Bead Soup is Finally Fully Cooked.....and it's yummy!

Drumroll, please.....it's time to reveal the fun jewelry I created using the lovely bead soup ingredients sent to me by Vintage Susie.  We have been participating in the 7th Annual Bead Soup Blog Party, hosted by the fabulous Lori Anderson.  Vintage Susie and I exchanged our soup fixins about two months ago, and we now get to show off the fully cooked soup.

As a reminder, check out this blog post to see the yummy fixins that Susie sent to me:
http://www.wingedimp.blogspot.com/2013/02/soup-time.html

I just naturally gravitated to the browns and blues, and absolutely fell in love with the pretty ceramic heart focal, and the two ceramic rose beads.  So, into the pot those went first, along with the pretty clasp from the fixins, and after much stirring, stringing, and wire bending, here's the result...."Hearts and Flowers Necklace":

Vintage Susie makes the most wonderful pendants from old silver spoons, and the one she sent me was engraved with the fun phrase "A Rare Bird".  Hmmm....her package included several cute little wire and bead bird nests, too.  Yep, into a new pot of soup those went, along with a Bali silver butterfly from my own collection.  Stir, stir, bend wire, bend wire....and voila:

Now, how about a bracelet?  Those pieces of sari silk were calling my name, along with the rest of the blue and brown beads.....weave the silk through a bit of chain....stir it altogether, and a bracelet emerges from the pot:

Vintage Susie also sent me the cutest picture of a little girl on a swing, and it was just about the right size to fit into a coppery frame I had bought some time ago.  So, trim to fit, add a bit of resin on top, along with just a little bit of bling....  

And with that, my first time participating in the Bead Soup Blog Party has come to an end.  It has been so much fun....I'll definitely want to join in again next time. 

A big, big thank you to my wonderful partner, Vintage Susie.  Do go check out her blog at: http://www.vintagesusieandwings.blogspot.com/

And, for our fabulous Party organizer, Lori -- what can I say, but, "You Rock, Girl!!!!" 
[Be sure to check out Lori's blog too: www.prettythingsblog.com ]

My First New Orleans Experience....Definitely Won't Be The Last...

I had the opportunity to spend a little....and I do mean a little....time in New Orleans a week ago.  Although it was just an overnight trip to give a talk at a conference for my "day job", at least I had a few hours to walk around the French Quarter.

Great view of the river from my hotel room.....blue skies....temps in the low 70's...mmmmmm...

This was my first visit to this beautiful city.  Although I had seen pictures of all the cool ironwork balconies,  they are definitely much more impressive in person (and inspirational from a design 

perspective)....

Then there were all the fabulous musicians everywhere ....

Loads of folks were out enjoying the gorgeous day....

Cool little bookstore....located in the building where Faulkner wrote his first novel...

Art and artists were everywhere too....   This lovely work-in-progress was in the window of an art gallery....would have loved to have seen the artist at work.  Although I didn't get a photo of it, in a shop near this gallery was a phenomenal collection of all kinds of light fixtures and ceiling fans....and not at all the kind that you see in the big box stores....these were all works of art in their own right....

Luckily, I'll be returning to New Orleans in the fall....and this time for a full week.  Can't wait to really explore all the art and music of this great city....

Soup time!

My dear Bead Soup Blog Party partner, Vintage Susie, sent me the most wonderful package of treasures.  The soup fixings came in today's mail, and of course I had to open it right away....no delaying gratification for me....especially not where beads are concerned. 

My first peek into the envelope revealed this special wrapping....

And inside....first a collection of beads in turquoise and coppery browns....one of my favorite color combinations....and aren't those little rose beads adorable!?

Then a lovely uniquely shaped copper clasp....and a silvery and white sweet collection....with the cutest little bird nests....

....vintage pearly buttons....lacy medallion...I see a mixed media creation in my future...

...oh....and the best of all....gorgeous pendants made by Susie herself from vintage spoons....so creative!

So now it's time for me started cooking this wonderful soup into some fun new jewelry...

What's that on my face, you ask? Yep,it's a giant grin!!!

Pinning blogs....who knew?

I just figured out how to pin the blogs I love to my Pinterest boards...  All right, so maybe this isn't a major accomplishment, but it was a pretty cool thing to me.  The sad part is that there was a time in my life that I was the techy one....now I have to rely on my son, nieces, and nephews to keep me from falling hopelessly out-of-date.  😜

On another topic, my bead soup partner, Vintage Susie, received her beady surprise package, so now I can show the pics I took before I mailed it to her.

This is the original package I had put together before being matched with Susie.   Includes a vintage (Bakelite?) focal, two fun clasps, and a selection of both vintage and new beads...

Then, once I found out that Susie is a vintage lover just like me, I added this collection of vintage metal stampings and a few cameos....

Check out Susie's blog to see her (much better) photos of all these little goodies:

www.vintagesusieandwings.blogspot.com

Bead soup partner!

Woohoo, I have been paired with a fabulous partner for the Bead Soup Blog Partner....Susie of Vintage Susie....check out her blog here:  http://www.vintagesusieandwings.blogspot.com/

I'm in love with her mixed media designs and vintage aesthetic.  Although I had her bead soup box almost complete last week, now that I've met Susie, I decided to add a few special surprises just for her.  It's a secret for now, but here's a "tease"....

And this....

Pinteresting...

Like many others, I have discovered and completely embraced Pinterest.  After all the years of ripping out magazine pages that had ideas and photos I loved, only to not be able to find them when I needed them (organized, I'm not)...it's so nice to have a non-paper way of doing the same thing...WITH built-in organization components.

So, now when I need design inspiration, I can just click on my Art Deco or art nouveau board.  Or, if I want to try a new jewelry technique, I go to my artsy tutorial board.  And, voila, there it all is....no paper cuts either! :-)

Would you like to take a peak at my boards?  Just click here: http://pinterest.com/wingedimp/

Just a few of my designs....crummy photos though...

I love doing wirework....there's just something about taking a nondescript length of metal wire, than twisting, turning, and curling it into a unique setting for a beautiful stone....like this Rhodochrosite...

Or this Montana Agate...

While I enjoy doing most kinds of beading, I generally find seed beads to be just too "fiddly".  But recently I discovered the new twin-style beads....definitely more fun....

Bead Soup Blog Party Time!

I'm hoping to start up my art jewelry business soon -- been a bit sidetracked by life for awhile.  So, to get my muse revved up, I've decide to take part in the Bead Soup Blog Party.  After sending off a package of cool beads and findings to my trading partner, I'll get a package in return -- then the fun begins -- creating something new using the contents of the beady surprise package.  Can't wait.....

Almost seven years ago I joined the blogging world, then promptly dropped back out.   Perhaps it's time that I give it another shot.  Creative writing has never been my forte, so please bear with me as I muddle through.....