Bead Soup Blog Party! Time For The Big Reveal!

Today is the day! You get to see what I made with the fantastic stash Tina Bosh  sent me. First, instant replay. Here is the luscious focal from a souvenir swoon, I mean spoon. There was also a fabulous sterling toggle clasp. Those pearls are to die for and there were oodles of vintage goodies (note the hematite facsimile glass in the lower right -- one of my favorite vintage beads.)

Drum roll please! Oh, wait.

Here is a close up of the beads. I used the vintage pink crackle glass rounds she sent with some Chinese gemstone cuts in a hematite finish. I also found some of my own hematite facsimile glass in an oblong shape, and there are some titanium plated hematite stars sprinkled here and there. There are seed beads in a gray AB finish. I used the larger vintage beads from the soup and the pearls. Two strands are knotted but the one with the bird is strung.

This is the clasp. I added a couple of links from an acid etched brass chain in a silver color. It made it easier to combine all three strands. I am loving this clasp!

© 2014 Theresa Buchle "Fly Me Home"

Now for the drum roll! Open the photo so you can see the details, like the stars and the tiny faceted beads that add a bit of sparkle. I included a silver finish brass bird and I called the piece Fly Me Home.

The inner strand is 19 inches long, the outer strand with the pendant is 23 inches. The pendant strand and the center strand are hand knotted on gray silk. I used silver-plated copper core wire to make the loop to hang the pendant. The bead tips for the two knotted strands are plated silver. The crimp beads have nickle colored crimp covers over them. All in all I wanted a slightly vintage look for everything so I tried to stay away from bright, shiny silver. The only beads sent to me by Tina that I did not use were the bronze seed beads. I am in love with what I did. There, I said it, fully admitted it.




Now, a little about my partner, Tina Bosh. She has traveled all over the country (47 states!)  but has spent most of her time in Northern California. She's very much like I am regarding Texas -- she wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

She has two children, a boy and a girl, both in their 20s. They have done their mama proud with their degrees. He went into Industrial Technology and she went into Event Planning. And Tina was a school librarian for a while, which explains her love of books. She has been married for 27 years and has four dogs: three dachshund mixes and a chihuahua who help fill her now empty nest.

Now for the other thing she and I have in common (the thing other than beads, of course):  finding other people's junk and making something else out of it! You know, junktiques, upcycling, repurposing. Only she has actually made a teensy bit of money doing so. Also, for the past four years she has made it a point to take an art class each semester (and a P.E. class which puts me to shame!). I love all of this about her.

This part is in Tina's words: "I love making jewelry. I have taken college classes in casting, making wax models and then casting in metal. One semester I took glass fusing and enameling. I have made many focals in the classes. For beads, I pick up thrift store necklaces, deconstruct them and make something new.  I work in stone, gem or glass beads.  My style is a bit Bohemian/Hippie.  While I think seed beading is lovely it is not my thing . . . . As far as art, I work mostly in mixed media.  Collage is another favorite.  The watercolor bird on my blog is a very beginner effort.  I am taking watercolor this semester and am only a few weeks into the learning." By the way, I love the watercolor bird! What I took out was that she doesn't like seed beads. *sigh*  I just couldn't bear to see the words again, sniff!

And here is what sent Tina. I cannot wait to see what she did and to find out which soup she used. My original post about the goodies is here.

The first soup was built around an ammonite. I included some mother of pearl drops, carnelian daggers, some white jasper pillow beads and faceted crazy lace agates (I love those - saved some for me!). There is a lovely sterling clasp along with some ear wires. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

The second soup was built around that sexy rose quartz pendant. I included more rose quartz beads (I love those acid etched faceted drops & have some of my own), fancy fire polish in green/gray/pink, some green glass gemstone cuts, and some tiny faceted labradorite. There is also some brass chain, a Vintaj dragonfly and a Vintaj filigree ring and toggle. Last, but not least by any means, I added a length of hand died silk ribbon in pink/green, gray. This is actually my favorite of the two. No wait, the other one is. No, wait . . . .

And I sent her a pair of earrings with niobium ear wires in copper, copper chain and bead caps, mookaite, and tiny orange glass beads on copper head pins -- just because.








Bead Soup Blog Party links are found here on Lori Anderson's blog. Warning! There are several hundred links, so be prepared.

Happy hopping! And have a Happy Mother's Day if you happen to be a mom. I have a great weekend planned and might just have pics for you next week.