Saturday, March 3, 2012

Bead Soup Blog Party March 2012

Welcome to my Bead Soup Reveal. This is a world wide event graciously hosted by Lori Anderson of Pretty Things.

In January Lori paired everyone with a partner and the beads promptly began their journey to their new homes world wide. I was partnered with Laurie Keefe Cecere.

I sent Laurie this collection of beads. You can visit Laurie's blog, Tree of Life, to see what she created.




Laurie sent me a beautiful package of goodies
.


The main rule of Bead Soup is that we must use the focal bead and the clasp we received from our partner.

I found this Bead Soup to be particularly challenging. I wish I could put my finger on exactly why I felt that way. I loved the pieces I received but I just could not come up with a design idea. I was completely stumped.  This does not usually happen to me which made my artistic block even more mystifying.  For more than a month I have been racking my brain for a design for all these beautiful pieces. It was only this week that I finally had a direction. As I sit and write this blog, the day before the reveal, I am waiting for my kiln to cool. I decided I needed to make some lampwork beads that I could add to my Bead Soup. A kiln doesn't cool quick enough when you are sitting around waiting for it.....hurry up, checking the temp again. 

It occurred to me today why I have been having such a difficult time with design ideas. 
1. Over the course of the last year my family has been dealing with medical issues. This month two members of my family were undergoing surgery. Needless to say this has made it has been difficult for me to connect with my artistic spirit.

2. Another fact occurred to me as I was playing with my Bead Soup ... I consider the beads I received from Laurie to be on the small side. I can't believe I am saying that! I have always been a small jewelry wearer up until the last year. I've gone big and suddenly had no idea what to do with "small". Let me just take a moment here to say those off white spacers are THE SMALLEST lampwork spacers I have ever seen! Kudos to the artist who created those spacers. Making such small, even spacers is not that easy.

3. The color scheme is not colors I usually work with.

But...putting #1 aside, #2 and #3 are EXACTLY the point of Bead Soup! Bead Soup is about stretching ourselves to work with materials, colors and bead styles we would not normally choose to work with.

Alas, I had an idea and set myself down to git 'er done!
A personal challenge I wanted to accomplish with this necklace was to create a variety of layers. I have seen the work of others that I love. I would characterize the work as having many different layers to it. I hope I have accomplished that.


The Necklace

The clasp, connecting on the side

The tiniest lampwork spacer beads ever, copper, howlite rice beads and turquoise nuggets

Lampwork nuggets and Kalypso dots

The focal pendant



Fini!


Many thanks to Lori for hosting this wonderful event! You can swing by her blog and read about other Bead Soup happenings, Lori has a book coming out soon!

The following is a list of all the Bead Soup Participants. Enjoy!

Hostess, Lori Anderson


Special Book Sneak Peeks, Cindy Wimmer
1.  Adlinah Kamsir (Singapore) and Hajer Waheed (Kingdom of Bahrain)
2. Adrienn Lukacs (Hungary) and Agata Grygiel (Poland)
3.  Agi Kiss (Hungary) and Carolien Muller-Genger (the Netherlands)
4.  Agnes Asztalos (Hungary) and B.R. Kuhlman
7.  Alicia Marinache (Canada) and Dita Basu
15.  Bonnie Coursolle (Canada) and Fay Wolfenden (Canada)
16.  Carmel McGinley (Australia) and Tracy Stillman (Australia)


21.  Cheryl Brown (Canada) and Diana Ptaszynski
22.  Christina Stofmeel (the Netherlands) and Eva Kovacs (Hungary)
24.  Cilla Watkins (Canada) and Elaine Robitaille (Canada)
25.  Sabrina Straub (Switzerland) and Kathy Combs


32.  Dee Elgie (UK) and Joanne Lockwood (UK)
33.  Dian Hierschel (Germany) and Eniko Fabian (Austria)
37.  Doris Stumpf (Germany) and Eszter Czibulyas (Hungary)
39.  Elke Leonhardt-Rath (Germany) and Marjolein Trewavas (UK)
 ** ME**                        40.  Ema Kilroy and Laurie Keefe-Cecere


41.  Erika Nooteboom (the Netherlands) and Giorgia Rossini (Italy)
43.  Evelyn Duberry (Canada) and Gaea Cannaday
45.  Ginger Bishop (military, Okinawa) and Martina Nagele (Germany)
48.  Helene Goldberg (Australia) and Karen Vincent
54.  Joanna Matuszczyk (Poland) and Julianna Kis (Hungary)
55.  Joanne Tinley (UK) and Michaela Pabeschitz (Austria)
65.  Kristina Johansson (Sweden) and Penny Neville (Canada)
66.  Krisztina Erlaki-Toth (Hungary) and Nicole Keller (Germany)


76.  Lori Finney (Canada) and Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp (Canada)
78.  Marta Kaczerowska (Poland) and Milla Starchik (Canada)
83.  Michelle Jensen and Sandra Young (Canada)
92.  Rosa Maria Cuevas (Mexico) and Tejae Floyde
93.  Sabine Dittrich (Germany) and Sally Russick
95.  Shanti Johnson and Tracy Mok (Canada)
97.  Sonya Stille and Traci Zeller (Canada)
98.  Stefanie Teufel (Germany) and Tania Hagen (New Zealand)

45 comments:

  1. Gorgeous necklace Ema! It is beautifully dramatic and demands attention, I love it!

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  2. Love the Layers, You did an incredible job and incorporated those little spacers just where they needed to be:-) Glad you enjoyed the beads i sent, albeit a challenge. Funny how your challenge was the size, as was mine. Guess Lori chose us for a reason as a team~

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    1. I laughed when I read your post because our challenge was the same, size. I believe everything works out just how it is supposed to.

