Lunch for One: Soup is On!

Road trips are over. Summer guests have departed. Even Dan is away for the week-end, which leaves me completely on my own for three days.  Time to take a deep breath and dive into my bead soup from Evie and Beth McCord. Sketches have been drawn and beads gathered over the past few weeks. Since I’m slated for the Second Reveal of the 6th Bead Soup Blog Party next Saturday, it’s time to make my final decisions.

Beth and Evie were so generous in providing me with four (yes, four!) pendants, representing the classical elements: air, fire, earth and water.

I’m more than a little nervous in coming up with a design to highlight the brilliant colors and expert craftsmanship in these amazing focals! EB Bead and Metalworks’ designs have been treasured by many an artist – take a minute to click on the fabulous photos below and read the stories of just two that are sure to inspire!

Kokopelli pendant in a design by Heather Pyle of My Muse, Aquariart

Lori Anderson's Lotus Blossom Necklace, Cup of Bead Soup project

Three Acrobats and a Dog

Yes, I know Picasso’s celebrated painting, and the ABS July Challenge, is entitled Two Acrobats with a Dog, but it required the help of a third acrobat to get my design off the ground.

I envisioned a fluid cuff in a harlequin pattern, but every sample I stitched was a false start: deep blues and soft grays that looked fantastic on my bead tray turned dull and disappointing when stitched together. The addition of the painting’s soft rose and yellow-green rendered the pattern too distracting.

I set the project aside and welcomed a nice, week-long visit from my sister. We headed to Fresh Market one afternoon, on a quest to replicate our mother’s perfect pork chops, and I encountered this acrobatic wonder in a display at the checkout counter.

Of course! Stick to two colors, and outline the sections in white! (It’s always nice when inspiration and chocolate collide!)

All that remained was to embellish the surface. A Marsha Neal earring-size bead in the colors of Picasso's sky was bezelled into a button, and serves as both the closure and focal of the cuff. A ruffled loop and accents of silver filligree topped with the painting’s blues and yellow-greens inject a bit of whimsy.

And now it will be wrapped, packaged and sent off to the 7000 Bracelets for Hope project. Take a moment to click on the ABS Flickr page to see all the inspiring entries for this month’s challenge.

Zombie Crush

I fell head over heels for a Zombie. I drove across the state of Georgia to the South Carolina border yesterday to see it in person. The zombie in question is the creation of Lesley at Sweet Freedom Designs.  An unfinished project brought back from the grave and given new life as the first in Lesley’s 2012 Zombie Project.  

A Zombie no more, Sweet Freedom's elegant Iolite Fringe Necklace

It’s a stunner, sumptuous, lightweight and pure elegance around your neck. I indulged in the luxury of wearing it for a few moments in Lesley’s store, YaYa Beads, in Augusta. YaYa is a creative oasis where inspiration abounds, both in Lesley’s finished pieces and her fabulous inventory. If you’re not yet a follower, click over to her blog – you’re in for a treat!

We spent the lunch hour sharing our tentative designs for the upcoming Bead Soup Blog Party. I brought the Fire focal from the Bead Soup bounty I received from Evie and Beth McCord of EB Bead and Metal Works, and we discovered the perfect lampwork beads and pearls to round out my design.

My sister, who is my biggest fan, has a birthday coming up, and I knew I would find the perfect focal bead for an end-of-summer necklace. A survey of the store added strands of chrysocolla, pearls and some beautifully reflective firepolish beads for a little extra shine. Won’t these look fantastic with a pop of yellow-orange from my stash?

Time to head to the bead table. I have some pressing projects – and some Zombies of my own - to bring to life!

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.

A Time to (Herringbone) Stitch

When Therese of Therese's Treasures was looking for a way to celebrate her one-year blogoversary, she teamed up with Christine of One Kiss Creations, and their A Time to Stitch Challenge was born. The requirement was simple: both new and experienced beaders were encouraged to create a piece using herringbone stitch, peyote stitch, or both.

I'm quite sure I'm not the first beader to be captured by the seduction of peyote stitch. It was the first stitch I learned, and it was love at first sight. Herringbone and I had a more platonic relationship, until I began experimenting with different sized beads and realized how versatile and surprising this stitch can be.

One of my favorite herringbone patterns is Virginia Jensen's Spinner Rims from the October 2009 issue of Bead and Button. Spinner Rims got me thinking about herringbone in a new way, and although I'd created several earrings from the pattern, had never considered using it for a pendant. I had the perfect focal for it, a turquoise, orange, and deep chocolate brown flower disc by Susan Barnes of the Fire Goddess. I love the feeling of momentum this pattern gives to the pendant.

The second component in my necklace uses a smaller disc in the same colorway, accented by Mexican opal teardrops.

I used peyote stitch to create a cradle to stabilize an uneven bottom surface on the second disc, and to fill in around the bezel. Staying with my complementary color palette of oranges and blues, I finished the necklace with a leaf charm and chain in artisan coppers.

Thanks to Christine and Therese for inspiring us with this challenge. Click on the links below to explore the rich possibilities of these stitches through the work of the other challenge participants.

Therese Frank and Christine Altmiller

Katherine Gale

Emma Andrews

Karin Slaton

Kim Bender

Lola Surwillo

Amy Severino

Bobbie Rafferty

Sally Russick

Tanya Goodwin

Paula Kramer

Sarah

Karen Williams

Shannon Hicks

Andra Weber

Beth

DW

Marla Gibson

Lisa Stukel

Mandy Duffy
Cynthia Machata

Shirley Moore

Staying Organized - Tray Simple

How do you organize your work(s) in progress? My first year of beading, I worked on one piece until the last bead slid into place and the final knot was tied. Once I started taking classes and participating in challenges and hops, I needed a system to stay organized while I juggled multiple projects.

My solution came in the form of trays from BeadSmith.  At 11”x14”, they can accommodate most everything needed for even my most ambitious designs, although I wish they were a little deeper than half an inch. Best of all, they’re stackable.  I have limited myself to five – one for my monthly Bead Journal Project , one for my latest class, two for challenges and one for experimenting.

Great for taking a project from room to room when I'm seeking inspiration, they also travel well - just slip one into a two-gallon storage bag, and you're ready to go.

I store my trays on a small built-in desk in my bead room, and gather all the information for each project in its own folder.  The pattern if I’m using one, challenge rules and deadlines, inspiration and colorway photos, bead receipts in case I need to purchase more of something (also great for pricing, if I plan to sell the piece), any sketches and notes of design ideas. That way, I never uncover a bottom tray I’ve set aside for several weeks (months!) and wonder, why are these triangle beads here?

My top tray today holds all the beads I’ve been pulling together for next week’s A Time to Stitch Hop. It’s a beautiful afternoon in the mid-seventies – tray and folder in hand, I’m heading outside to the deck to make some design decisions and get started!

May Bead Journal Project

With winter a no-show in Atlanta this year, my May Bead Journal Project celebrates the earliest, longest-running, and  most colorful Spring in memory.

"Spring comes: the flowers learn their colored shapes."
- Maria Konopnicka

In April, a reader asked if my Bead Journal project  would be used as a pendant, and I thought, why not make that my goal for this month? I oriented May's project horizontally, pairing it with some enameled rounds, a bold crystal and some leafy chain. It's ready to bring a bright touch of Spring floral to the simplest of outfits.