Sweet Bead Studio Blog
Bead Soup Blog Party time!!
Welcome to the 3rd Bead Soup Blog Party – we’re rockin’ the house!
I am so excited THE day is here! Thank you for partying with me, whether this is your 8th or 125th stop along the Bead Soup tour.
I want to give a great big shout out to my dear friend and Bead Soup Blog Party creator , Lori Anderson. Lori has been our fabulous hostess and has put in a tremendous amount of time behind the scenes organizing this party of 210 participants. Lori has shared so much of herself through inspirational stories and blog tips along the way. {She’s like the big sister you always wish you had}. Lori, here’s to you (insert the sound of clinking glasses here)!
Just in case the Bead Soup party is new to you, here’s the quick low-down. The participants were randomly paired with a partner and exchanged bead components consisting of a focal piece, clasp, and coordinating beads. Our only “rule” was that the clasp and focal needed to be used in our finished piece. I participated in the inaugural party; you can see my post about it here.
Imagine my delight when I found out I was paired with Amanda Davie, an artist whose work I had long admired on Etsy. That was only the beginning, just wait til you see the Bead Soup that Amanda sent to me! Oh my, Amanda spoiled me. I received a treasure trove of gorgeous lampwork, stones, pearls – all sorts of gorgeous beads. The best part? The real jewels in my “soup” were all of the handmade components. Amanda sent me a polymer clay bezel clasp, copper and bronze metal clay pieces, an enameled link, and several resin-filled bezels. Now let’s move on to the pictures! Without further ado, here’s my stunning Bead Soup –
It was a tough decision with so many great beads to chose from! From the start though, I knew I would make something long. That was my ticket to incorporating as many beads as I could. I had various lay-outs going: single strand, double strand, a combination of strands! My husband stepped in to the studio, took one look, and had advice for me as well. That’s when I knew I better rethink where I was heading. I’m awfully proud of my finished necklace, entitled “Light and Day”, taken from the snippet encased in the resin bezel I chose. I finished off the piece with Amanda’s own copper/brass/polymer clay clasp – sure makes the necklace pretty from all angles.
Let’s see…for the chain portion of the necklace, I relied on my old faithful friend, wire. In “Light and Day”, I chose a beautiful and warm bronze wire (which I oxidized to a nice, aged patina). I created bead caps and metal disc links topped with buttons from bronze sheet metal. The stand-out element has got to be the beautiful polymer clay discs by Christine Damm of Stories They Tell.
I just love the eagle resin-filled bezel that Amanda created, right down to the great color. The perfect color. To add some size to the focal, I added a rectangle cut from bronze sheet. This also gave me the opportunity to add extra holes for dangles. I added Amanda’s copper and bronze metal clay leaf and branch. I adorned the Lake Michigan beach stone with wire and seed beads. A touch of leather was added here and there to further the rustic feel of the necklace. My focal reminded me of a dream catcher. In the end, I really enjoyed the challenge of working with a color scheme and a motif that I do not ordinarily work with.
51. Lori Dorrington, Lori’s Glassworks
The next party’s sign ups begin August 1-3, 2011. Don’t miss it!
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Cindy Wimmer is a jewelry designer with a passion for combining vintage elements with modern wire design. She is the co-founder of artBLISS, hosting jewelry and mixed media workshops in the DC area. Her best-selling jewelry design book, The Missing Link, was released in Fall 2013. Read more.
I absolutely love what you did with your bead soup!!! I am so impressed with how you used wire and metal work to create such an amazing necklace. I am so inspired.
wow! really beautiful! I love the copper elements and all the colors work so well together! thanks for the giveaway too.
CIndy – love your piece and all the colors and shapes you incorporated! And of course, I would love to win your sweet CW original 🙂 Elisabeth
Beautiful pieces! :-)!!!
What a wonderful Artsy you have created from the soup..I can see you are uber talented!!!
An amazing piece of art! I love all the ingredients and how they don’t overpower each other. Gorgeous work. And you better believe I want the giveaway necklace. It’s so pretty and something I would wear every single day.
I love what you have done with all your parts n pieces.
So many beautiful beads to choose from! Your necklace is so colorful & beautiful!!
