Saturday, September 17, 2011

Soup Du Jour - The BSBP Reveal and Giveaway!

Welcome!
I am so excited to be sharing some soup with you, sit back and enjoy a cuppa.
There's a lot of soup to be had so I will keep this as brief as I can to allow you to visit with some of the other 362 participants today.
First I would like to thank Lori Anderson, the hostess of this mega Bead Soup Blog Party, for doing such a fantastic job coordinating all of this for us to enjoy!
While this is her 4th such BSBP it is in fact my first time participating.
I was paired with Kari Carrigan ,an incredible lampwork artist ,jewelry designer and Mom of 4, from the pacific northwest. In my soup mix I received 2 wonderful focals, a lampwork shell and a heart, lampwork rounds in the colors of the sand and sea, a silver toggle clasp, ivory czech glass beads, freshwater pearls in the colors of sea blue and pale green, and 3 of her original charmed pennies. A picture of the original mix and the tin it arrived in is below.
I knew right away I wanted to make her lampwork the focus of my piece, not overpowering it by adding too many other elements and trying to stick with just the ingredients I was given. This was the challenge I gave myself.
I discovered this was easier said than done and i figured out why. The purpose of this challenge is to take us out of our comfort zone and stretch our creative muscles. Most times we come up with an idea and then start to gather and create around that idea to make it come to fruition. With the BSBP we are given the components and asked to come up with the idea to fit them. Like working backwards for me.

I settled right in with the beach/sea idea given the colors and focal, creating a piece to incorporate into the design using one of my favorite altered vintage mermaid images which I sandwiched between a mother of pearl frame, some mica and riveted to a nickel silver back for some weight and stability. It took 3 tries to get this right as the mother of pearl frame is very fragile and not perfectly flat since it's real shell.
I also wanted to showcase the silver highlights in the blue green lampwork which lent a vintage feel to the beads, so i added bali silver spacers and swarovski crystal rondelles to mimic the silver banding and tie it all together.
I wirewrapped the lampwork with new silver filled wire which I oxidized with liver of sulfur adding some bali silver rondelles and connecting with sections of oxidized sterling silver chain lengths. I then added wirewrapped dangles made with the czech glass beads and pearls adding sterling silver daisy spacers. I added swarovski crystal rondelles to the shell focal drop. The finished necklace is longer than what I usually create but I really like it and the way it drapes. 
 I had enough of the gorgeous sea blue green lampworked beads to make a pair of earrings incorporating a swarovski crystal rondelle and czech glass bead on handmade oxidized sterling silver earwires.

With the heart focal I created a beaded drop and attached the photography chick penny charm to attach to my camera strap or camera bag. Kari must have seen that i have been actively participating in I heart macro sundays over at Studio Waterstone.

With the remaining 2 charms and beads, I created 2 more drops, one has a bird in a nest and the other, Oh Look, A Chicken! To giveaway!
I will  have a random drawing on October 17th, 1 month from now, for 2 lucky people, each will receive one of these . You need only leave a comment on this post and make sure that I can reach you by activating your reply back on blogger, or have an email on your blog that I can find you or I will have to draw again!
The soup mix I recieved. You can visit my partner's blog here and her shop here.
I will create a link on the sidebar of my blog to keep up to be able to find this post again easily for those ( Like myself) who will need time to get through all the blogs.

Below you will find a list of all the other souper artists with links to their blogs!
Enjoy!

Click on each name to go to their blogs.
These are the partner pairs.

The Hostess, Lori Anderson and her partner, Manuela Wutschke



19. Anna Sabina­­­­ and Erin Siegel
















99. Kari Carrigan and Laura Twiford    *** You are Here ***








140. Mary Hicks and Laurel Steven












For a total of 362 pairs!

Amazing!

66 comments:

  1. SQUEALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Laura!!!!! I LOVE this lovelovelove the dangles the wire wrapping the whole shebang - even has a bit of vintage feel to it You did great my friend!!!! XOXO

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  2. OH WOW! Laura! The necklace is beautiful and I love the mermaid pendant you made, GORGEOUS! I have to agree with Patty, there is a vintage feel to the necklace, which I love!
    OK! Now on to the camera bag "photography chick" charm to attach to my camera bag, how do I get myself one of those? It's great!

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  3. Laura, I absolutely LOVE your necklace...it truly speaks to me. The theme had me from the beginning....but what I truly love is your focal. What a fantastic idea! That's one necklace I would find a way to wear ALL the time, and it would surely remind me of those days finding shells at Assateague! Your camera strap charms are such a great idea - I have never seen anything like them anywhere! And btw, your photography today is beautiful, pairing your necklace with the shells. I'll have to show my boys!

