The 8th Annual Bead Soup Blog Party has Begun!

I'm so excited to participate in my first Bead Soup Blog Party hosted by Lori Anderson of Pretty Things!  I found out about the BSBP too late to join last year, but I enjoyed hopping around all the blogs and seeing the lovely soups and finished designs.

I did participate in a destash party last year, and it was so fun!  I didn't get as many pieces made as I had hoped, but still, I did it!  So I'm really looking forward to this party, and making at least one awesome design, and maybe a destash party too.....but I get ahead of myself!

My bead soup is all mixed up and ready to ship!  I can't post photos until after my partner (to be announced at the end of February) gets them but I hope s/he likes them as much as I do!  I almost can't bear to part with the focal.....More to come as the dates fly by!

And to end I will show off the final necklace with the Rainbow Obsidian pendant from last week's post!  I chose to try my hand at viking knit and LOVE it!  It's so relaxing and fun to make - and it gives a flexible and supple rope in the end.  I'm making another piece as we speak....

Rainbow Obsidian Pendant with Viking Knit Rope

Happy Creating,
PZ

Wire it Up!

After completing some custom strung necklaces, I decided to start practicing my wire wrapping again.  First, I made several ring samples for an upcoming class - simple, fun, fast, easy.  Perfect way to get back into wire!

Wire and Bead Rings

Next I tried combining different metals and materials in this bracelet - chain, filigree, and a bead.  I wanted to add more beads originally (so there would have been more wire wrapping), but it looks complete to me as is!  Instead of forcing the design, I decided to move on to something else....

Bracelet - dyed howlite bead, brass filigree, chain.

Now that I was all warmed up, I moved onto more difficult wire wrapping - binding.  I love the look of square wire, but it can be frustrating to work with!  Getting all the twists out is especially difficult and time consuming - and very necessary for a clean, finished piece!

The above bracelet design is simpler and more clean-lined than most of my work - it was a practice piece from the following book, Wire Wrapping. 

The authors of Wire Wrapping suggest stacking their bracelets, and I have to agree that they look good like this!  They also make working with square wire seem easy....

My latest piece was a large mystery stone pendant.  I've wrapped pendants before, but it had been a little while.  This is probably my best piece to date - practice makes almost perfect!  The stone is highly polished and has a wood grain pattern to it - more like rings than lines.  It has a lovely moonstone/tiger's eye sheen to it in dark purples and deep greens, reminding me of a peacock eye feather.  It was given to me years ago, unlabeled, so I had no idea what it was.  It has since been identified as rainbow obsidian!

Mystery "Peacock" Pendant - Large Stone (3")

Happy Creating,
PZ