I love your creations from the bead soup! Both Pendants: Ooooo-LALA!!
What a treat to look at, your necklace is amazing!!! Love, love, love wirework. I’m all snowed in here in California and what a great way to spend it checking out all this amazement of talent…
You did an awesome job, Cindy. I love your necklace! And I’d love to win the second one. Thanks for making it available!
SallyA
Hi Cindy, You did such a gorgeous job combining all those wonderful beads together to create such a beautiful piece of artwear! I love it!
Awesome work!
Cindy,
Fantastic piece, see you soon!
What a beautiful job Cindy. I love your wirework. It’s an awesome piece.
love it, especially the wire and bead wrapped stone.
What an awesome creation! Kuddos!
Beautiful necklaces. The wire work is wonderful.
Gorgeous Cindy! Where do I begin? Such fantastic colors! Love how you attached the eagle to the sheet…very cleaver! Love the button! The seed beads wrapped around the rock…love! As always, you did an excellent job!
Beautiful necklace, I really love the seed bead wrap arount the river rock dangles. It totally dresses it up. I would never have thought of that.
love your wire work!
Truly a piece of art to wear, it is stunning Cindy! Amazing color flow and texture! I love every bit of it!
Cindy – Your creative eye never ceases to amaze me. Your wire detail just pulls everything together. Beautiful….
Oh my gosh, this is STUNNING! I love all of the little touches – how you added a rectangle to the focal, how the stone dangle has a little extra wrapping, how the back clasp is as pretty as everything else. Beautiful!
I love it all – the wire work, the sweet little knots holding the buttons on, the beautiful tapestry of color!
what beautiful pieces you have put together. It is rustic looking and fun.
What an amazing hoard of treasure to start with! And how great is that end result? Full of wonderfully rich little ‘moments’ to enjoy, just as you’ve documented it! Fab….
I love what you did. It is a treasure of goodies all in one piece
Oh
Goodness
I want this necklace! It’s just lovely and I have nothing else to say b/c I’m drooling all over the place. So in love with this piece!
Oh my gosh, that necklace is GORGEOUS! You got some fantastic soup and your necklace design really blows me away. The details are just beautiful! I keep going back to look at it! Great work!
Wow – gorgeous! I am always in awe of your wire work!
Thanks everyone for stopping by! I appreciate the comments! I’m still hopping along…looking forward to visiting everyone’s blogs.
#209 here…you did a beautiful job with that overflowing bowl of soup beads.
Absolutely stunning, Cindy! Love the length of the piece and the seed bead/wire wrap on that pebble!
LOVE, love, LOVE what you’ve done with all the lovely beads you received. You really know how to rock the soup recipe!!
Beautiful! I really love what you’ve done! Love what you did to the focal and that clasp is stunning!
I was looking forward to what you would make, I love it, love your blog 🙂
What fun! Beautiful jewelrycreated from delightful beads.
Cindy, I love the necklace you created~ each of the elements is as special as the next. Wonderful job!
Love the necklace – gorgeous work!
Cindy, this is such an amazing piece you created!! Absolutely stunning!
Wow, what a fab piece, all the different elements go so well the way you have them together, it really is stunning :))
Hi CIndy,
Wow there is alot to look at in the Bead Soup Blogs…. Whew…. I am still jumping from blog to blog.. Your creations are beautifull as always.
It would be sweeeet if I won as today is my birthday!!!!
Got to domore blog hopping.
have a great day!!!!!!
Kathy
I love the earthy feel of this piece. The components flow so nicely together. The focal is wonderful and your additions are so creative! Glad to be in this group with you!
Lovely to look at; lovely to wear…..
These are absolutely gorgeous pieces….You are a very talented designer! Thank you for sharing them with us!
lovely pieces and love the wire wrappng.
What a fabulous bowl of soup you received! I love how you put it all together – – – one very awesome creation!
#161 here I just love the clasp made from bronze wire. So cool. Your colors and textures are perfect in you design. I hope I win the necklace:)
just a gorgeous necklace with so much personality and the color is just what I love.
Thanks for entering me into the giveaway – that lovely color again!