I won a prize - BSBP7

The fantastic Bead Soup Blog Party. The big international and annual beading event arranged by wonderful Lori Anderson of PrettyThingsBlog. All the reveals for the 7th one, were back in April. And then in May Lori announced the winners. That was a new feature for this year, the chance to win prizes also, and you can read all about it in this post on Lori's blog. 46 winners were chosen by 7 judges, and from more than 900 contributing jewelry pieces.

I am so proud and honoured to announce that I won the category "Judges Choice" by NinaDesigns (it was a tie between me and another designer, NinaDesigns couldn't pick just one).



Here's a close up of the linen cording, the beads and the knotting.



On Pinterest you can see pictures of all the contributions on a special Pinterest board, and here's the link. So much eye candy there for you to see. So many beautiful and inspiring pieces.

And if you want to read my own reveal post again, and see the other things I designed for the party, you can check out this link.




A couple of weeks ago I recieved my prize beads from NinaDesigns, with a couple of extra bonus charms thrown in there by Lori (thank you so much!!!). The Nina beads and the pendant are Sterling Silver. And I absolutely adore them. The whole thing is really a giant bonus. To win some wonderful beads just like that :-). Thank you so much NinaDesigns!!!

I am also very happy (and proud) that my partner Agi Kiss of MoonSafariBeads also won. With pieces she had made from the lot (the soup) I had sent to her. She won 2 - TWO - of the categories. Wow! Congratulations Agi!

All my best,
Malin

7th Bead Soup Blog Party - Reveal

So it's that time again. The Bead Soup Blog Party 7, third reveal. My partner is Agi Kiss of Moon Safari Beads, from Hungary. Here's a reminder of what she sent me. She made all those awesome colorful polymer clay beads herself.

So my first piece is a necklace, using Agi's large silvery pendant, and the hook part of the clasp.

It's knotted with 8 strands of dark green waxed linen cording. I used some lovely rustic tumbled stone nuggets of Amazonite Blk Tourmaline, and some twisted silvery beads nearer to the back. A chunky chain around the neck to add some length, and the clasp sits somewhat to the side when hooked on to the chain.

Well, I have to admit I totally took this style of knotting with many cords from Erin Siegel, who had a beautiful necklace and bracelet published in the spring 2013 issue of Stringing Magazine. I absolutely completely fell in love the first time I saw it. And it was great making my necklace using this technique. At first I was a bit nervous if I would mess up a knot somewhere along the line, and therefor would have to waste all the linen cording because of that, but I very soon understood how to go about it all. It was not difficult, you just have to be thinking about what you are doing very conciously. All those cords create a beautiful effect, particularly suitable for necklaces in my opinion. 

Here's the link to Erin Siegel's own blog post, where you can see and read about her necklace and bracelet. (I had a smaller picture of them here before, but I noticed in my comments that quite a few people mistook it for one of my own designs. So I replaced it with this link instead. I am so sorry for causing that misunderstanding. It was not my intention at all.)

I don't often use large pendants like the one Agi sent me. So she had found a good thing to challenge me with there. :-) I am very happy with how this necklace turned out. Everything comes together in a nice bold, rustic and bohemic style. And I feel I have discovered and learned a few nice new things along the way. Thank you both, Agi and Erin!!!!

Agi also sent me a large blue rivoli bead. And even though I am a seed beader to some extent, I have never bezeled a cabochon or rivoli before. I never thought I would actually. Never felt the lust to be honest. But hey, now I kind of HAD to, didn't I. All that sparkle just begged for it.

My first attempt was not at all successful, the bezel became way too deep so to speak. But number two worked well, fitting just perfectly. And from there I just continued, figuring it out along the way. And it became a ring. I played with the color combos, trying to make something different and unusual. And this ring catches attention directly. I will wear it tomorrow at the party I am going to. :-)

The inside offers a little surprise, only visible when the ring is taken off. I like little details like that.

So once more a successful party experience for me. Thank you so very much Lori Anderson, for being the magnificent hostess you are!!!!!!!!

But oh, why didn't I make something with Agi's wonderful and colorful polymer clay beads? Well I did. And took it apart. Then I did again. And took it apart. Not happy with what I made. I felt my creations didn't do justice to Agi's beautiful work. But I am not giving up. One day, hopefully soon, you will see something where I have used them. 

Here's the link to our hostess Lori's blog, PrettyThings, where you will find the full list with all the links to all the other participants of the 3rd reveal of the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party.

But first I think you should check out what my partner, Agi Kiss of Moon Safari Beads, made with the beads I sent to her.

All my best,
Malin

BSBP 7 - Partner and Beads

My partner for the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party is Agi (short for Agatha) Kiss from Hungary. Yes, her surname is Kiss. How cool is that?! I realize that it of course doesn't mean the same thing in Hungarian, but still ...

Her business name in jewelry is MoonSafariBeads. 

Check out her blog here. It's bilingual.

And her Etsy shop here.

We are in the third reveal, on the 13th of April.

Hungary is a central European country, with a long and interesting history, and a very exciting cultural heritage. I am not overly knowledgable about it all at the moment, but my curiosity has been awoken now, so I will definetely look into it a bit more. It might perhaps lend some inspiration to the pieces I will make with what I got from Agi. I certainly hope so anyway.

Agi is a wiz with the polymer clay. Just check out these absolutely beautiful earrings below. I adore them!

She is also a skilled seed beader.

I got an exciting and beautiful soup from Agi. With a colorful mix of her awesome own made beads, and a clasp, in polymer clay, and other beads as well. Do you see the large blue rivoli bead in the bottom left picture? Now I will have to give it a go for the first time in my life to bezel a rivoli/cabochon. And I already have an idea for the polymer clay beads with the metal wire going through them. And check out that large metal pendant ... yum!

I sent Agi a, in my own mind, rather diverse soup, with no special theme to connect it all together. If anything, it would be the three different color themes, red, purple and green. And I did put a lot of art beads in there in materials other than polymer clay, for Agi to play around with. 

All my best,

Malin