Bead Soup reveal!

Today is my day to reveal what I made with all those gorgeous beads that Mel Poxon of Kookie Designs sent me. Mel sent me so many beads to choose from that I had a very hard time pinning down a design concept that could use a bunch of them while still being able to add my own personal touch. Truth be told, I had planned on making several pieces to show but time got away from me. Alas.

Anyhoo, this is the necklace I came up with. I am currently obsessing over herringbone wire weaving and tried to do it in a slightly askew, asymmetrical kind of way with odd shaped beads. I quite like the effect so I think my obsession will continue.

Since the beads are all glass and super glossy and colorful I thought it would be a good idea to make some porcelain disks that wouldn't compete. So I simply drew on the disks with an underglaze pencil and fired them to give them a permanent graphite kind of look. They are wonderfully matte and smooth and show the clay body, which is something that I just love, and they provide an excellent contrast to the shiny glass beads.

I put some of the spacer beads in between the herringbone "pods" to add a little more color and punch. I like how they slide around in the space they are given.

I used a heavy gauge steel wire that looks nice and scribbly when twisted and looped around. Again, I was looking for a contrast to the glass beads - something a little interesting, maybe unexpected. I really like the satin finish to the steel wire. It looks a little dirty, like it might rub off on your skin, kind of like the pencil glaze on the porcelain disks... for some reason that type of similarity makes me happy.

Be sure to check out all of the Bead Soup participants. I have been away for several days so I have a lot of reading to do, but I am going to give it the old college try!

And thank you, thank you to Mel for sending me such a generous and beautiful collection of beads! Be sure to check out her blog to see what she made with the beads I sent her. :)