria Horvath and Melinda Orr
133. Maria Rosa Sharrow and Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp
134. Marian Hertzog and Melissa Mesara
135. Marianna Boylan and Sandi Lee James
136. Marina Dobrynina and Michaela Pabeschitz
137. Marsha Neal and Miri Agassi
138. Mary Ellen Parker and Melissa Meman
139. Mary Elliott and Tamara Soper
140. Mary Hicks and Laurel Steven


141. Melissa Pynn and Michelle Buettner
142. Michelle Hardy and Niki Meiners
143. Michelle Mach and Moira McEvoy
144. Missy Rappaport and Mags Saari
145. Molly Alexander and Poranna
146. Mylene Hillam and Nicole Rennell
147. Nadezhda Parfyonova and Stacey Curry
148. Nan Emmett and Nancy Peterson
149. Nancy Boylan and Natalie McKenna
150. Natalie Monkivitch and Niky Sayers


151. Natasha Lutes and Pam Ferrari
152. Noemi Baena and Penny Ilagan
153. Pamela Petry and Rebecca Sirevaag
154. Pat Haight and Mary Hicks
155. Patty Gasparino and Vonna Maslanka
156. Penny Neville and Sandi Volpe
157. Pepita Bos and Wendy Chamberlain
158. Raida Disbrow and Rebecca Watkins
159. Rebecca Anderson and Sabrina Staub
160. Regina Santerre and Rose Binoya


161. Rhea Freitag and Tari Kahrs
162. Rochelle Brisson and Teri Baskett
163. Sally Russick and Tracy Bell
164. Sandra McGriff and Shay Williams
165. Sandra Wollberg and Sara Hardin
166. Sarah Elder and Salla Small
167. Saskia Kaffenberger and Sharon Gardner
168. Sharon Palac and Shannon Chomanczuk
169. Shay Stone and Suzette Bentley
170. Shiraz Biggie and Tammy Powley


171. Staci Smith and Tracy Stillman
172. Stacie Stamper and Tracy Martin
173. Stefanie Teufel and Vicky Taylor
174. Stephanie Dixon and Stephanie LaRosa
175. Stephanie Haussler and Valerie Norton
176. Suzanne Tate and Terri Wlaschin
177. Sweet Freedom Designs (ME!) and Tammy Jones
178. Tania Spivey and Tari Sasser
179. Tara Plote and Terry Matuszyk
180. Terri Gauthier and Deana Hager
181. Theresa Fosdick and Tracey Nanstad


While compiling and linking the above list, I visited every shop on the list. I am amazed at the talent, and at how many of these folks I know from Etsy and/or FaceBook! Can't wait to see what everyone makes!