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  3. Great combinations. I especially liked the multiple strands.

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  4. You rose to the challenge really well in my humble opinion! I think your finished piece is just beautiful. I love the multi strand/layered effect. Lovely :) x

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  5. Oh Ema! I didn't know you have been going though so much. I haven't done a very good job of keeping up. Too busy inside my own world ignoring others I suppose. You did a beautiful job. I LOVE the layers and the addition of your own lampwork fits perfectly with the soup you got. I wish I could wear big jewelry. I love to look at it, but it gets on my nerves to wear it. Lol!

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    1. No worries Jen. I understand how easy it is to get caught up in your own life let alone keep track of friends across the country. Honestly I haven't been spending that much time on line these days or talking about it too much. It doesn't help me to droan on about things. I don't know if this a piece I can pull off either. It might be too much for me and my style but I was compelled to make it. I needed to make layers. I will definitely be trying it out and see how it feels. Thank you for your kind words.

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  6. Wow! I absolutely love it! Great job. If you can't get the scale in large beads themselves, fill the "volume" with layers. It gives the same impact and I think the movement is really nice! :)

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  7. You did not have to worry, the necklace is amazing. I love way you used extra strands. Wonderful!

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  8. You found this challenging!? Well, I'd never have guess it. You rocked it honey!!! I LOVE your work.

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  9. It's s lovely color scheme. You designed a really nice piece.

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  10. I hear that about not being able to make a kiln cool quicker! You did a lovely job with your beads!

    I hope you'll join me again in the summer!

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  11. I love the finished piece even if it did give you a bit of a stumbling block. You managed to work the beads into a lovely necklace!

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  12. You did a beautiful job with the beautiful beads!

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  13. You pulled this one out- It's a statement piece.
    Beautiful!

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  14. such a great soup mix and your pieces are lovely

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  15. Oh, I could tell you: I totally understand your problems to work with tiny beads. I also couldn't imagine how to make such equal sized small spacer beads ;0)! Your necklace creation is wonderful - you did a very good job!

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  16. it was a great soup and you did a great job with it! the necklace is stunning!!
    ciao dall'Italia

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  17. i love all the layers--they blend together nicely and keep your eye moving up and down the piece. great work!

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  18. I like it when people talk about the specific design challenges they faced when making their pieces! I think it turned out stunning!

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  19. Love the necklace. You did a beautiful job on all your pieces.

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  20. I love what you did with your soup! I struggled with mine a bit too I wanted to keep things simple and try to not do my "norm". I love the chain in yours. The focal bead you sent Lori is gorgeous!

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  21. You did a great job on your beads!
    Very unusual, but lovely!

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  22. You dealt well with your challenges, exactly what the BSBP is all about. Your necklace looks wonderful, it has a lot going on which makes it neat to look at over and over again. Congrats!

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  23. Loving the layers of that necklace. It's got such complexity. You could meditate with those beads.

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  24. Very cool necklace! Love it - I was blocked until late too, its hard to decide what to make with all the beautiful beads we get!

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  25. I'm guessing that it waited to come to you until it was just the right idea. There's so much to love about this piece. The length, the layers, and the colors of this piece are all super.

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  26. You did a great job using your soup ingredients. I love everything about your design. I'm a big fan of layered necklaces. Cheers!
    Lori D.

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  27. I know how stress can silence a muse and I do feel for you but I'm so glad you were able to break the block! Nothing so frustrating as when you have a deadline looming o_O Great job!!

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  28. I love what you created. I hope things start looking better for you soon! The necklace is simply stunning!

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  29. So sorry for the illnesses in your family - hope all is well! I love that you made coordinating lamp work - in fact, I am in awe! Your necklace is just beautiful!

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  30. This necklace is gorgeous! The layers of the necklace so fun, well done! Even though you had some struggles to set you back in the beginning, you finished beautifully. Hope everyone's health is in good order.

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  31. You achieved the many layered look beautifully! Total success! On another note, I do hope all is better now with your family. Take care.

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  32. I love the colours of your soup, so fresh and spring like! A beautiful necklace.

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  33. Really beautiful work! Love the little tassel on that focal!

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  34. Your necklace is gorgeous. What a great job you did. I am touched that you spent so much time with it on a creative level before you ever set down to construct it. You should be very proud of it.

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  35. you made a really fun necklace.. it looks like it should drap beautifully!

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  36. A beautiful necklace, indeed - lovely colour palette and a very delicate, gracious result.

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  37. You did get the most out of your beads,with the layers, the small can give the illusion of "big"

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  38. Wow your piece is so intricate and complicated! I love all the layering and how you were able to tie everything together :) xoxo Beth

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  39. Lovely necklace! You did such a fantastic job making it all work! Bravo!

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  40. Gorgeous Necklace, Ema! I love that you used multiple techniques to construct your necklace. It gives it lots of texture and interest!

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  41. Really beautiful necklace. I love the length and the various media.

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  42. Love, love, love that triple-single connection, which I wish I'd thought of...:-) Really great necklace!

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I always appreciate your thoughts and comments, so please feel free to share. I encourage kindness in all words.
Ema

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