Adventures of One Beady Woman: September 2011

The Bead Soup Party is here today and aren't you excited to go see what everyone has made. I have to apologize that I have not kept up with my blog here lately. Life have been very hectic on my end. I have had to help take care of my 81 year old mother-in-law through two cataract surgeries and then I just had cataract surgery myself in the last week and then I just lost a dear dear friend in Florida to cancer this week. I have been frantic trying to finish my projects this week with one eye working which has been no easy task. I have the projects finished but I have to try and get the photos done and posted on my blog later today so you all will just have to anticipate the final project pictures for a few hours more.

My partner is the lovely Kathy Alderfer of artfuldesigns@blogspot.com In keeping with the Bead Soup Policy, we decided to challenge each other with our color choices on this "soup". Kathy send me the color "Pink". This was not in my comfort zone at all. I received some lovely flower beads, some unusual chunky ceramic type beads, some beautiful pink stick pearls and a lovely unakite focal and brass findings. I truly did not know what to do with this color. My focal was small for the chunky beads and I just could not figure out what to do with it in conjunction with the rest of the beads. I had an ahh haa moment and decided to be ambitious and attempt a bead embroidery pendant. I added some vintage cabs to the piece and used some of the pearls and some other beads from my stash for the pendant. I got that done (before my surgery, thank goodness) and then had to figure out how to hang the darn thing. I found some unakite rounds to match the pendant and decided to do a spiral rope. My clasp was not going to be heavy enough to support the pendant so I tried to come up with a different way to attach the rope. I found two heavier brass toggles and decided to stitch the round part of the toggles to each side of the pendant and use that as a point of attachment. I still needed to get some brass in the piece. I decided to add a brass chain with some dangles of the flower beads and unakite rounds to it. Well, then I got to looking at it and decided that the spiral rope was pretty and since it attached to both sides of the pendant, well why not make it convertible. So then I made a slide peyote pendant and added a piece of chain that could be added to the back so that if you didn't want to wear the pendant, you could wear the spiral rope and slide instead and/or just wear the pendant with the chain. Now I had two necklaces in one. I still had the chunky beads left so I added some brass spacers and unakite rounds and made a stretch bracelet with those. I still had to use the toggle so I made a pair of asymmetrical earrings with the toggle and other finding that Kathy send me and added in the flower beads and pearls with those.

I hope I have teased you enough with the descriptions so that you will anticipate the pictures that will be posted later today. In the meantime, please start visiting the others on the list to see what they created. The partners are as follows:

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

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