Bead Soup #7... The Ingredients

 One of the wonderful things about participating in the "Bead Soup Blog Hop" is that you never know what you are going to get. Items that stretch you as a designer and push you as an artist. My partner Terry Jeanette Carter sent me the goodies and handwritten note as you see above. Let open it up and see what's inside.....

Let's start with the centerpieces, the focal and clasp. These are in the upper right corner and were hand made by Terry herself, using a variety of interesting wooden beads, seed beads and copper wire. According to the 'rules' of BSBH these are the parts that must be used in your pieces. 

Copper is by far my favorite metal, I appreciate it's warmth and the ability to be so varied depending on how it's used.

Additionally, [in a clockwise rotation] we have a wooden flower focal, 2 mother of pearl donuts, a variety of smaller wooden beads, a handful of red glass seed beads, 3 acrylic 'mickey mouse' beads [interesting... I have have no idea what I will do with those yet], some deep coffee brown, center drilled wooden elliptical beads, a big handful of chunky, leopard spotted triangular beads and 3 copper charms with the words 'be true'. 

What about the beads in the upper left? Well that is a necklace that Terry gifted me as a make-over piece. She made it a while back and felt like it needed to be refreshed and re done. Any of us who have been making jewelry for a while have some of those. Pieces we made when we were first starting out. I did that not too long ago, cut apart and re-bagged up several pieces that weren't making me happy anymore, holding on to the parts to give them life in a new creation.

So there you have it~ Bead Soup #7

Currently I have it all grouped in a tray on my work bench. I'm 'slow cooking' this soup...I have gone through my stash and layered a few of my own beads, chains and bits around it and I will add, subtract, multiply and divide it until I come up with the perfect recipe. 

Our reveal date is a few weeks away, on April 6th, so check back for the results.

At the bottom of the page 

is what I sent Terry. She also blogged about her package here: 

'My Soup has Arrived'

As always, thank you for stopping by.

Have a great week,

Tammie

I sent Terry a variety of items for her soup. At the top is my hand made Mokume Gane focal bead and copper wire clasp. The focal colors are rich golds, coppery bronze and chocolate.

The second row are coordinating beads and a second clasp that I treated with Ranger patina ink in a mix of copper and bronze.

The third and fourth rows are some harmonizing soup in ceramic, stone, wood, & faceted glass.

Row five is a strand of gemstone chips. Interestingly Terry also sent me chips via the re-do piece she included.

Row six is a strand of sari silk ribbon. I had the opportunity to use this for the first time in BSBH#6 and I enjoyed it so much I bought a skein on Etsy. I wanted to pass that opportunity along...

Lastly, I included a set of Mokume beads from my most recent series in vibrant purple, turquoise and spring green. It's not really part of the soup per se, more of a gift if you will.

There you have it! Can't wait to see what she creates with what I sent~ TTE