I am up before work posting my pictures and looking at the beauties that my Bead Soup companions are posting on their blogs. Delicious Soup was cooked up by my official Bead Soup partner, Mary Ellen Merrigan. We exchanged a group of precious beads and left it to our partner to design something fantastic. Before we get to my creations, a link to her project and the inner workings of talented jewelry design goddess "ME". Did I mention she shows her work at a real gallery?
http://www.maryellenbeads.com/
Visit her blog to see what she made out of the soup I sent as well as the story behind the fantastic butterfly focal she gave me. The focal was special enough to stand on its own and I was tempted to make a lovely brooch out of it. However, it was also special enough to want to wear often and my new job isn't really a "brooch" type of office. I decided a fun necklace that I could wear with jeans and a t-shirt might be a better option.
I took the large butterfly she crafted out of old earrings and a silver concho, and combined it with a silver chain, mixed metal capped blue-green pearls and odd bits of filigree and silverware plated stampings. I added copper butterflies to carry over the theme. Mary Ellen was thoughtful enough to enclose the leftover Delicas that she used in her bead embroidery so I embellished her butterfly with fringe and included a sample of the beautiful crystal briolettes that she picked up for me in Tuscon. I was lucky to have such a thoughtful partner!
Butterflies mean "Metamorphosis" to me and, as if she read my heart, the theme followed through my work on the other pieces in my projects. My projects I hope capture the hopefulness of the future and the fond memories of the past. My Life is undergoing severe and painful changes with the loss of my beloved partner of 13 years, Carl. I am much like a butterfly, reinventing a new me in my flight through life alone.
Mary Ellen gave me a lovely clasp for my butterfly necklace but when the necklace was done, it just wasn't the right piece for such a chunky necklace. I've always coveted something from Green Girl Studios so I was so excited to get the clasp! It is beautiful on its own and sooner or later, it is going on the FRONT of a necklace. Until I figure out how to do that, I have placed it on a jade donut and embellished it with a couple of blue green crystals from my Soup, silver leaves and some jade green and pale blue seed beads from my stash. (Yes, I loved those crystals!) Lots of peyote stitching finished the piece. I started noticing how many lovely colors complemented those crystals! The butterfly clasp closes the "Jade Queen."
In my package was also a nice mix of lighter and brighter green beads. Not much left to do but embellish a pendant that I bought at the same time I found the focal for Mary Ellen's soup. Synchronicity ! The green in the pendant matched the beads perfectly. I believe this is another Suzy Komar pottery pendant from the same artist where I purchased Mary Ellen's focal. "Summer Heat" portrays the summer to come in Oklahoma, when the heat bakes away the blue green hues, leaves turn paler and seeds from native plants are brown. It is Oklahoma's own peculiar kind of summer beauty. and perfect for lazing about on the patio, grilling meat and veggies and watching birds. A fond memory of the past.
Last but not least is a piece that is wearable, straight-forward and unfussy. A few more of those lovely blue-green crystals are woven with golden glass pearls. "Sunset on the Pier" reminds me of those lazy evenings in my teenage years spent gazing out at the Pacific ocean and the setting sun. It was a long way, in both time and place, from where I am now. It is important to remember that the sun will rise again the next day and we will have another chance to make memories, even when we aren't young anymore.
I hope you enjoyed my creations. Please visit the other blogs in the first reveal! ...And don't forget the mistress of them all, Lori Anderson, and her book, Bead Soup. What a wonderful thing Lori has invented. It brings our creations to light!
You will find links to all the other party bloggers here too.
http://www.prettythingsblog.com/
Thanks for visiting! Come back soon.
