Soups On! Come See What I Made!

Welcome to my contribution to the 6th Bead Soup Blog Party! Just a quick refresher, the Bead Soup Blog Party (BSBP) is a huge bead exchange that pairs jewelry designers together to trade beads (the "soup") and share what they create. It culminates in a crazy, fun, blog hop party reveal and that's where YOU have landed!

My partner for this BSBP was the lovely and talented Grace Dorsey and this is what Grace sent me. GORGEOUS lampwork beads that this talented artist creates herself!

I must have been inspired by Grace's beautiful beads, because I went a little nuts and made 9 pieces of jewelry with her soup: 3 necklaces, 2 fibula (pins), 2 pairs of earrings, and bracelet and a ring!!

As BSBP alum know, every soup has a focal bead and a clasp as part of the mix. The focal that I received was truly a piece of art. I knew that I wanted to made a necklace with it that was special enough to do the bead justice, yet simple enough so that the bead remained the focus of the piece. I created a bail for the bead out of heavy gauge copper wire and silver solder to accent and create a mixed metals effect.

I strung the bail onto 2 pieces of leather and finished it with the toggle that was part of the bead soup. The metal of the toggle and the metal of the bail weren't working together, so I hammered and oxidized the toggle to give both elements the same rustic look. I really like the way that it turned out!

The following 2 necklaces were made by combining the beads with pure silver rings that I fused and hammered. Yum!

I was very pleased with the way the two fibula (a Fancy-Nancy name for brooch or scarf pin) turned out. I've never made these before and will definitely try them again. They'll look beautiful on a coat lapel or scarf.

Couldn't resist a couple of pairs of cutie earrings!

My favorite piece that came out of this BSBP was the bracelet. LOVE! These beads are so gorgeous that all they needed was some simple silver wire wrapping.

Finally...the most challenging piece - the ring. Grace had included some lovely saucer like beads that were amazing, but I wasn't sure how to use them. After a lot of experimenting, I decided on this ring. The ring is all one piece of wire that starts with a spiral through the top beads then winds and zig-zags all the way around the band.

That's my BIG bowl of soup!! I hope you'll visit my partner Grace's blog to see what she did with the "ingredients" that I sent her. Here's a peek:

If you'd like to see the rest of the bloggers in this part of the BSBP follow this link: http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.com/2012/06/participants-of-6th-bead-soup-blog-party.html Thanks for reading and enjoy the blog party!!

How 'Bout a Big Bowl of Bead Soup?

Hello!

Bead Soup Blog Party 2012! I'm so excited to be a part of this wonderful creative blog hop once again. If you're new to BSBP, let me fill you in. Bead Soup hostess and founder,  Lori Anderson, matches hundreds of jewelry makers all across the world with partners. Each artisan sends a mix of beads and components to their partner. You are then challenged to create jewelry using the materials you were sent. On a set reveal date, everyone posts pictures of their creations and "hops" from blog to blog to see what beautiful pieces were made.

This year there were 400 participants from 45 US states and 25 countries!! Here's a map that Miss Lori kindly created for us to share:

Pretty amazing, huh? This is the 6th BSBP. It has become so successful that Lori even has a book coming out about it in October.

One of the best parts of BSBP is getting matched with a partner. Your partner is a stranger to you before the Blog Party is organized. That's part of the fun and creative challenge. If you're lucky, you're matched with an artisan who has a style or color sense that's different than your own, It's an excellent opportunity to stretch your talents and try something new that's out of your comfort zone. I think that because many of us work alone, we get caught up in our own favorite techniques. The BSBP provides exposure to the talents of other jewelry makers. It may even inspire you to try a new direction that you never considered.

I was very lucky to be paired with an amazing lampwork artist this year, Grace Dorsey.  I have to tell you that I LOVE lampwork beads! I often buy them just because I think they're so beautiful. However, I've always been challenged to figure out how to use them in my jewelry making. So I was really excited, and a little intimidated, when I found out that my partner was a lampwork bead artist.

By coincidence, Grace and I both have roots in MS and NC. Our geopraphic similarities and the fact that she is so sweet to work with, made me feel more at ease immediately. Now to show you what Grace sent me!

I'll start off with the packaging. The beads came in three lovely little envelopes and - no kidding - they smelled wonderful. Each had a little sachet inside - what a lovely touch!!

Here are some of the beads that Grace created and sent to me. SO beautiful that I literately gasped when I opened the package.

Can you believe those colors???? Love the purple, tan and gold hues. Here's another part of it. Love these "saucer" type beads.

Here are the pretty beads and clasp that she sent to compliment the lampwork:

...and one more shot of the lovely focal. I wish you could see this in person. It has a swirly milky color and depth that's hard to do justice in a photo.

I hit the partner jackpot, don't you think?! Tune in this Saturday for the big BSBH 2012 reveal.  Here's a link to the post that Grace did about the Soup that I sent her: Soup From Jane! Very nice! Thanks Grace.