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  4. I love how your necklace lays - so beautiful!

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  5. I love long dangle-y necklaces! Great job.

    Enjoy the hop,
    Emanda

    http://artemisiastudio.blogspot.com/2011/09/bead-soup-reveal.html

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  6. Great use of Kari's great beads. Love the drops, what fun are those!?!? Beautiful necklace, very very pretty.

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  7. I am SO sorry for being late -- today our internet provider decided to crash. My stress level is through the roof, to say the least! They're still working on it, but it's like dial-up.

    OH OH OH! I just love this piece -- the pendant in two parts is ultra-special and of course, dangles! I'd wear the heck out of this. And your photography piece is too cool!

    I'd love win beads but I think that wouldn't be fair.

    I hope you'll participate again!

    Love, Lori

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  8. Amazing necklace - so perfect! I love the colors and the style is simply gorgeous - very nice 'soup'!!

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  9. This is so seriously cool! That necklace just floats, and the dangles are awesome!
    Thank you so much for the generous giveaway!

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  10. What a beautiful soup you made my friend, your work is truly stunning!! Thanks for sharing & all I can say is yummmmmy!!!

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  11. Oh, they're all so pretty, but the necklace is such a looker! So long and delicate and lovely! Beautiful job!

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  12. Laura, I love everything that you created!!! The focal you created was the perfect pairing with my sea shell bead, it is a timeless piece that I imagine will be well loved through the years. I also love what you did with the Charmed Pennies, what a fun way to dress them up! I am sorry I didn’t get this up right away, thought I had posted something last night, but in my haze, it didn’t. At least I am finally able to see the screen clearly so I can finally start the party! I am so glad that were paired up!

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  13. I absolutely adore the necklace you created. I'm especially in awe of the framed mermaid piece. As far as the rest of the necklace, it is beautimous! (as are the earrings)
    Fabulous job. Well done!

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  14. Love your necklace and you HAVE to pick comment #1 to win the chicken one she loves chickens!
    Shannon C

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  15. Laura!! Oh goodness! This necklace is just fab! I love the feel and the way it flows! And the earrings, just lovely too!

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  16. so pretty and delicate. I can feel the love that went into these pieces!

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  17. Wow! What a great soup you had, and what beautiful things you made with it! I love your necklace, and I think it is so cool you made camera accessories! You have the most unique creations I have seen yet- brilliant!

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  18. I LOVE that mermaid! Ocean inspired jewelry is one of my favorites. Such a beautiful necklace. Those charm drops are wonderful, but I know I would try to wrap it around my wrist if I won one.

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  19. I love the necklace, the mermaid is just perfect. I know what you mean by working backwards as it is just how I felt too. Isn't lampwork beautiful? I like glass in all forms for its sometimes watery and sometimes airy feel.

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  20. What a fantastic necklace! I love all the dangles with that focal, just perfect. Fantastic design!

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  21. this. is. beautiful! the beads are so calming and soothing and a work of art all by themselves. you really showed them off in a perfect way...letting each one be the star of its own segment.

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  22. Beautiful! I love those lampwork rounds.

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  23. Interesting how you and your partner both made similar pieces (her first necklace and your necklace)...this seems to have been a good match! You did a lovely job.

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  24. I love everything - I really like your aesthetic!

    http://sweetfreedom-designs.blogspot.com/

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  25. Very nice, I love lampwork beads!

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  26. Lovely! You received some amazing beads and used them to their best advantage. I can't believe how many pieces you made! Glad you were able to join the BSBP this time around.

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  27. Some really beautiful pieces but I think the necklace is my favorite I love the colors and the frame is fantastic.

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  28. Lovely dangles on the necklace, and the drops are a great idea, your camera bag is going to look very 'pretty' lol.

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  29. This may have pushed you a little bit, but I still think the finished products all look like you! I felt the same way about the loooong necklace but found that I loved wearing it.
    Have a great Eastern Shore day!
    Jen

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  30. Wonderful! You have created several terrific pieces. I like your use of color and texture, and the dangles are perfect. Thank you for sharing your artistic process along the way. Cheers!
    Lori

    P.S. Love the chicken!

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  31. Gorgeous bead and you rocked those pieces. I love the necklace.

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  32. Those all turned out great. I love the simplicity of the necklace to let that little mermaid focal stand out. Your camera drop is very unique and I love the 2 little drops you're giving away. Especially the little bird, since we do wildlife management on our small Texas ranch and part of what we do is plant, put out bird boxes and such for birds, wildlife, etc. Would love to win one of those. Your pieces are great, though.

