Mock Bead Soup

It was the luck of the draw, and luck wasn’t on my side. . .or was it?

Because of the overwhelming number of jewelry artists that wanted to participate in Lori Anderson’s (of Pretty Things) 5th Bead Soup Blog Party, Lori opted to limit the blog hop to 200 this time around. This was perfectly understandable and reasonable. She went about it the fairest way possible. She let fate. . . and a randomizer pick the participants. Unfortunately, my number didn’t come up. For some reason I kinda expected this and was unfazed when I couldn’t find my name on the list.

Lori encouraged those who didn’t get selected to play along and challenge themselves with something they had stowed away in their own stash that they’d been avoiding.  I thought this was a fantastic idea and knew immediately which items I would use.

For my birthday back in October, my dear friend Amanda gifted me with this beautiful Mother of Pearl flower pendant and large freshwater pearls. 

Before she even handed me the little box, she admitted, “I know these aren’t your usual style or colors, but they’re just so pretty I was hoping you’d still like them.”  She was soooo right (does that girl know mw or what), they were definitely not something I would have bought myself, but I couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the pendant.

I promised her (and myself) that I would make something with them. However, I put the box away. I did pull it out from time to time and remark to myself how lovely it was and that I really should do something with it. Yet, I was baffled as to just WHAT I would do.

When Lori offered up the challenge to those of us who weren’t picked, THAT was the box I turned to. I pulled it out on my desk and have been toting it all over the state with me hoping an idea would magically spring into my head. And, it worked! As I was driving to the bead store on Wednesday I had a eureka-moment.

Here are my results (click on any of the pictures for a better look)

I used some 16g silver wire to form loops and 'leaves' then wrapped ivory freshwater pearls and chocolate glass peals on that with 24g silver wire. I wired the MOP flower pendant into place on the heavy gauge wire.

Silk ribbon is used as the 'chain' of the necklace. It was secured with more 24g wire and some of the freshwater pearls. I improvised with the brown ribbon as I couldn’t find ANY brown silk in the area in the short time I left myself to work on this. I will replace it most likely if I do find some soon.

A little closer look at the pendant and wire wrapping. As well on the upper right you can kinda see the dragonfly toggle clasp I used for the closure.

I am absolutely SMITTEN with this design. While it’s not exactly as I had envisioned, it’s still absolutely stunning. I’m as giddy as a school girl (that’s a real saying, right?) over my results and so happy I waited to come up with just the right design for that pendant.

Though I’m not officially part of the Bead Soup Blog Party this time around, I want to encourage you to check out all the other wonderful designers who ARE. Head over to Lori’s blog at Pretty Things for the full list of participants. You may also find a long list of artists like me who are just playing along. I can’t WAIT to get started hopping around!

As always, a big, huge, ginormous THANK YOU goes to Lori for organizing this extravaganza once again. I’m guessing it’s time for some PIE! ;)

Hop on Party People!