Bead Soup Blog Party 4 - Reveal

Hi,

Welcome to the reveal of what I did with the soup I got from my party partner Susie Hibdon of VintageSusieAndWings. Check it out, isn't it just perfectly awesome! Very exciting. I love it! Read more about it here.

If you know me from before, you might be thinking this is a way more color-less collection of beads and findings than I normally work with. Yes, that is very true. So I decided that would be my challenge. To work in a completely de-saturated and grey-ish color scheme.

The ten numbered tags was what first caught my attention, and I early on had this idea to make ten pieces on the theme of the ten commandments. Sort of illustrating each of them. I made quite a bit of research which I would be happy to share with you at another time (I found out some pretty interesting stuff, I was not yet aware of). And I am still keen on that idea, although I realize it would be a rather advanced and more of an artistic project for me. At least the way I have thought about it. Perhaps one day ... :-)

So now this is what I have made:

My first piece is a lariat style necklace. With a Christian feel to it. I made quite a few alterations along the way, working with the colors, to create something interesting. Trying to figure this, for me, new thing out (the color scheme). I've used almost only stuff from Susie's soup, adding only a few milky white glass beads, and the black glass cross.

My second piece is a bracelet containing the clasp Susie sent me. So by now I had gotten more used to the color scheme, and I am pleased with the way I managed to work with the grays, whites and blacks and still compose an interesting piece. Simplicity does not have to be boring at all. All the round beads come from my own stash.

A big THANK YOU to Lori Anderson of Pretty Things for making this world wide beading event possible. Have fun blog hopping, here's the list of the participating people/blogs, grouped by partner couples:

