bead soup blog party – revealed!
Are you ready?! Well, it’s finally that time! Time to reveal just what exactly was created with the lovely assortment of beads & findings that Fay of Fay Wolfenden Designs sent me – back in February for Lori Anderson‘s Bead Soup Blog Party!
With so many pretty handmade components, it was trying to figure out the best way to show them off, that was quite a challenge. I decided to go for not 1 design, but 4! to showcase each bit of uniqueness!
1st up – (and my favourite!) – a hand forged black steel and leather bracelet.
The twisted wire was actually meant to be a focal pendant adorned with a bead dangle, but as soon as I saw it, it just screamed bracelet to me! I wire wrapped some of Fay’s pretty little lampwork beads with her glass bead headpins and some extra black metal wire to give it a bit of an edge – and to go along with the leather cuff of the bracelet – which was riveted to the large jump rings she hand forged. I fashioned a hook clasp from more of the black steel wire and wrapped onto one of the large jump rings, to attach it all together. I just love it 
2nd & 3rd reveal … are some dainty little lampwork bead earrings & a wire framed large lampwork bead necklace …
Fay made the beads & head pins used in the earrings (which are paired with some bits of my personal stash of natural brass components), and she also made all of the glass lampwork beads in the necklace, including the focal piece in emerald green (Pantone’s 2013 colour of the year!) and ivory. Her beautiful beads are paired up with a faceted silver bead dangle and black steel wire to match the gun metal chain she had also supplied.
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And finally, the last (4th) piece … with so many pretty components still left untouched, I chose to make another statement necklace, using part of Fay’s “U” shaped metal clasp as a focal dependant ~ with multiple lampwork bead dangles hanging off of it, a bit of a lampwork bead/hand-forged metal jump ring chain and then attached (via wire wrapping) to a silk cord.
All of the above jewellery pieces came from this bead assortment …
It was easy to get creative when given such pretty pieces to work with! Thank you so much, Fay for your bead soup mix – it’s been a pleasure to work with
And now, I can’t wait to see what she did with the mix I sent her! Let’s go have a peek at … http://torchfairy.blogspot.ca/2013/04/7th-bead-soup-blog-party-reveal.html to find out!
* to see a list of all of the 3rd reveal blog participants … see Lori’s Pretty Things blog here … http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.ca/2013/04/welcome-to-3rd-reveal-of-7th-bead-soup.html
love is sweet
New in the shop this week … Love is Sweet, brass tag & glass lampwork bead cupcake necklaces …
Perfect for your sweetheart ♥
forever + a day
With wedding season soon to be upon us, sharing a special personalized gift for a special bride & groom … subtly & simplicity combined, for a day they will always remember.
for her – love, always … a natural brass necklace with a red heart shaped glass lampwork bead dangle, and brass heart charm & a natural brass tag stamped with ‘love, always’
for him – date stamp … a personalized leather double wrap bracelet with metal clasp and a riveted arte metal tag stamped with the wedding date (in this case … march third, twenty thirteen)
“You know you’re in love when you don’t want to fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” – Dr. Seuss
❤
Necklaces and Necklines
Which necklace length is right for you?
I just came across this handy little post the other day, written by Imogen Lamport on her blog … Inside Out Style … to help with trying to choose the right necklace to work with your neckline … a handy little reference to hang on to!
In her post, she writes;
“Different necklines look better with certain necklace styles.
Turtle necks – best with longer necklaces
Crew necks – best with short necklaces such as necklace ‘collar’ or bib styles
Scoop necks – fill in the space with multiple strands of beads or larger scale pendants
Strapless – look great with chokers or short pendants, leaving your lovely decolletage bare
Square necks – look for pendants with an angular finish to harmonize with the angular neckline
Asymmetric necklines – look for necklaces that aren’t symmetrical, instead a necklace that has it’s own asymmetry can work, alternatively a long string of different sized and shaped beads can work well.
Halter necks – these create a narrow V neck – so look for a narrow pendant with a sharper end
V neck – ideally a necklace that matches the shape of the V – depending if it’s a wider or narrower V neck.
Collared shirt (button down) – there isn’t much space for anything too wide, so a choker style works if you have a long neck, if not a slimmer pendant that sits above the last open button.
Boat neck – a long string or two of beads is ideal for this neckline.
Cowl neck – this neckline is already detailed and has volume, so either a short and small pendant or a pair of feature earrings instead of a necklace.
Sweetheart – a curved necklace that has width that will balance the open decolletage of this neckline.“
~ Thank you so much for the info Imogen!
happy spring!
photo by: Holle Hahn
It’s been so busy around here lately, that I completely missed posting a Happy Easter greeting to you all. I hope a wonderful day was had ~ filled with lots of happiness & joy … and few chocolate eggs thrown in for good measure 
So now, instead of an Easter greeting … how about a Happy Spring printable?
The lovely team over at Paper Coterie are “planting some happiness” by offering this cheerful set of printables … POSITIVITY SPREADS LIKE WILDFLOWERS
Here’s to hoping that amazing things (and sunshine!) are in your future
bead soup update
Remember a couple of weeks ago, when I posted about being part of a Bead Soup Blog Party?
Well … I just received my secret stash of goodies the other day from Fay Wolfenden, and what can I say?! What amazing pieces she sent! Fay hand forged all of the steel components (jump rings, clasp & wire pendant), and made the lampwork headpins and lampwork beads! Are you not just in awe of being able to make such pretty things?! I especially love the little headpins – what a great additional detail they add! I can’t wait to use them, but have to come up with the perfect design to showcase them all … hmmmmm. The pressure is on!
Fay also included an extra special piece … using peacock & lime colours. How cool is that?! Thank you so much
And as promised here is the bead soup mix I sent to Fay … I can’t wait to see what she will make of it!
Stay tuned to see the final pieces (with maybe a few updates in between)!
