BEAD SOUP UPDATE...

I've been so busy this past week that I haven't taken the time to sit down & write about what I received from Jess Italia Lincoln!! Look how pretty the packaging is. Beautiful dyed fabric strips tying the package together... 

...sweet green organza pouches...

it was a joy just opening each pouch & exploring what goodies were inside! 

She sent a beautiful pendant that she made & a toggle made up of a few of Vintaj's new Arte Metal components that she altered...she even stamped "REFLECT" on the toggle's key/bar! Just sweet. 

She also included a bunch of Vintaj findings... bead caps & beads from both of their lines, chains, too... as well as pearls, sweet little chrysoprase rondelles, some czech glass flowers & leaves, faceted stones, a beautiful silk ribbon, the list goes on. 

The colors are absolutely beautiful...earthy, I'm really looking forward to working w/ it all. 

Thank you, Jess! I just love it all!! 

~ Julie

BEAD SOUP PARTY...she LOVES it!!

I haven't blogged yet about what's going on w/ the Bead Soup Party that I'm participating in! We were partnered up last week & I was so excited to find out that my partner is Jess Italia Lincoln from Vintaj! I LOVE Vintaj...have been using it for a few years now & shared w/ Jess that her style... Vintaj's style, is what helped me the most when I was trying to form my own personal jewelry style when I needed to start making jewelry w/ my own beads. I knew that I didn't want to do just your standard lampwork dangle earrings or strung lampwork necklace, etc... the layering & such that they do just gave me such a wonderful direction to head towards, I'm really grateful.

I'm sure Jess has mundane tasks to do @ Vintaj :o) ...but she also gets to design jewelry & blog daily. Here's a little of what wonderful pieces Jess makes...

Look @ this beautiful piece below!

Focal by Barbara Fajardo, Glass leaves by Lisa Kan

Anyway... I was going to post a teaser picture for Jess before she got the package, but I've been so busy that I forgot all about posting it on time & she received her soup today, so I can show the teaser...

...AND a picture of the actual Bead Soup I sent her. :o)

The heart focal, ivory spacer/accent beads & toggle were made by me, of course. I struggled w/ the clasp... I couldn't just send her a sterling one, even a fancy one... too easy & she works for VINTAJ, she sees clasps & findings & components all day long, so I knew it had to be something different. I started the toggle bar out of thick gauge copper wire, hammered it flat & shaped it... then hammered a copper washer so I could have a nice spot to put a hole in it, then I torch enameled them!! I just learned how to do that & it was a bit tricky, especially the bar, tough to balance on a little metal tripod!! LOL. They're not perfecd, but I love how they turned out! 

Jess eMailed me today when she got the package & said WOW, she LOVED it!! I'm so glad! I didn't think about the fact that I mailed it to her work... so I'm getting all warm & fuzzy thinking about her running around showing everyone what I sent. LOL. :o)

Anyway... can't wait to see what Jess sends me! I'm ready for a challenge! Will post a picture of what I receive when it arrives!

Till then....

Julie

BTW.... 210 Bead Soup Party participants!!! I hope I have the time to do some major blog hopping on reveal day!! 

END OF 2009 WORK - Part 2: EARRINGS...

Talk about neglectful... it took me almost a week to get to Part 2!! :o) Here's Part 1: PENDANTS, if you missed it.

How about some fabulous earrings???
I love the earrings that I'm creating. They're not your typical single dangly bead earrings.... these are all really different. Really cool. Funky. Elegant. If I may say so. :o) They're also LONG! Most of these are long earrings..... I love long earrings. I can certainly do them shorter, but they just look fabulous long.... especially if you have lots of hair like I do.

I make my own ear wires, too, for the most part.... and I love the combination of sterling & Vintaj brass on some of these. Check out the ones w/ the Viking knit end caps... how unusual is that? Never seen them used this way before... I think they're fabulous. :o)

Check them out...
This first pair [I offer up for your viewing pleasure] has to be one of my favorite pairs EVER!! Double Helix Psyche, Ivory & fine silver wire dots. I put them together w/ handmade earwires, viking knit caps, sterling beads & a Bali bead, too. (click images to see detail)

Here's another long pair (surprise!) Ivory & silvered ivory w/ one of my favorite vine design elements in Psyche.

This deep red pair of earrings coordinate nicely w/ the pendant I posted in the PENDANT post. Great shape! Vintaj brass & sterling findings.

Lemongrass...one of my favorite [extinct] colors (& the color that disappears from my show tables the fastest, too!), paired w/ the dark ivory & silver, very organic. Vintaj brass & sterling findings... handmade earwires.

Here are some more for your viewing pleasure. Just be sure to wipe the drool off of your keyboard when you're finished. :o)So...what do you think??? Love them, don't you??

I thought so.

Lucky you...all of these are currently available...some of them are going to be listed in my Etsy shop... soon!

END OF 2009 WORK - Part 1: PENDANTS...

I've been so neglectful!! I have so many pieces & so many pictures to show you... I've added some of them to my website's 2009 Gallery, but wanted to show a few of them off here, too.

Alot of these are available...some of them are going to be listed in my Etsy shop... someday...

We'll start w/ PENDANTS

Isn't this piece fabulous?? LOVE IT!
One of my favorite ways to combine Vintaj findings & a beautiful hand dyed silk ribbon from Heidi (Jamn Glass)... a little bit of sterling mixed in, too. I bought the Vintaj filigree finding to see if I can incorporate it into pieces w/ my acorns... if you look closely it has little acorns & oak leaves on it.
(click on images for detail)
I'll just show you a few angles of the rest...
I paired this beautiful heart pendant w/ a fabulous Jamn Glass hand dyed silk ribbon...chosen to pull out the colors in the vine design.

Love this heart pendant! I think the bail on this is perfect for this piece... the width, etc. The findings are sterling, Bali silver & just a tiny Vintaj brass bead & it hangs from a beautiful Jamn Glass hand dyed silk ribbon.

This pendant has dichroic glass underneath the center portion. I'm not a glitzy kind of beadmaker, so when I laid the dichro down & saw it w/ the dark ivory, I had to cover it up w/ a light layer of DH Ekho glass, LOL, then encased that section in clear. You wouldn't know it was Ekho & you can still see some of the dichro coming through... I really love it. Pendant has sterling silver & Vintaj findings & it's paired with a beautiful Jamn Glass hand dyed silk ribbon.

I love this piece! Bead's not perfect, but still beautiful. It hangs from a fun Vintaj brass leaf.... pendant findings are a mixture of Vintaj brass, sterling & Bali silver. Of course it's on a beautiful Jamn Glass hand dyed silk ribbon, chosen to pull out more purples from the bead.

Here's one more... my favorite dark red glass. Matching earrings posted here.
That's just a small taste for you. Want to see more? Visit my website's 2009 Gallery.