The Hostess, Lori Anderson and her partner, Manuela Wutschke

1. Aimee Wheaton and Barbara York

2. Alice Craddick and Sandra Richardson

3. Alison Sachs and Amy Severino

4. Allison Scott and Cynthia Abner

5. Amanda Cargill Austin and Charlene Sevier

6. Amanda Davie and Patsy Evins

7. Amber Dawn and Kim Ballor

8. Ambra Gostoli and Christine Hansen

9. Amy Freeland and Christine Altmiller

10. Ana Krepel-Novak and Eleanor Snare

11. Andrea Morici and Hope Smitherman

12. Andrea Trank and Jayne Capps

13. Andrea Turini and Charlene Jacka

14. Angela May and Emanda Johnson

15. Anitra Gordy and Elizabeth Owens Dwy

16. Ann Rishell and Debbie Price

17. Ann Sherwood and Lynne Bowland

18. Anna Lear and Barbe Saint John

19. Anna Sabina and Erin Siegel

19. Nan Emmett and Erin Siegel

20. Astrid Boyce and Birgitta Lejonklou

21. B.R. Kuhlman and Deanna Chase

22. Barbara Bechtel and Bryna Lumb

23. Barbara Blaszczyk and DaviniaDesign

24. Barbara Judy and Holly Westfall

25. Barbara Lewis and Cathie Carroll

26. Barrie Edwards and Lyn Foley

27. Becky Fairclough and Jana Tarhala

28. Bella Borgouise and Gillian Lehman

29. Beth and Evie McCord and Erin Prais-Hintz

30. Beth Bricker and Heather Pyle

31. Beth Emery and Cassie Donlen

32. Bobbie Rafferty and Cindy Cima Edwards

33. Candice McGinnis and Sally Anderson

34. Carol Bradley and Cece Cormier

35. Cathy Khoury and Molly Alexander

36. Carol Tannahill and Hilary Frye

37. Carrie Tahquechi and Cris Peacock

38. Cat Pruitt and Cindy Gimbrone

39. Charlene Gary and Doris Stumpf

40. Charlotte Pevny and Kate Gardenghi

41. Cherrie Fick and Cathie Carroll

41. Claire Maunsell and Cherrie Fick

42. Cheryl Roe and Jenny Vidberg

43. Chris White and Norma Turvey

44. Christa Murphy and Kathy Alderfer

45. Christie Murrow and Dana James

46. Christina Miles and Collette Collins

47. Christine Brandel and Elizabeth Woodford

48. Christine Damm and Cynthia Deis

49. Christine Hendrickson and Debbie Goering

50. Christine Stonefield and Dee Wingrove-Smith

51. Cilla Watkins and Johanna Rhodes

52. Cindy Wimmer and Riki Schumacher

53. CJ Baushka and Cory Celaya

54. Courtney Breul and Joanna Matuszczyk

55. Cristi Clothier and Kathleen Robinson Young

56. Cryss Thain and Serena Trent

57. Cynthia Tucker and Kitty Durmaj

58. Dana Johnson Jones and Eva Sherman

59. Davinia Algeri and Janet McDonald

60. Deci Worland and Lara Lutrick

61. Diana Ptaszynski and Kristy Abner

62. Diane Cook and Kerry Bogert

63. Diane Hawkey and Jen Judd Velasquez

64. Dorcas Midkiff and Jill Harris

65. Doris Radlicki and Heather Goldsmith

66. Dot Lewallen and Gaea Cannaday

67. Elisabeth Auld and Jennifer Justman

68. Erin Fickert-Rowland and Geanina Grigore

69. Erin Grant and Julie Jones

70. Eszter Czibulyas and Helena Fritz

71. Fiona Christie and Michelle Heim

72. Gail Zwang and Genea Crivello-Knable

73. Geneva Collins and Jana Haag

74. Gretchen Nation and Heidi Post

75. Heather DeSimone and Karin Slaton

76. Heather Marley and Terry Carter

77. Ingrid McCue and Jennifer Pride

78. Jackie Ryan and Nicole Keller

79. Janna Harttgen and Joanne Tinley

80. Jean Yates and Lori Anderson

81. Jelveh Jaferian and Jenny Davies-Reazor

82. Jenni Connolly and Jennifer Heynen

83. Jennifer Cameron and Kristi Bowman

84. Jennifer Geldard and Lisa Liddy

85. Jennifer VanBenschoten and Kim Hora

86. Jess Italia Lincoln and Lori Greenberg

87. Jill MacKay and Lori Bergmann

88. JJ Jacobs and Karen Tremblay

89. Joyce Becker and Kathy Welsh

90. Judy Glende and Karen Sinkowski

91. Judy Riley and Kelly Morgan

92. JuLee Wolfe and Julie Bean

93. Julianna Cannon and Julianna Kis

94. Julie Nordine and Lesley Watt

95. K. Hutchinson and Shea Zukowski

96. Karen Firnberg and Karyn Bonfiglio

97. Karen Williams and Kimberly Roberts

98. Karen Zanco and Polly Barker

99. Kari Carrigan and Laura Twiford

100. Karin von Hoeren and Laura Blanck

101. Kate Richbourg and Lorelei Eurto

102. Kathleen Lange Klik and Maria Clark

103. Kathy Engstrom and Keri Lee Sereika

104. Kay Thomerson and Loretta Carstensen

105. Kelley Fogle and Laurel Bielec

106. Kelly Ramstack and Sally Anderson

107. Kim Stevens and Tiffany Long

108. Kristi Harrison and Mandy Williamson

109. Kristi Kyle and Lana Kinney

110. Kristina Johansson and Sue Hodgkinson

111. Kym Hunter and Laura Sanger

112. Laura Zeiner and Susan Kennedy

113. Laurel Steven and Mary McGraw

114. Laurie Hanna and Lisa Boucher

115. Lesley Weir and Liz DeLuca

116. Linda Djokic and Tracey Weiser

117. Linda Inhelder and Pam Brisse

118. Linda Landig and Lori Dorrington

119. Linda Murphy and Lisa Hamilton

119. Line Labrecque and Marianne Baxter

120. Lisa Lodge and Monica Johnson

121. Lois Moon and Melissa Muir

122. Lola Surwillo and Therese Frank

123. Lori Bowring Michaud and Marci Brooks

124. Lupe Meter and Norma Agron

125. Maggie Towne and Marge Beebe

126. Malin de Koning and Susie Hibdon

127. Mallory Hoffman and Shirley Moore

128. Marcie Abney and Patty Miller

129. Marcy Lamberson and Melissa Clarke

130. Margot Potter and Suzann Sladcik Wilson

131. Maria Grimes and Wendy Blum

