Saturday, March 3, 2012

Ta-Da! The bead soup reveal

LinkJust 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 le
ast, 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 r
eally 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....










72 comments:

  1. You did not have to worry. You made wonderful things with your soup. Lovely!

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  2. I really like the earrings
    I'm a partecipant from Italy, I'm trying to visit all of you.
    this was really a great experience!
    ciao ciao

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    1. thank you! isn't this a fun idea that lori has. so great to take a peak at everyone's work and get inspired again!

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  3. I thought you handled the colours and size of the beads really well. The necklace is really very pretty and pleasing to the eye. And the earrings are cute! Great job!

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    1. thank you for the encouragement and compliments!

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  4. Very pretty. I love the way the little flower brings the colours together :) x

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    1. thanks, the little flower was my favorite touch--it is just a super happy little guy!

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  5. I'm sorry if I scared you! But, you did a beautiful job, nonetheless!!!!!

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    1. not bad scary--and don't worry, i am often intimidated by beautiful beads. i stare at them a while, then eventually, we become friendly. :).

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  6. I worked with SS for my soup too - it is scary! :)
    You did a great job - lovely necklace and bracelet!

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    1. thank you! scary can be good when it pushes us to try new things. and, it gave me a good reason to take apart a few necklaces i wasn't satisfied with!

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  7. Very sunny and pretty! :)

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  8. Love the asymmetrical design, and it fits the dragonfly focal perfectly. What yummy soup!! And again, thank you for my "unofficial" soup. . .I had so much fun with it! ♥

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    1. thanks, mimi! i loved your creations, too!

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  9. I hoard agate...love that you off centered your focal, making it so unique! Patti's enamel yellow beads are so bright and sunny! Loving the blue and yellow combo!!

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    1. i find that every piece of agate is so unique--it often seems to 'tell' me exactly what it wants to be! thank you so much!

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  10. You definitely did the pieces justice! You created lovely wearable art. Blue and yellow are fabulous color combinations.

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  11. The necklace turned out great! Good job stepping outside your comfort zone...it paid off!

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  12. That focal is stunning, and doubling the chain was a good idea. I love what you made!


    I hope you'll join me again in the summer!

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    1. thank you! once again, it has been a joy to be a part of the hop! thank YOU for all the hard work you put in to make it so great!

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  13. I love it! Those colors are terrific together. Go ahead and fall in love with blue....it's working!

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    1. thank you! i do think i will create some more pieces with this color combo--i have several beads in my stash in these colors that are awfully neglected ;)

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  14. The earrings are darling, but I love, love, love that necklace. I like the assymetrical design, and how you put the elements together. Fantastic!

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    1. wow! thank you so much, you know how to make a girl's day!

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  15. Great colors and wonderful choice of stash items to go with your focal and accent beads from your partner. I love that enameled flower.

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    1. thank you, the flower is such a happy little guy!

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  16. I really love what you did with the pendant! It looks really amazing!

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  17. What a stunning original combination. Beautiful work. Looking forward to following your blog and seeing your new work!

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  18. I love how you used the pendant. The asymmetry is great in the necklace and I love your funky earrings. Those polymer clay beads are awesome :)

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    1. thank you! it has been so fun to wake up to such nice comments this morning! great way to start the day, i'd say!

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  19. I would have been a bit intimidated by that beautiful focal too, but you handled it beautifully. Great soup!

    Karyn B
    http://plussizebangles.com/blog

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  20. What a beautiful necklace you made with that focal. It's gorgeous :)

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  21. Your necklace is beautiful and I think the beads for your earrings were a perfect find. Great set!

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    1. thank you! i was pretty excited to find those beads in my stash that just happened to have all the featured colors in them!

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  22. Great job! I don't work with blues a lot either, but I love what you came up with.

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  23. Natasha - great job incorporating the soup ingredients Patti sent you. The large focal looks right at home with the other elements you included in your design. I am glad you went out on a limb and challenged yourself in this soup - you definitely succeeded in creating a beautiful necklace and earrings set!

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  24. A beautiful necklace to match your beautiful pendant. I love the agate slice that you used it added an element of the unexpected with the necklace.

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    1. thank you! i had been looking for something special to use that agate for....

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  25. Wow, just beautiful. You really did a great job with that pendant - it would have scared me too, but you did a great job with it. I have recently used blue and yellow together and they do a wonderful job together. Just lovely. Great job!

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  26. Natasha, this is truly beautiful - I love what yo udid with both the ceramic focal and the chain. Blue will always go well with yellow, you just need to think of flowers (as you did!)

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  27. You did very well, I too think I would have been scared of that focal too, but you did it justice.

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  28. That focal is totally amazing. You did a great job with it. Totally love the asymmetrical look. ♥

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  29. WOW! That necklace is incredible, definitely a statement piece :)

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  30. Very pretty necklace! I like your idea to put the pendant off-centre and add a selection of beads in different colours and shapes to it (that blue flower is so cute). Well done!

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  31. Your necklace is fantastic! I really like the element of chain and the variety of beads; very fun design. The earrings are super fun!

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  32. Blue too isn't my first choice of colour, but I like the way xou combinated it with the sunny yellow and the wonderful flower! Well done!

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  33. Woo! Cool, pretty, whimsical and FUN.

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  34. lovely all the way around, wearable art is my favorite kind, love what you did with your stash from Pati...

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  35. This is truly beautiful really nice bead soup

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  36. Don't you love a challenge?! Great job!

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  37. Very nice work on your soup!!!

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  38. Lovely necklace! Great job challenging yourself, the result is fab.

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  39. I really love how your necklace turned out. The colors are beautiful together. Great job :)

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  40. I think you did perfect justice to the dragonfly pendant your partner sent you....really beautiful and fun necklace.
    Sonya

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  41. The color combination and designs are great.

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  42. Very well done. Your designs really came together nicely. Iknow that large ceramic piece would have scared me too, but you really made it work!!

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  43. wow, what beautiful pieces! Love those two ceramic focals, and you certainly did the one you used justice. Nice job!

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