Bead Soup Bounty

Our mail carrier was very late making it down our street today. So late that my husband was home from work when I walked in from the mailbox with a large box that held what I knew would be my bead soup from partners Evie and Beth McCord of  EB Bead and Metal Works. And, oh! What a bead soup! Six jewelry boxes were neatly stacked inside.

The first two boxes held these blue enameled copper pendants, handmade by my partners, which brought to mind the sky and sea. As you turn the pendant on the left in your hand, the blues change from inky to royal, and I love the cooler blue and bisque-white pendant on the right, inviting the eye to explore its contours.

The third and fourth boxes held these attention-getting focals, with the drama of red, black and orange and the burnished landscape palette on the right.

The final boxes revealed this fabulous and oh-so-generous coordinating collection of lampwork beads and a silver clasp. All but the clasp were hand made by Evie and Beth!

As I stood in awe of the bounty now glittering across my kitchen table, my husband said, “Those don’t look like the kind of materials you usually work with.” Exactly! That’s where the fun and challenge of the Bead Soup Blog Party comes in. I have never worked with enameled focals, and rarely use lampwork beads in my designs.  I am certainly out of my element, far from my creative comfort zone, and I’m SO excited!

Our reveal date is August 11^th. But you don’t have to wait until then to check out the sites of the talented mother/daughter McCord team. You can see more of their enameled copper and lampwork designs on Etsy, savor their Flickr spread, and read all about this talented family on their blog.