132. Maria Horvath and Melinda Orr

133. Maria Rosa Sharrow and Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp

134. Marian Hertzog and Melissa Mesara

135. Marianna Boylan and Sandi Lee James

136. Marina Dobrynina and Michaela Pabeschitz

137. Marsha Neal and Miri Agassi

138. Mary Ellen Parker and Melissa Meman

139. Mary Elliott and Tamara Soper

140. Mary McGraw and Laurel Steven

141. Melissa Pynn and Michelle Buettner

142. Michelle Hardy and Niki Meiners

143. Michelle Mach and Moira McEvoy

144. Missy Rappaport and Mags Sarri

145. Molly Alexander and Poranna

146. Mylene Hillam and Nicole Rennell

147. Nadezhda Parfyonova and Stacey Curry

148. Nan Emmett and Nancy Peterson

149. Nancy Boylan and Natalie McKenna

150. Natalie Monkivitch and Niky Sayers

151. Natasha Lutes and Pam Ferrari

152. Noemi Baena and Penny Ilagan

153. Pamela Petry and Rebecca Sirevaag

154. Pat Haight and Mary Shannon Hicks

155. Patty Gasparino and Vonna Maslanka

156. Penny Neville and Sandi Volpe

157. Pepita Bos and Wendy Chamberlain

158. Raida Disbrow and Rebecca Watkins

159. Rebecca Anderson and Sabrina Staub

160. Regina Santerre and Rose Binoya

161. Rhea Freitag and Tari Kahrs

162. Rochelle Brisson and Teri Baskett

163. Sally Russick and Tracy Bell

164. Sandra McGriff and Shay Williams

165. Sandra Wolberg and Sara Hardin

166. Sarah Elder and Salla Small

167. Saskia Kaffenberger and Sharon Gardner

168. Sharon Palac and Shannon Chomanczuk

169. Shay Stone and Suzette Bentley

170. Shiraz Biggie and Tammy Powley

171. Staci Smith and Tracy Stillman

172. Stacie Stamper and Tracy Martin

173. Stefanie Teufel and Vicky Taylor

174. Stephanie Dixon and Stephanie LaRosa

175. Stephanie Haussler and Valerie Norton

176. Suzanne Tate and Terri Wlaschin

177. Sweet Freedom Designs and Tammy Jones

178. Tania Spivey and Tari Sasser

179. Tara Plote and Terry Matuszyk

180. Terri Gauthier and Deana Hager

181. Theresa Fosdick and Tracey Nanstad

Waiting and Wishing

So, what do you do when you have used up your whole shopping budget for the month AND borrowed from next month's one? Because I just HAD to buy one of Lorelei and Shannon's beatiful Lima kits. I am so happy I managed to get my hands on one of them. (I saw they have already sold out.)

You dream away, don't you. At least that's what I do. I dream and wish I could get all of the things in the collage below.

And what do you know - as I just now uploaded both the pictures to this post, I realized they kind of share the same color scheme. Is that a coincidence? Or have I been so heavily influenced by Lorelei and Shannon's pick? But, most of these things have been on my wish list for quite some time already. Well, I did of course make a selection today when I did put this collage together. And I decided I would not have a theme at all. Hm, interesting anyway, isn't it. Maybe that was why I fell so completely for the kit. A strong color longing within.

Green Apatite Cross Drilled Nugget Beads - BeadsOnSale
What can you say. I have a weakness for greenish semi-precious stones. AND for side drilled beads. Pretty pretty pretty!

Magnetic Clasp - Smitten Beads UK
I have actually bought one of these once before. Used it in one of the necklaces I made for Lorelei's FusionBeads Challenge in January. Now I want a few more, coz it is a great design which I find very useful in many different kinds of pieces.

Amethyst colored Leather - Fru Parla Sweden
Karin of Fru Parla, a Swedish shop for beads and supplies, always keeps a good selection of colored leather bands. Along with lots of other nice and fun and different things. I hope to meet her personally on the 10th of October when she will sell at a bead show in Taby, on the outskirts of Stockholm.

Green coated brass chain - Bead Trust
I have not yet ever made a purchase from BeadTrust. That is sooooo strange. Coz I really love their range of colorful and fun products.

101 Wire Earrings Book - Interweave Store
I have wished for this book for quite some time now. And just recently it was released as an ebook. That is so great I think. I am sure it will slip into my shopping cart next time I visit the Interweave shop.

Archival Print - SwallowField
I love Jennifer's little art-pieces/collages/illustrations. I would like a whole group of them together on a wall in my house. And a few more here and there to make me happy as I am moving through the house.

Warm Dusky Pink Chunky Hat - Ileaiye
Fall and winter is coming closer. I would like a new hat. Something with more color than the grey one I had last winter. I love the style and color of this one. And all of Ileaiye's things. YUM!

Abstract Raku Beads - Jubilee
Oh, how interesting these are. I would looooooove to use them in a piece. All of them in the same one. A necklace it would have to be. Don't you agree.

Ocean Blue Chai Pendant - MissFickleMedia
You should know by now that I adore all of Shannon's work. Nothing new there. Look, this one is also somehow very cute. I sort of see a compacted Pluto type dog with still long legs. Hope it is ok for Shannon if I say that. Pluto Chai. :-)

What do you wish for?

