8th Bead Soup Blog Party!!!

  It's been a rough time for me but I have had a lovely time working with my bead soup from the lovely Lesley Lane. The reds and golds work so well together, all I really added were sparkly glass rondelles and lots of wire!

I do love working with wire!

If you'll remember, here is what my partner sent me to play with.

And here is how the soup has developed...

The first piece I made was this gorgeous suncatcher for my car using red wire, one of the Czech glass flowers, a bronze charm I just had to include and lots of sparkling AB coated glass rondelles which really do reflect the light spectacularly.

Continuing with the addition of red wire here's one of my statement necklaces using a mix of all the different beads from my soup.

The Indian glass and palm wood beads had large holes so I was able to string them onto ribbons and have plaited to form this bracelet. It will be finished with copper wire cones and a hammered copper clasp.

 The cute little birdie focal now has a blossom branch to sit on. I love how these little Czech beads have come together, they compliment each other so well. I'm debating whether to make this into a necklace or brooch, any thoughts?

 A simple pair of earrings with the addition of red wire again and some AB coated glass rondelles.

 Unfortunately I haven't been able to getting around to using the second focal piece and the clasp, however there is still plenty left over and another pair of earrings and bracelet still to finish. I've already started making links with the beads to make a large necklace where the clasp will be a feature as well as functional.

Hope you like what I've done with the soup Lesley, and can't wait to see what you've made with yours.

xxx

If you'd like to visit others in the hop please use the link below to find a list of other members joining in other at Lori's blog.

http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.com//2014/04/welcome-to-8th-bead-soup-blog-party.html

Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap

The Postcard swap is now at an end and to finish it off properly, there is a final BlogHop to visit all those involved. 

It has been a long journey, especially for the postcards and the lovely Kat who has swapped everyone's lovely artwork and sent them whirring around the world.

The postcards have now all found new homes and will be treasured by the recipients.

Looking forward to visiting all the lovely blogs involved and seeing everyone's liberated art.

Please stop by The Kat Eye View of the World to see all the lovely bloggers involved.

Postcard #4

What a beautiful colourful card! The Liberate your art postcard swap is surely well under way and there are so many beautiful cards appearing in the facebook page. This lovely card is from Dee Vlasak on Instagram.

The back reads:

Greetings from Santa Cruz, CA.

Hope you have a wonderful, creative day.

"when you do things from your soul,

you feel a river moving in you, a joy."

~RUMI

Silver clay oh what a day!

This weekend I treated myself to a silverclay course at my little craft shop Craftcandy.

After an hour of playing with polymer clay and trying to get the shape I wanted, several attempts at different shapes later, I settled on this little fellow and decided on adding a texture to his back using a stamp.

Then we opened the silver clay! The texture was much like ordinary clay but spongy at the same time. We had to work super quick to get our pieces put together and use water to bind different parts.

Here he is after being fired in the kiln and brushed with a wire brush. To make him super shiny we used a stainless steel tool to burnish.

I'm so pleased with how he turned out. If you haven't guessed what he is, I made a little turtle :).

Happy Mother's Day!

Mothering Sunday started with a rush... not only had the clocks gone forward and so losing me an hour's sleep, but as I attended a silver clay course on the Saturday evening, I had to pick up my little monster from my parents before heading to his karate grading.

Having been asked to make a tiara to show off some prom dresses, here is the first in my series.
Using freshwater pearls, mother of pearl hearts, AB coated glass rondelles and a fair bit of wire. I completed this whilst my little Joey was at his karate grading for his first full belt.

My monster completed his grading with a big smile on his face and his new karate license too.

We then went out for dinner at an all you can eat chinese and tried several different dishes which was heaven! Joey even spotted a little doggy at our table too! Amazing shadows from the tablecloth!

I also received a lovely bunch of tulips, a box of celebrations and some Lady Gaga perfume too, one lucky mummy!

Postcard #3

An amazing artistic postcard from Char'i Lawson in Colardo Springs, this time stamped from a special place, National Postal Museum Station in Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Quoted on the back of the card is:

I look at everything with one eye closed, to mix the truth of my mind with the lies of this world. I am not perfect...just another face.

Such a true statement.

Due to it being a facial piece I just had to have a go at picture placement with it too, hope you like it.

Another postcard...

Another arrival from across the pond :) in the Liberate your art postcard swap.

This time from Vicki Ducham. A lovely altered book artist in New York.

I just love the colours in this card, so beautiful!!! Aloha Vicki!

Quick makes...

To get the creative juices flowing, I like to set myself quick makes, so here are a couple of quick makes to get me going:

 Yellow Agate and Copper wire pendant.

 Blue Agate and silver plated copper wire.

Hope you like them. These will be added to my store soon.

Where oh where are these postcards from?

It's started!!!!! The liberate your art postcard swap is well under way and postcards have been arriving thick and fast across the globe. The pictures on the facebook group have been delightful so here is my first postcard, surrounded by what was on my dining table at the time.

Makes for an exotic picture don't you think.

Received from the lovely Sonya Versluys.An amazing lady who has been fighting Lyme Disease and yet still finds time to share her creativity to the world. A real inspiration, and thankyou so much for joining the swap, It's a pleasure to produce art alongside you in this harsh world.

Here is the back of the postcard:

 

Because I love Bead Soup so much!!!

I just had to make a second one!
A friend of mine whom joined a mini bead soup with me last year on Facebook, has agreed to do an individual exchange with me, so; inspired by the bright yellows of the soup I put together for Lesley, here is a second soup I put together.

This time using random yellow gemstones from my randoms box, don't they look lush all together! I also added some yellow cultured pearls, tigers eye drums, Red Carnelian Cubes, red ab coated glass rondelles, a large piece of lightly dyed Agate/Quartz(not sure what it is but an interesting shape) from my random box, a handmade 'Hope' wire focal and a hammered handmade clasp.

Can't wait to see what she makes with it all.