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  33. So pretty and shows off the lampwork so well. Your mermaid is having a fantastic day at the beach!

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  34. I love how you did this! I love the simple elegance of the piece and love your partner's lampwork. I think it's cool how you really highlighted that! And all the other goodies! Wow. You really were busy! Beautiful job!

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  35. Love your necklace..I adore the colours of the glass beads..they look great dangling like that... and I really like your wire work...is it oxidised silver or something else? The colour looks perfect with the cool palette.That 'camera chick' is TOO cute...( I am a fan of I Heart Macro..and I am going to find one of those!!!)
    Jenni

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  36. Chickens!!! Love it! I sooooo want one of those and that camera chick is so stinkin adorable!!!

    That necklace is stunning, wow that's dreamy and magical. Love the colors and the dangles, beautiful job!

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  37. wonderful! It feels so very casual and chic!

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  38. I love your necklace - it is exactly my style. The design lets the lovely lampworked beads and mermaid pendant to shine. Your beaded drops are fantastic. Beautiful job! :)

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  39. Wowwie-Zowwie! I am so impressed! This is so marvelous and so typical of you!!! :-). Love everything about all of it! It did occur to me when you mentioned difficulty w/ the MOP frame (which I adore), that maybe little frames made of that faux bone material of Robert Dancik's would be great to use in it's place. It would not be so fragile and could be finished to look like scrimshawed whale bone! What do you think???

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  40. Wow! I love all the glass and your designs show it all off perfectly! Awesome camera accessory...so clever.

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  41. Love that necklace! Wow! So beautiful, I agree with a previous comment, the way it lays is just fantastic! And those pulls are just fantastic!

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  42. Your necklace is just gorgeous! I love the length--just perfect! And everywhere you look there is something sweet to see.

    Thanks for the chance to win one of the dangles!

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  43. I love your jewelry! You did a great job with the bead soup. And I love to win one of your chickens. The whole "Oh look a chicken things pretty much describes me."

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  44. Wow, I love what you did with your soup - so very pretty! All the pieces are very pretty, I especially really love the earrings with the crystal rondelles!
    Julie and Andrea

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  45. Fab photos of your beautiful creations. Clean and elegant and yet a lot of though and design went into it. Loved it all. Soup-er job!

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  46. So pretty! Thanks for having the giveaway too :)

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  47. The pendant you made to complement the shell lampwork is just gorgeous, and I really like the two ways you used the other lampwork in the necklace. Everything else is great too - the charms are, well, charming!

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  48. You did a wonderful job with the pieces. I think I was going to comment the last time I read this post, but I got distracted by your partner's shop. Oops!!

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  49. Beautiful necklace! Your drops are very creative & pretty - great idea!!

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  50. Your necklace is great - especially when worn my it;s creator! Great to see you this weekend!

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  51. How fun is that photo frame!
    Love your design.

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  52. What a lovely necklace! I really liked that framed mermaid pendant you made with MOP. Looks great together with the seashell bead. Great job!

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  53. The lampwork beads are gorgeous, your necklace is very lovely. The pendant is very pretty.

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  54. Beautiful necklace. I love the mermaid! And the charms are great!

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  55. That is one gorgeous necklace you've created!

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  56. All your work is beautiful. You have a eye for design and technique! Bette

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  57. Laura, trying to post other than using Anonymous - doesn't seem to like when I use my Google account. I love your charms and I chuckle every time I hear ' Look a chicken..." brings back fond memories from A&S. Bette

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  58. Everything you created is fantastic! The beads your partner created are awesome and you really did them justice. Love the camera straps too! I am also a photographer, so I can appreciate those! Nice work!

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  59. oh my


    i simply popped over
    Here
    from our new Hot*Wax workshop
    to peek at your jewelry!

    :-)

    so glad i did!

    am interested to see
    how you will B using HotWax
    with your lovely things...

    {{ love how your Blog Event
    went 'round the world! }}

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  60. Your pieces are so light and playful, so lovely beautiful, fantastic.
    Don´t know what to like most ☺ - I guess I love all.

    Have a lovely day, Manuela

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  61. Laura, the items you made from the Bead Soup pieces are fantastic! You made exactly the right decision to keep the necklace simple to focus on the beads, it is a perfect blend. I am always so amazed at the results of the Bead Soup, so many talented artists!

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  62. Very delicate and pretty, your design really works well with the beads you received.

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