I take a lot of pictures. Mostly with my iphone these days. Some are snapshots of daily life with my kids, but many are just quirky images that strike me. Not pictures to show or sell, just a little creative outlet for my own joy. (My family is generally annoyed when I make them stop so that I can take a picture of a random cloud, sign, 3 legged dog, etc... See photo above that I took while chaperoning a 6th grade field trip!) So... I cannot tell you how surprised and delighted I was when one of my creative heroes, Lori Anderson, picked a few of my shots for her new blogging ebook. FOLLOW THE PATH: Ideas and inspiration for the creative blogger. 

Lori is an amazing writer and artist. I'm always in awe of how brave she is in sharing her own journey.  I HIGHLY recommend FOLLOW THE PATH if you're looking for blogging prompts. It would be a fantastic tool if you like to journal off-line too or just need a creative boost! Don't we all need that some days? :)

JANE
www.mjanedesigns.com
facebook.com/mjanedesigns

My daughter turned 13...

My oldest child turned 13 in December. Tina Fey's "Prayer For Her Daughter", from her excellent book Bossypants (which coincidentally is the nick-name that my daughter's younger siblings have given her) seems like the perfect way to sum up my thoughts on this event:

Prayer For Her Daughter by Tina Fey

First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, May she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half and stick with Beer.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels.
What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, too dammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.
 
And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back.

“My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.

www.mjanedesigns.com

Goodwill Hunting

Ok, not Goodwill hunting - more like Goodwill shopping! I had a great sales day last weekend at the Littleton Friends of the Museum craft fair and almost sold out of my collage pendants. I use vintage images from books for the base of my collages and I needed some fresh material. Off to Goodwill to see if there were any treasures hiding in the book section. Here's what I found:

A great picture filled biography of John F Kennedy with a lot of beautiful pictures of Jackie. A 1950s parenting book filled with sweet line drawings of children and great text snippets. Another1950s book filled with terrific line art called "The Ape in Me" (?!) Huh? No idea what's up with that title.

Scanned a bunch of cool images, here's a few of my favorites:

Feel free to right click and use whatever you like. Enjoy!

www.mjanedesigns.com

Are You Too Old To Do What You Love?

If you're looking for my bead soup post, here's the link: http://mjanedesigns.blogspot.com/2011/09/its-bead-soup-party-day.html

Have you heard of Marie Forleo yet? If not, listen up! She's a fantastic motivational speaker who's also sexy and hilarious. I get her email newsletter and had to share today's post and video. In it, Marie talks addresses the question, "am I too old to do what I love?". Great topic and one that many of us face, whether you're 24 or 54. My favorite part is a quote from Julia Cameron "Do you know how old I'll be by the time I learn to play the piano?" Answer: "The same age you'll be if you don't." Here's the link, enjoy!



Link to Marie's blog post.

www.mjanedesigns.com

What You Missed at the Creative Connection Marketplace

If you're looking for my bead soup post, here's the link: http://mjanedesigns.blogspot.com/2011/09/its-bead-soup-party-day.html

I've been so busy since I returned from The Creative Connection in St Paul, that I haven't shared any pics of the event! Here's just a small sample of the wonderful vendors in the marketplace. You couldn't turn around without bumping into amazing creativity! It was a little intimidating. Although, I've done many shows, both indoor and outdoor, I'd never been in one quite like the Creative Connection Marketplace.

For starters, it was out of state - far out of state. As in, the distance between Denver and St Paul is over 900 miles! Driving 14 hours by myself didn't seem like a good use of time, so I flew. This meant figuring out how to get my show set-up to the event. Another blog post for another day . . . let's just say it was a learning experience. Secondly, this was a "pole and drape" show. This means the space is divided up by a series of metal poles with fabric hanging from them as dividers. This booth set-up is merchandised differently than the indoor shows I've done in the past. I'll switch some things around next time I'm in one of these to make better use of the drapery "walls" behind the displays. Here are a couple of pictures from my booth.  

Fabulous Silver Flowers

Earrings and Silver Collage Pendants

Pics of some of the other fabulous vendors at the show:

This organization redecorates the bedrooms of children in shelters - all through donations.

Enchanted Makeovers

Do you see the drapery swags in the background of this booth?
They drew all of it on kraft paper with sharpies!

Tinsel Trading

This is a very small part of Amy Barickman's triple wide booth. Gorgeous! I've been a fan of Amy's for several years and was so happy to find out that she's just as nice in person as she is in print.

Vintage Notions

Like I said, just a few of the many GORGEOUS booths at the show. There was also a Simplicity Sewing Lounge in the middle of everything - complete with cushy armchairs. Never could get a good shot of it because it was always filled with happy, crafty, gals. Nuff said - it was all fabulous!

www.mjanedesigns.com