Finally the Bead Soup Blog Party Has Returned to my House!

The very first thing I want to say is thank you, thank you, thank you to Lori Anderson for figuring out a way to include us all in the Bead Soup Blog Parties, and further thanks for hosting them!  I missed out on the last one, and I was so sad.  But no more,  doing the happy dance again!

When I sent my beads to Michelle Hardy, my erstwhile blog partner, I really did not know her at all, so I picked out a fun focal, and cued the colors of the associated items to that.  Here is Michelle's Blog, http://fireflyvisions.blogspot.com/ so you can see what magic she has done with my crazy collection.

Well, she did the same thing I did.  She sent varied, and yet somehow perfectly suited pieces, that are not my usual color palette, but really worked well together.  So, I am thrilled to be able to again go outside my "normal."

I first noticed the blue bead soup because it reminded me of the bayous in Louisiana, where I lived for 11 years until Hurricane Katrina.  So, I decided to go with the bayou theme.

The blue soup got combined with a sandy soup of my own and turned into a wild free form netting/peyote/who knows what the heck stitch necklace that I called  Bayou's Edge.  It also has one of Michelle's clasps, a big ol' brass clasp that I just loved!

Here's a close-up of the center detail.  It is still kind of hard to see because the sun/shadows kind of washed out the blue in the center, but I hope you can make it out.

Then, because I hadn't used any of the soupy focals, I decided I had to have some fun with the giant gold colored stamping.  I domed it slightly, patina-ed it, then I painted it with alcohol ink to enhance the plants and the darling dragonfly detail.  I added a tiny beaded edging, to give me a place to attach my ribbons and copper beads.  Then I put it on the bronze rolo chain from Michelle's bead soup, and added the Melinda Orr s-clasp to that.  I called this one Bayou Dance, because the ribbons look kind of like a tutu.  (Work with me here, as my hubby likes to say.)

Lastly, I had these two amazing Melinda Orr components from Michelle that were just crying to be used.  So, I combined them with some of the turquoise and faceted soup beads, and put them on earwires.  I had to call them Blue Bayou, because what bayou collection could ever exist without that?

So, use the Bead Soup Blog Party button at the top right to find the links to the blogs for everyone in Reveal #1.  Visit those blogs, leave party comments, and just have a good time.  I'm afraid you will have to wait a bit until the next reveal, but that's part of the fun.  The anticipation makes it so much better!