Bead Soup Blog Party -- Jewelry Swap Challenge

Many of you have heard of the Bead Soup Blog Party.  It's a bead swap challenge that occurs at least three times a year (the next party date will be announced next week -- save a date in January!!!!) and it's a huge blast of fun and creativity.  We didn't want the fun to end, so there is also a Bead Soup Blog Party Yahoo Group, open to those who would like to participate in smaller challenges, general bead swaps, and things of that nature.  If you'd like to join the group, click here!

Our most recent challenge was to choose a piece of jewelry we had in our stash that hadn't sold for whatever reason, swap it with someone, and make a new piece of jewelry out of the piece our partner sent to us.  

The list was an odd number, so I had the pleasure of working with two partners!

First up, Johanna Rhodes of Fire Phoenix Creations.  She sent me an adorable bracelet created with handmade paper beads wrapped in colorful wire, all adorned with a butterfly and a purse charm.  The beads dangle from a gunmetal chain.

The bracelet, as Johanna sent it to me.

Cute, isn't it?

I wanted to make sure the cool handmade paper beads were showcased, so I decided not to go too wild.  I chose a coordinating color to go with them -- in this case, a pretty light green.  Each bead's edge is painted in silver, so I coordinated that with heavy-gauge aluminum wire to link everything together.  I didn't use the purse charm, but did use the butterfly as a side focal.  The result is a long necklace that didn't need a clasp at all, as it can easily be pulled over the head without messing up your hair.

So there you go!  From bracelet to necklace.  I hope I showcased her beads well!

The next piece came from Sharon Misuraco of Off the Beadin' Path.  Sharon sent me a gemstone necklace made with small aquamarine coins, brown amazonite, and what appears to be a crazy lace agate triangular donut.  I did a little research on the internet on brown amazonite, and it's also called rainbow amazonite.  I've never worked with this stone before, so was happy to give it a whirl.

Necklace as Sharon sent it to me.

Sharon did a pretty job with the wire wrap on the donut in silver, but I'm running low on silver, and with the cost of sterling through the ROOF these days, I'm trying to get a little creative with what I'm doing lately.  So I pulled out some oxidized copper, hammered some copper washers (oh, how cathartic hammering is!), found some orphan lampwork beads, and awaaaay I went! 

When faced with the wrong gauge for the donut bail, I wrapped the wire with more wire.

I didn't use a lot of the aquamarine, but did dangle some between the hammered copper washer "frames".  I also used a lampwork bird by Lori Lochner, paired with a lampwork orphan bead that had been languishing by its lonesome in my bead drawer, and a copper-coated aluminum bead I recently purchased from the Potomac Bead Company.

I call this one "Painted Canyon".

I hope you'll visit the rest of the Bead Soup Jewelry Exchange participants -- their names and blogs are below!  Just click their name to travel to their blog.

      

Jen Velasquez http://jenjuddrocks.blogspot.com
Johanna Rhodes http://firephoenixcreations.blogspot.com
Laurel Steven http://laurelsteven.blogspot.com
Loretta Carstensen http://www.designsbyloretta.blogspot.com
Erin Prais-Hintz  http://treasures-found.blogspot.com
Mallory Hoffman http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com
Marianna Boylan http://www.stargirlshop.blogspot.com
Norma Turvey http://www.moonlitfantaseas.blogspot.com
Sharon Misuraco http://goinoffthebeadinpath.blogspot.com
Stacey Curry http://starhitchedwagon.blogspot.com
Tyne Bodenburg http://www.tynebodennecklaces.blogspot.com

         

And don't forget to save the date for the next MAIN EVENT -- click here for the details!

Lori Anderson creates jewelry for her web site, Lori Anderson Designs, and writes the blog An Artist's Year Off.  She's also a contributor to Art Bead Scene.