Ann's Blog

Friday, March 24, 2017

Bead Soup Blog Party Hoarders' Edition

Well, it's been a few years but Lori Anderson has put together another great bead swap/blog hop. This time it's not only blogs but Pinterest, if you don't have one. This one is a totally different concept from the others. Rather than finding out what our partner liked or disliked, we were told to get out our hoards and choose something that we've held onto for some time and have it ready to go before we even knew who our partner was😊 You would think this would be easier but some of us (ok, I) hoard almost all my beads. Picking something out was going to be difficult.

I was a day late sending mine out to my partner, Donna Marie Hanna, who you should visit as well. Donna turned out to be a fellow procrastinator so I didn't have to feel too guilty.

Here is what I received with a wonderful note explaining why the beads were special.

I love the cigar box which is from her mother's collection, both the turquoise and coral beads were picked out with family members and so, are not just beads but memories. I have not yet been able to use the coral beads but plan on doing so.

I contemplated the beads for weeks and, as you might suspect due to my procrastination comment, had to take a PTO day on Thursday to finally turn those thoughts into a piece of jewelry. I like it, it turned out to match the picture in my head almost exactly. However, since the first try worked out, my backup earrings plan needed more turquoise so I will have to search through my own hoard to finish off some other things. In the meantime, here is the main piece. I don't have a mannequin, so I had to make due with the back of a chair.

Now hop back to Lori's blog for the full list of participants and spend some time checking out all of the pretties. http://www.prettythingsblog.com/2017/03/welcome-to-bead-soup-blog-party-bead.html

Saturday, May 10, 2014

First soup finished

Well, I can now post the results or at least the first result, there will probably be more. I will say this soup was quite a challenge for me. The focal that my partner Keren Von Hoeren sent was a bezel.

I thought resin was the answer. I've never tried resin before but bravely ordered some. I thought that fresh flowers would look awesome trapped forever in a frame. I ordered a resin kit and then, without the bezel present, I got some flowers. I wanted a couple of colors and then bought a third bunch because there were so many of the first two that I would need to put them in a vase. Got the flowers home and they were way too big for the bezel. So, I pulled some petals off and started working. The flower petals stayed bright pink and purple until the resin fully dried when they somehow became green:( At least they were 2 different shades of green. In the end, I made a pretty little necklace with the focal, the clasp and a few silver accent beads from the soup and pink seed pearls from my stash. I think it may end up as a present for one of my many very young girl friends. I seem to share many interests (horses, shiny and sparkly things) with the under 8 crowd.

I am going to edit this post since this is part of the soup reveal. I also made these earrings with the big silver pearls.

The rest of the participants are listed here on Lori's blog. Lori is the genius behind the Bead Soup Blog Party and a great friend. Spend a few days looking at the fantastic pieces that were created.

Friday, May 9, 2014

The Soup is still simmering

Today is reveal day for the 2014 Bead Soup Blog Party. I will get my post here today but not as early as some people will be starting their visits. If you get here before I do, please come back and visit later or on another day. In the meantime visit my partner Keren Von Hoeren and see what she created with the beads I sent to her. I sent only the beads not the cat :)

After you've been there head to our fantastic hostess, Lori Anderson's blog to get the full list of participants. There are almost 500!

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Bead Soup 2013 Third Reveal is Here!

The only Bead Soup Blog Party is drawing to a close and I am once again participating in the last reveal date 4/27/2013. This time around my partner is Kay Thomerson, http://kayzkreationz.blogspot.com/, please visit her blog to see what she made with the soup I sent to her. And after you're done both here and there take some time and visit all of the other participants. The list is here: 3rd reveal participants.

Here is the soup I received, doesn't it look pretty in my fantastic dragonfly bowl?

As usual, I procrastinated as long as I could and ended up having to take a day off on 4/26 in order to actually complete my piece. I thought about it for 2 months though if that counts at all.

After a delicious lunch, I finally got everything together and started to try it out. I had a bunch of help from the cats. Not!!

All that help convinced me to move to the table to try and complete something. These colors are very rich and very warm and I am usually a blue/green and silver type of a gal but I have definitely wanted to something for fall for a number of years now. It always hits me when I'm driving and the trees are turning and there's that purple status everywhere. I never get around to capturing it though. I think that this has come close. So, without any further commentary, here's what I came up with. I'm not completely sure I like the 2 beads next to the focal but I can always readjust later, right?

Friday, August 24, 2012

The Soup is Done

No matter that I chose the last reveal date, it truly did arrive and with it the end of my procrastination time. My partner Kathleen Lange Klik had to change her reveal date to the first choice which was July 28. If you missed her post, you can see the fantastic things she did with the beads I sent her here.

Now I will show you what I came up with with the ingredients she sent to me. I really do like what I came up with.

First a necklace. I don't often wear necklaces but I even took a picture of this one on. The lighting wasn't very good near the only mirrors in our apartment but I'm going to post the pic anyway. The necklace has both the pendant and the clasp, which are the 2 requirements of the hop.

And here it is on me. I think it's very fun. It includes the pendant, clasp, chain, paper beads, disc and on of the large dyed magnesite labeled "just for fun". It happened to be dyed teal which is one of my absolutely favorite colors so I had to use it.

Then for the first time I managed to make a couple of extra things by the reveal date. I know, hard to believe that the master procrastinator managed to do more than the requirement. I'm working on it, maybe by the next reveal I'll be able to use as many of the beads as many of the other artists (including my partners). I managed to come up with 2 pairs of earrings as well. One I added wire lace to hold the ceramic large hole beads flanked by the crackle glass beads slipped inside. The second was just a fun combination of the extras. Thanks for stopping by to see what I've done. Hopefully the links below will take you to the other soup reveals. If not visit Lori, our awesome hostess and the artist who came up with the party. She's even written a book:)