Oooohhhh - starring again!

Hey, do you know Rebecca Anderson? She is a lovely Scottish lady living in England. She sings, makes beautiful jewelry, and she has a blog that goes by the name of SongBeads. She is a regular contributor of the Beads & Beyond Magazine. AND now she has started a new series on her blog. She calls it "Introducing". Last week she did an interview with wonderful Heidi Post. This week it is ME! I am of course extremely honoured, and also very excited by this interview. Rebecca asked a lot of interesting questions, that I really enjoyed answering. She said I could be as verbose as I wanted, so that's what I did ... 

Below you can see an image of the article on her blog. I screendumped it in sections, and built it together in Photoshop. As you can see it is rather long. But do not fear. It is very very interesting ;-) . And even if you have read about me before, in other interviews, you will learn quite a few new things here. (I just assume that you are interested, since you are actually visiting my blog right now.) 

Rebecca's blog is just generally an awesome one. So head on over there now and check it and me out more thoroughly - SongBeads. Don't miss to also check her Etsy and Folksy shops, you will find the links on her blog.

Aside from being honoured by Rebecca, I have caught a pretty nasty cold. So I have spent 3 days in bed, sneezing, shivering, sweating, and creating a tower of Kleenex by the side of my bed. I've been doing bead stitching, coz that works well when still in bed. But now I am getting a little bit stressed about some deadlines I need to reach. Next week I will start a rehab period for 10 weeks. So I am gonna be a little occupied with that. I hope to boost my work-ability over the coming few days, and finish off what I have set out to do.

If you are someone waiting for some kind of delivery from me, but haven't heard anything for a little while, please please contact me via e-mail. I have a memory issue due to MS, so I DO forget things. I need things to be right in front of my nose to kind of be aware of them. I am so sorry about that, but I can't help it. It is not nonchalance, it is broken nerve threads.

All my best,
Malin

Bead Soup Blog Party 4 - What I sent o Susie

Seems like everyone thought I would send a color fiest to Susie Hibdon, for the Bead Soup Blog Party #4. And you were all completely right actually! That is exactly what I had planned. :-)

However, as I started to roam around my stash this is what I came up with. There IS a little color there, but a bit more subtle than I had first thought.

I like the round/circular theme which goes through quite a few of the bits, and would hold a design together I believe. And I added a few other shapes that will make possibility for less stiffness. Susie does not come across as one who is stiff, or repetitive in her design style.

I made that Peyote ring myself, and left the thread there so Susie can use it however she wish to, IF she wish to.

The nepal wool bits to the furthest left I have cut myself, and then I also included a bigger bit which Susie can form however she wants to. IF she wants to.

The chunky button from recycled wood is from Meluna (awesome shop). Other special links: Elaine Ray and RoundRabbit. In fact I believe Nancy of Round Rabbit is planning a shop update today/tonight, the 1st of september. I'd go there if I were you. I would like to get a lot of the things I know she will put up, but I've reached my budget roof for this month :-(

I hope that the rusticy- and chunky-ness in my soup will be what challenges Susie a little bit. That was my idea anyway.

So how is it going for everyone with the soup party? I have not started with mine yet. I have this idea, which I don't know if I will be able to go through with. I wish, but we will see. If I don't manage this time (it is a bit complex), I will save the idea until a later date, and remember to credit Susie who was the source for it springing up at all.

This is my post on what I received from Susie. I LOOOOOOOVE it!

Again, I would like to say how incredably grateful I am to Lori Anderson for all the work she is putting on this thing, the Bead Soup Blog Party. It is an awesome idea in the first place. And now, thanks to Lori's persistent work to make everything work well in the details and for everyone involved, it has grown sooo big. It has become an international phenomenon. Wow! That is big Lori! Don't you ever forget it! That is thanks to you. I think maybe you might need to hear it over and over again though! So I will keep repeating myself as often as I can dear Lori. Be proud of yourself!

All my best,

Malin

BTW - recent arrivals AND a question to you

Vaseline Beads and Cornerless Cubes from the BeadChest. I won a voucher to be used in their shop over at Claire Maunsell's blog some months ago. (The Next Bend/StillPointWorks). I have not been able to choose which beads in their shop to go for until now. There are a lot of lovelies there I tell you. I am happy with my pick.

A pair of Tronex Round nose pliers. I am planning to update my tools gradually over the coming period. One new tool a month is my idea. I am not good at all with good quality tools. So far that is. It is gonna be a big change there I tell you. I need the good stuff. I wonder if it is gonna do anything to how my jewelry making evolves from now on?

