Seems that I can't get enough of Bead Soup Parties! Kalmbach, publisher of Lori Anderson's Bead Soup book, decided to make some soup of their own and I just had to jump in with both feet! Designers were teamed with bead stores across the country and challenged to make a necklace - or two - with the goodies they received. I was lucky enough to be paired with a CO store called "Let It Bead".
The
beads that I received for the swap were lovely, but also very different from
my usual design style. I knew that I'd have to stretch as a designer to
make my creations. Having participated in a couple of Lori Anderson's
swaps, I was prepared and excited for the challenge!
After
looking at the beads spread out on my work table for several days, I
decided that there were really two distinct color palates in the
collection. Some of the beads were in the cool gray, silver and purple
family. The rest were warm fall bronze, red, and oranges. The answer to
my design question seemed to be two necklaces rather than one.
My
first necklace came together easily. Using double-ended, wrapped, wire
loops I connected the bronze and orange beads. I then attached these to
leather cording. I used brass colored wire to make connecting loops in
the leather. The brass clasp from the bead soup worked perfectly to
finish the necklace.
The
second necklace I designed was a little trickier because I wanted to
include the large shell doughnut focal. The focal didn't have a drilled
hole and was obviously too big for a traditional bail or jump ring!
As a
solution, I created a bail myself out of sterling silver. I made a
paper pattern, sawed out the metal then hammered and stamped the design
and word "joy". I used a decorative rivet to attach the bail. For the necklace, I used the
really pretty glass and stone purple beads that Let It Bead sent. I
accented these with silver square beads and heishi nugget spacers that I
already had.
