My Bead Table Blog Hop

Lisa Lodge, from A Grateful Artist, hosted a fabulous challenge/blog hop.  She sent 25 lucky people a selection of stray or orphan beads from her stash.  She asked us to combine those beads with some orphans from our own stash to create something awesome.

I was excited to take part and even more excited to receive my bead soup.

I took Lisa's soup and added odd beads from my stash, then mixed in some seed beads.  I ended up with quite a large cup of soup.

Yes, I stirred my soup with a spoon.  :)

I haven't done much in the way of bead soups, so I turned to Beaded Colorways by Beverly Ash Gilbert.  In her book, Beverly does an amazing job of explaining how to create a bead soup and how to transition between different colors of soups.  The projects are amazing and one in particular caught my eye.

Beverly's "Wander with Flair" necklace incorporates sari ribbons into a freestyle beading technique.

I had so much fun making this necklace.  There wasn't any "wrong" way to go and the bead soup blended perfectly into the fiber.

I was stunned to see the final product.

Never in a million years would I think I could make something like that!

It turns out that my approximation of beads was *way* off because I had over half my original soup left.

That soup became a bracelet.

I chose to do a freeform netting, similar to that in the necklace.  It was so much fun to just let go and string beads.  Lisa's bead soup was perfect.

I used a snap for the closure.  I love that it's hidden.

Please take some time and check out the other wonderful designers who participated in this hop.  I promise, you will see some awesome beady goodness.

Lisa Lodge, A Greatful Artist (our host)

Molly Alexander, Beautifully Broken Me

Audrey Belanger, Dreams of an Absolution

Ginger Bishop, lilmummy likes...

Tanya Boden, Fusion Muse

Lisa Boucher, Lisa’s Clay Happenings

Michelle Buettner, Mishel Designs

Eleanor Burian-Mohr, TheCharmed Life

Mikala Coates, MaybeJust Perhaps

Marlene Cupo, Amazing Designs

Kathleen Douglas, Washoe Kat's

Mary Anne Klinglesmith Flesch, Hand Crafted Serenity

Mary Govaars, MLH Jewelry Designs

Tanya Goodwin, A Work in Progress - you are here

Mary Hicks, Falling Into the Sky

Tina Holden, PolymerClay Bytes!

Shelly Joyce, Au jour le jour

Carolyn Lawson, Carolyn'sCreations

Kathy Lindemer, Bay Moon Design

Susan Lloyd, Designs by Susan

Cynthia Machata, AntiquityTravelers

Kashmira Patel, Sadafule .. always in bloom!

Inge von Roos, Inge'sBlog

Kristen Stevens, My Bead Journey

Sonya Stille, Dreamin' of Beads

Christine Stonefield, SweetGirl Design

Toltec Jewels, JewelSchool Friends

Norma Turvey, MoonlitFantaseas

Sandra Wollberg, Cityof Brass Stories