Bead Soup Blog Hop

Over 500 people signed up for the 7th Bead Soup Blog Hop this year!  Holy Cow!  I am so impressed by Lori Anderson, the founder/organizer of the Hop, and all the hard work she puts into this for everyone.  Lori has a new book out about Bead Soup as well, and I will be lucky enough to receive a copy when I attend the Bead Soup event at the Bead & Button Show this year.

How does it work?  Lori pairs up participants, then we raid our bead stashes and send each other ingredients for soup that includes a focal bead, a clasp, and accent beads.  I have been partnered with Susan Nelson Bowie of Stones and Bones Jewelry Design.  Susan creates beautiful pieces showcasing her love of nature, and are filled with her beautiful spirit.  Her free-style peyote necklace is truly amazing, and one of my favorites:

My ingredients for Susan to work with are on the way to her, but I can't share what I sent until she receives them.  Here is a little tease I made for her before mailing it off:

And here is the tease of the ingredients she sent to me:

I cannot wait to receive it, and start the soup simmering!!  Stay tuned for the un-disguised photos after we each receive them, and the reveal date to see our creations is April 6th!

Too exciting!  New beads, new challenge, and new friends...

I'm going to Tucson...

Well, at least one of my designs is!  I will be there in spirit.

I am so excited and honored that one of my designs was chosen to head to Tucson with ZnetShows.  In my previous post I mentioned being chosen to join a design team for their Cultured Sea Glass, and this piece was chosen to be displayed in their booth at Tucson with all the other gorgeous designs the team came up with.

I have always wanted to go to the Tucson Show, and some day I will.  For now, I am thrilled that a part of me will be there.

Thanks to Bill and the ZnetShows team for letting me join them...stop by and see them at the GLW Gem Mall, Booth 1411 from February 2 - 15!

Design Team...

First of all, a HUGE thank you to ZnetShows for the gorgeous Cultured Sea Glass Beads, crystal, and toggles they sent me to work with.  They were so generous, and all the fun shapes and goodies truly made my job so much fun.

I have always loved sea glass, but haven't had the opportunity to work with it.  I am so thrilled with the dark aqua color they sent me, as each design team member received a different colorway.  Not only does it look terrific with silver and gunmetal, but also with Vintaj Natural Brass which is definitely a staple in my designs.

I wanted to create some simple pieces for everyday wear, and some special pieces to wear special places.  I started with silver, as it made me think of summer, sun...and the beach!  Then I moved on to the Vintaj which added a rich, more vintage look to the sea glass.

My designs have been featured on the ZnetShows facebook page, so head on over and check them out along with all the gorgeous entries from the other designs.  I apologize for the quality of the photos, as I haven't been able to find which box my good camera is in since the move!  I'm sure it's sitting in a box in the storage unit labeled "Kitchen".  ;-)

Now head on over to ZnetShows and show them a little love...