7th Bead Soup Blog Party REVEAL!

It's time for the first reveal of the 7TH BEAD SOUP BLOG PARTY!  And it's a doozie!  I think there must be a million participants (maybe closer to 200)!  Our fearless leader, Lori Anderson, suggests that we don't start at the top of the list (so the ones at the bottom will have a visit soon) and :

** A way to keep track?  

Copy and paste the link list into a Word document, 

and delete people as you visit.**

You'd think she's done this before?  HA!  It IS the 7th one!

So breathe, take your time to enjoy all the fun that's been going on. . .  Here is a photo of my soup from talented lampworking partner Lori Bergmann :

Pretty beautiful, huh?  I had to spread it out in my own eclectic way.  Was dying to try some new things and to repeat some old favorites!  Here it goes. . .




I found that this was a unique experience for me.  It's not only the first BSBP I've participated in but it was also one of the first times that I was doing WHAT I WANTED TO DO without worry if it would please someone else.  That made it extra fun.  I hope I did please my partner, Lori Bergmann, because she sent such beautiful beads but other than that. . .I indulged myself by trying new designs, relaxing and enjoying the time spent at the bench.  Speaking of bench. . .here is my little bench in our little 2nd story sun porch.  It looks even messier now than it did in this photo.  This is where all the magic happened:

And this is the view from my studio window of our early spring snowfall.  Nice!!!

 Lori's gorgeous soup!







The first piece was something I'd been wanting to try - a charm necklace a la Deryn Mentock or Diane Cook (two of my favorite artist/teachers).  The heart focal was perfect!

From the awesome stash I received from Lori, I used the lovely focal heart, one of the chunky nugget beads, three of the smaller lampwork beads, a few of the brass beadcaps, the tiny bronze heart and Lori's handmade clasp.  The rest of the charms, dangles and beads came out of a dozen or so boxes of my own soup collections and some of my own enamel beads.  Silk fibers, trims, and vintage.  

So now I was free to play with all the other parts/pieces (ingredients) Lori sent.  And did I ever play!

Three bracelets (the two memory wire ones are my favorites from a design Jen Judd taught me!), one small pair of earrings and last but not least. . . . .

10 feet of "Happy Easter/Spring to Me!" necklace!  I spent hours just zoning out, making connectors.  It was so wonderful for me to escape to the bead zone.  Very inspiring to use some of my own enamel beads, too.  Now I'm ready to head down to the basement and BURN some more!!!  Thanks Lori B. for your beautiful beads and for the new friendship!

And thanks Lori Anderson for taking on this monumental task of organizing this Bead Soup Blog Party!  The process and creating was a balm to my harried soul!  Quite a diversion! I needed it!

Now, please go check out what Lori Bergmann did with the bead soup that I sent to her:

My soup to Lori

Here are Lori's links:

Blog: http://loribergmann.blogspot.com/ 

FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/AshlynDesign

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/loribergmann/

Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LoriBergmann

The full list of all the party goers for this reveal can be found at Lori Anderson's Blog - Pretty Things

So glad you stopped by.  Enjoy the rest of the journey!