Bead Soup Blog Party reveal!

Today is the day!  We finally get to reveal our creations for the Bead Soup Blog Party and see what everyone else came up with.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was paired with Stephanie Weiss, who's blog can be found here.  She was kind enough to send me two soups--one in my comfort zone, and one outside it.  This is the comfort zone soup:

I had a blast working with these beads, and I adore the colors.  I wound up making a necklace, bracelet and earrings from the set.

Next, came the set that was outside my comfort zone.  I don't work with black much.  I tend to lean toward browns and warm earthy colors.  This is the soup:

The bracelet I made came  pretty easily.  I knew almost immediately I wanted to use the tiles in a bracelet, strung on stretchy cord.  I made little metallic beaded beads to use as  spacer beads.

The seed beads used in the beaded bead are a mix of copper, silver and gold.  

I have to admit I struggled with the necklace.  I had the hardest time deciding what to do with the plain black pendant.  Finally, I found these little metallic flowers, glued crystal flatbacks in the center, and strung the pendant on leather cord.

And, finally the earrings to go with this set.  I used the black/metallic square beads and made some more beaded beads to dangle from them.  The square beads were difficult to photograph because of the finish, but I think you can get the idea.

I really love the results of both soups!  This is my first year participating in this blog party, and I've had so much fun!  Click here to see what the other participants came up with.

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

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Key earrings

New earrings!  I made these last night with some sparkly red teardrops and key charms I found at Michaels.  

Thankfully Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party reveal date has been postponed until May 10.  I've procrastinated a little too much!  I plan to try to finish my pieces this weekend since we have 3 softball games this week, gymnastics, and the prom on May 10.  Wish me luck!

Bead Soup

This year I decided to participate in Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Hop for the first time.  I was paired with Stephanie Weiss, and I'm thrilled!  It couldn't be a more perfect pairing--we're both named Stephanie, we both work in HR...  Amazing!

A few weeks ago I received my bead soup from her and I couldn't be happier with the goodies she sent!  She actually sent two soups--one in my "comfort zone", and one outside it.  This is the one that's in my comfort zone.

I adore everything about this--the colors, the owl (!), the little house bead...  

This is the set that's outside my comfort zone.

I don't use a lot of black in my designs, which means when I do wear black, I don't have a lot of my own jewelry to wear with it.  I'm so glad Stephanie included this set.  I love the copper paired with the black, and I'm up for the challenge!

As an extra treat, Stephanie's sweet daughter made this for me to hold my badge at work.

Isn't it beautiful?!  And, so sweet!  I love it!

I can't wait to sit down and use these soups!  The reveal is May 3, and I'm anxious to see what everyone comes up with!

A lesson learned

I had a pretty frustrating day at work yesterday, so I decided to sit down last night and make a new bracelet since that always seems to calm me down.  Since I had already decided to wear brown and pink today, I pulled out some seed beads and, using a spiral stitch, made this bracelet.

The problem?  I didn't use the best lighting when I was working on it, and those core beads I thought were brown are actually a dark purple!  I didn't even realize it until I stepped out into the light today.  

Oh well.  Guess next time I'll check my colors in better light!

Decisions and Updates

If you recall, a couple of months ago I decided to open a new shop on Jewel Span.  After much deliberation, I've decided to close that shop, and stick with my original Etsy shop.  It's nothing against Jewel Span--I just found that it's difficult to keep track of two shops, and Etsy seemed to get more traffic. I've added a few things to the Etsy shop, and I plan to add more throughout the week.

I just got back from a business trip, and while I was gone, this little toy arrived:

I can't wait to play with it!  I saw it used on an episode of Beads, Baubles and Jewels, and it looked like so much fun!

I packed away all my snowman decorations yesterday and got out all my spring ones.  Naturally, they're now calling for snow tonight and in the morning.  Not that I'm complaining!

Long time gone

My goodness--where does time go?  It's hard to believe it's been nearly a month since I last blogged.  A lot has happened, though.  We've gotten a lot of snow (and a few snow days!), and I battled a horrendous stomach bug.  Not to mention work, and life in general with a teen and pre-teen.

I have been working, though.  I made this bracelet Saturday morning, posted it on FaceBook, and sold it within a couple of hours.

Because of this little bracelet, I was asked to make a bracelet for a co-worker, commemorating her brother who passed away a few months ago.  I quickly agreed, since, having lost my sister 6 years ago, I can sympathize with her pain.

I also tried my hand at a project from Beadwork.  These Celtic knot earrings worked up pretty quickly.  I also posted these on Facebook, and promptly had my BFF requesting a pair.

Obviously, I don't charge her for anything.  I figure if she can put up with me for 30 years she deserves something!  

I also entered Lori Anderson's Bead Soup blog hop.  I don't know who my partner is yet, but I'm anxious to find out.  I've never participated in this before, so I'm excited.  

It looks like I'll be taking a trip to Seattle in May for some work-related training.  I have to admit I'm pretty excited.  I'm embarrassed to say I'm 39 years old and have never set foot on a plane.  I'm not nervous about the flight yet, but I am deathly afraid of heights, so I'll have to try not to think about that part!  Hopefully we'll be able to manage a little sight seeing time in between all the training.  

More to come soon--I'm determined to never go this long between posts again!