Ta-Da! The bead soup reveal

Just to refresh your memory, my lovely bead partner, Patti Vanderbloemen generously sent me this bead soup to create with. These were the two porcelain pendants that scared me the most. First of all, I don't gravitate toward blue. Secondly, the bottom dragonfly who speaks to me is larger than I would typically use. And then, there is always the worry, what if I don't do it justice?!

She also sent me sterling silver to work with. Scary! I don't tend to work with sterling because it is expensive and more dainty than the metals I tend to use. The clasps were handmade by , and beautiful! I actually ended up taking apart 2 necklaces that I made a while ago to use their chain. The chain she sent was so pretty, I didn't want to mess it up ;).


Last, but not least, Patti also sent some beautiful glass and enameled metal beads to use as accents. I am especially thankful for the inspiration that came from the yellow enameled beads! That would not have been my first choice for an accent color, and boy did I love the colors together!


Without further ado, this is the necklace I created: My first inclination was to put the pendant in the center and dangle some dangly bits from the bottom hole--sounds like just something I would do, huh?! And, while that would have worked, I really wanted to try something NEW. So, I put the pendant off-center and added some other focals. Continuing with the asymmetrical feel, I used two different sterling silver chains--doubling the smaller simpler chain to even the weight. I chose the smaller of the two clasps that Patti made, since the necklace already felt big to me.
I added a blue enamel flower from C-Koop beads with a tiny yellow turquoise center to the dragonfly pendant. I then used Patti's yellow enamel bead, a purple and blue agate slice pendant and a yellow agate rondelle that matched the enamel bead to complete the design.

Yesterday, I had a few quiet moments and decided to make some earrings. I wanted to use a bit of the beautiful chain Patti sent me. I was going to add a glass rondelle to them, but it felt to pretty and sophisticated for the whimsy of the necklace. Instead, I found these fun little clay beads with blue, purple and yellow. Perfect. Until working with this bead soup, I had not come up with any way to use these funky little beads. So, what do you think?

I have another design brewing in my head for a fun silver and bead bracelet. While it will have to wait for another day, I plan to incorporate the other yellow enamel bead, some of the lovely glass rondelles and maybe another one or two of these fun clay beads.

Don't let the fun end here! There is a party going on that you won't want to miss. Click on the names below to see the other designers' before and after shots. I am off to do the same! Ta-ta for now....