Bead Soup Reveal!

Many thanks to Lori Anderson of Pretty Things for organizing the largest Bead Soup Blog Swap blog hop party ever -- with 362 participants! It was a herculean task just sorting and pairing all the members, but she also had computer crashes, horrendous migraines, and jewelry shows. WOW.
.
I was partnered with the generous and talented fellow Texan, Angela May of Canterbury Cottage. This is what I sent her . . .

And this is what she sent me.
I love the subtle colors of lavender and moss with a swirl of ivory. I was challenged by this lovely mix, not because of the colors, but because of the scale of the focal. The stone rectangle is two inches by one and a quarter inches with a slight wave. Beautiful, but larger than what I usually use in my jewelry.
.
I waited for the mix to speak to me. What came about is called "Mistral" after the cleansing storms of the Provençal region of France.

Along with the focal, I used some of the other beads Angela sent and added colored crystals with brass chain. Isn't the chain beautiful? Angela and I did a little swap of our own -- I sent her a custom Renaissance Angel Wing for the generous length of the twisted brass chain she sent me.

The clasp is at the back and is especially lovely with short hair or a dramatic "up-do".Earrings use the same cracked agate as at the back clasp and paired the pink irregular Lucite beads with sparkly pink crystal.Now, get on over to the first couple of batches of bead swappers:
The Hostess, Lori Anderson and her partner, Manuela Wutschke

1. Aimee Wheaton and Barbara York
2. Alice Craddick and Sandra Richardson Check out my mom and her partner too!.
3. Alison Sachs and Amy Severino
4. Allison Scott and Cynthia Abner
5. Amanda Cargill Austin and Charlene Sevier
6. Amanda Davie and Patsy Evins
7. Amber Dawn and Kim Ballor
8. Ambra Gostoli and Christine Hansen
9. Amy Freeland and Christine Altmiller
10. Ana Krepel-Novak and Eleanor Snare


11. Andrea Morici and Hope Smitherman
12. Andrea Trank and Jayne Capps
13. Andrea Turini and Charlene Jacka
14. Angela May and Emanda Johnson Me and my partner
15. Anitra Gordy and Elizabeth Owens Dwy
16. Ann Rishell and Debbie Price
17. Ann Sherwood and Lynne Bowland
18. Anna Lear and Barbe Saint John
19. Anna Sabina­­­­ and Erin Siegel
19. Nan Emmett and Erin Siegel
20. Astrid Boyce and Birgitta Lejonklou

For the rest of the fun, check out Lori's blog HERE.

Bead Soup Teaser #1

I uploaded a photo of the lovelies I sent to my Bead Soup partner, Angela May at Canterbury Cottage and then whiled away the better part of an hour playing with photo effects on Picnik. I cannot wait to see what Angela does with them. More sneaks to come . . . stay tuned

I have been looking forward to this day for a while, . . .
The list is out and I know who my Bead Soup Blog partner is. It is Angela May (a.k.a Lady Hawthorne). She has a lovely blog called Canterbury Cottage. It looks as though we have some of the same interests and we are both Texans.Stay tuned to see what we get up to in the next few weeks.