You saw Rebecca Anderson's, SongBead, all lovely tools just casually thrown in her bag? If not you have to go and check out her wonderful vlog immediately. Well worth seeing for a lot of reasons.

What more? Grey Griffon Silk of a thicker kind, hopefully perfect for a project which been waiting in a muffin form for a while now, waiting for the right silk. Some cute green czech glass flowers. Oh how I love those.

From Barbara Bechtel, Floridity, a good bunch of goodies. She's gone wild lately with all her new awesome designs that I can't resist. I can hardly go visit her shop anymore. The Erudite line and lots of other stuff too. I could get everything from her shop really. Pretty pretty pretty!

Now:

A question to all you beaders out there. On your round nose pliers, do the jaws come together completely when they are closed, or is there a little gap/space there. If so, is it even all the way or is it growing gradually towards the back of the jaws? Hope you understand what I mean! If you have experience of using differently designed pliers in that aspect, what kind do you prefer, and why? Please feel free to also leave any thoughts on the subject of round nose pliers.

Thank you very much!

Shadow Box Challenge Reveal and Blog Hop

I think Lorelei herself best describe this challenge and what it is about:

"Last month, I held a contest for participants to recieve one of these beautiful enameled Shadow boxes from C Koop Beads. I picked 23 participants randomly, and send each of them one of the boxes. The challenge was to create something with the shadow box and reveal it on their blogs today! A big hug and THANK YOU to Sara for donating these for this challenge! I hope you all enjoy seeing all of the results!"

Boy was I happy when I received this deep blood red one. Oh yes, I think of blood. Beautiful life giving rich and healthy blood. Nothing scary or macabre. The color is absolutely magnificent!

I have had so many ideas ever since the first day, on what to do with it. I even woke up the next morning with a new idea directly there. Must have spent all night dreaming of it. Below you can see some of them.

Another theme that has been there in lot of my ideas has been the use of cord. Preferably waxed linen. I've been thinking of ways to use many strings of it in different colors and work with knots. All along this has been my favourite concept. But I have not done any. Not yet that is. I wish to play around loads more with these bezels and I hope Sara will be interested in making a few more for me, according to a few of my special wishes. But that will be another chapter. Today we are here. And this is what I have done:

Necklace number one:

I wanted to make a simple piece where the bezel would be a very important part of the design without the role of playing solo. It needed some company, a teamwork. I am very pleased with how this turned one turned out. Three colors and three materials that all enhance each other and cooperate beautifully being equally important for the whole.

Necklace number two:

A present maybe? I don't know. I just like how it turned out when I wrapped the wire around the bezel like that. And then adding the dangles. Drops of blood maybe? The super nice lamp worked red mini glass nuggets on a white core are made by Boulder Glass Monkey. The four lamp worked glass head pins by Gardanne.

As I was heading out on the veranda earlier today to take the photos of the second necklace I walked past this cushion in our living room. I love that cushion. It really brightens up which ever piece of furniture it happens to rest in. I don't know about you. But I can see some connection there, with the colors in the necklace ...

Now, enjoy hopping through these participating blogs!

1. Lucid Moon Studio

2. Ann Rishell

3. Malin de Koning

4. Gray Girl Studios

5. Maria Grimes

6. Beads of Busy Gals- Elizabeth

7. The Silly Pearl

8. Shay Stone- Shays creative journey

9. LissC

10. the Beading Yogini

11. Grubbi

12. Jenny Davies- Reazor

13. Beth of Elizabeth Williams

14. Artybecca

15. Stefanies Sammelsurium

16. KreativeKsapylet

17. Shirley- Beads & Bread

18. Hilary Frye- Frye Style

19. Heather Wynn Millican

20. Staci Louise

21. Suzette- Ellie's Bijoux

22. Marina - Fanciful Devices

23. Andrew Thornton

And finally don't miss out on Miss Lorelei herself:

24. Lorelei's Blog

All my best,

Malin

Instant Love

Can you believe these are glass? They look so gorgeous. Rustic and precious at the same time. By OutWest. And what do you know, lucky me purchased them yesterday :-)

I think a necklace with HumbleBeads beautiful pendant and an antiqued copper chain. And to go with that, a pair of earrings. What do YOU think?

Tomorrow will be the reveal/blog hop for the Shadow Box Challenge arranged by Lorelei Eurto with enameled bezels from C-Koop. Don't miss that. I am one of the lucky participants. And I am so much looking forward to see what everyone else has come up with.

All my best,

Malin