July 6, 2012

Bead Soup!

This is my first time participating in Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party and I'm super excited!  Lori pairs up participants and the partners exchange a "Bead Soup" made up of a focal piece and a clasp as well as a few coordinating beads.  Each person must design & execute a piece of jewelry using at least the focal and the clasp.  That's it in a nutshell.  I was paired with Nicole Rennell, an artist who works with metal and polymer clay.  My package from Nicole arrived today and this is what she sent: 
 How gorgeous is THAT!  She made the polymer clay focal and clasp and added glass, stone and crystal beads as well as a second (metal) clasp.  I love the bright, rich color of the blue and it really pops against the black and white
 My soup for Nicole was very different.  I went with beads from Africa and many of them were made using recycled products.
I started my soup with the strand of red beads - recycled vinyl (vulcanite) just because they sounded cool:)   I added green sandcast beads from Ghana that are made by pulverizing old (recycled) glass, pouring it into molds and melting it in crude earthen ovens.  I love that the resulting beads aren't perfect.  I found some old brass heishi (also from Ghana) and some antiqued bone and lava beads to add some texture.  The v-shaped focal and the two larger brass beads are Ashanti trade beads.  The clasp is a vintage brass hook.  I spent some time looking at Nicole's previous pieces on  flickr and decided she would like some basic type beads which would leave her plenty of room to put her own spin on the piece.  I hope I've done that without them being boring.

So, I've been studying my loot and trying to decide what to do.  I could do the obvious and string a necklace that would be beautiful with those colors and the amazing polymer pieces, but that doesn't sound like much of a challenge.  I could add some macrame somehow or some fiber to soften things up.  I could use the focal on a necklace and make a coordinating bracelet using the clasp as a clasp/focal (I'm really liking that idea).  I could add some metal or chain into the mix - maybe black chain.  So many ideas!  Be sure to check back on July 28th to see what Nicole and I have done with these.



9 comments:

  1. Love both the soup you received and the one you sent! Looking forward to both of your creations!

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    1. Thank you:) I saw the heart pendant you sent your partner and the story behind it - how cool is that. I'm such a fan.

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  2. I can't wait that long!! LOL
    I love what you sent her. I like the African theme, great idea.

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    1. I just loved the African beads (don't tell anybody, but I ordered double of everything so I could have a set, too LOL)

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  3. Sherri, I have been a fan of your jewelry for a while now. When I was a kid I made several macrame plant hangers for my Mom (she loved them, of course) and ever since I saw your facebook page I have wanted to try something with micro macrame in a piece of jewelry. It is one of those things that I never forgot how to do. Your soups are great, looking forward to seeing what you do with the one you got!!

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    1. You should give micro macrame a shot - it's like riding a bicycle (only lots less work). Thanks for the kind words!

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  4. What Kumi said :-). Definitely love both what you sent and what you got. So unusual. Looking forward to the projects that come from these.

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  5. Wow! Both so different, yet so stunning and creative! Wish you both a lot of fun!

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  6. Excellent Idea!
    It is really a wonderful post that you make.You share with us a awesome article.
    I like it very much.
    Thanks a lot for sharing this site.
    Munmun Nishi :)

    Ghana Beads "

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I'd love to hear from you!

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