Tuesday, October 30, 2012

In The Soup Again!

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. 
  
Fun project! Thanks Kalmbach Books and Let It Bead!!