Bead Soup - What I Sent

Remember the teaser photos I showed you?

Well, it's finally time to see what I sent Diane, my Bead Soup partner!

I gave her two focals and two clasps. Who doesn't like options?  The ceramic bead is from Gaea and the lampwork bead is from Maria Grimes. The teal color in the lampwork bead really spoke to me. The silver clasp is sterling from the Tucson show and the other is Vintaj.

 So, we have sari silk, quartz, amazonite, Swarovski, Czech glass, wood, freshwater pearls, and aquamarine beads.  Like I said - the teal spoke to me and I had to play off that color.

 Here's the whole soup. I can't wait to see what she makes with it!

My Soup Has Arrived!

My favorite part of the Bead Soup Blog Party is the anticipation and wondering what you're going to get from your partner. When I finally went to the mailbox this morning, I found one of those lovely Flat Rate Priority Mail boxes in my mailbox and I got really, really excited!  Want to see what was inside?  Diane really spoiled me. I'm so lucky to have an amazing partner! We've also been trading emails like crazy over the past couple of weeks and it's like we've been friends forever!

First off, the packaging is my favorite part and look at this super cute make-up bag she put everything in?  I just had to get a picture of that, for sure!

Let's dive in and look at the good stuff...

Sari silk!  OMG, I love me some sari silk!  Here's the problem - in the picture, it looks teal but in real life, it's actually a bright, brilliant, kelly green. I take horrible pictures. I messed with the editing a little bit, but I couldn't get the color right. Sigh.

The findings - two lovely clasps, a bail and some cones. I've purchased some cones over the years but never used them because I'm never 100% sure how to use them. I'm going to use them this time, though  I really will!

The "soup". There are ceramic beads from Blue Moon, amethyst chips, Chinese crystal, freshwater pearls and some funky glass beads that I think she called tortoise beads. I love the pop of color from the amethyst and I'm OBSESSED with freshwater pearls!

Optional focals. The elephant is bone, which I've never worked with before. The key is something she found at an estate sale and I love it!  The diamond is a lemon quartz and I already know what I'm doing with it!

Ceramic focal and accent beads from North Shore Beads out of Lake Bluff, Illinois. Look at those colors!  I had to keep myself from licking them to see if they were a yummy as they looked!

Diane went to a bead show the same weekend I was in Tucson shopping so we got each other things from the shows.

I'll show you what I got her next!

Bead Soup!

My bead soup is headed to the mailbox today and here it is!

You didn't think I was going to show you the actual soup, did you???  Heehee... 

I am giving Diane two focals and two clasps, because who doesn't like options?

Stay tuned to see the big reveal!

Bead Soup Blog Party - Meet My Partner!

After a small hiatus, I'm back in the Bead Soup Blog Party!  This will be my third one and I just "met" my partner electronically over the weekend.  She is the wonderful Diane Valasek of Dragonfly Close.  We've been exchanging emails the past few days and it's like we are old friends from way back already! It's a small world - she lived in Arizona at one time and still has friends here.

I was peeking through her blog and saw some amazing jewelry. Look at this necklace:

It's reminds me of the 1920's and the flapper style, almost. I love the different kinds of chain and the combination of textures!

Diane is also a gardener - check out the gorgeous necklace and bracelet she made!

 

Gorgeous, right?

Go check out her blog!  I am putting the finishing touches on her soup ingredients and will post again once it all goes together!  I also have some other purchases from Tucson I need to show you!

Stay tuned!

Tucson 2013 - The Loot (Part 2)

I know you're just dying to know what else I bought in Tucson, right? 

This is just a selection of the clasps I bought. I like to stock up on sterling during the shows because everything is so affordable. This isn't everything, just some of the ones I bought.

Chinese crystal. Great for filler, and I hardly ever see them in bicone shapes. I always see them in rondelles, so I was excited to find these.

There's more, so stay tuned!

Tucson 2013 - The Loot (Part 1)

I spent six full days in Tucson for the gem/bead shows. I was sneaky and took a few pictures and posted them in my previous blog post and on Facebook.  Well, I didn't mention that I bought a ton of stuff. Here's some of the loot - this is part 1.

Pearls! This represents some of the pearls I bought, some of the others have already been used in various projects.

 

Gemstones.  I got amethyst, fluorite, lapis, apatite, angelite, jade, aquamarine, crystal quartz, pink tourmaline, sodalite, agate, and I can't even remember everything else.  Yummy!

 

I just did this so I could revel in all the pretty colors!

I'll have more to show tomorrow!

Tucson 2013

If you are a fellow jewelry designer, you know about Tucson. Since I live in Phoenix, I go for a few days every year. I even take time off work. It's a great opportunity for me to stock up on findings, beads, and other fun trinkets.

In the past, I've used my cousin's business license to get into the wholesale shows, but now that I've started my own, I can use my own. Prices at the wholesale shows are outrageously low. Many, many things for 80% off.

I went this past Saturday all day and Sunday for a little while. It's a 2.5 hour drive one way from my house in Phoenix and I had some other things to do on Sunday.

Here's some pictures from the show:

This is one of the booths at the JOGS show.  I basically took it so you can see how big they are and the tables that are just loaded down with beads.

I freely admit I'm not a huge fan of turquoise. It's my favorite color, but the stone is definitely not my favorite.

Big quartz....

Even bigger amethyst

When I posted this picture of pearls on Facebook, there was talk of rolling around in them. Ahem...

Fairy silk ribbons. Yummy.

It's entirely possible I bought 3.5 pounds of beads. More pictures to come.