Bead Soup Blog Hop 8 " REVEAL DAY"

Today is the day we have all been waiting for, the Bead Soup Blog Hop 8 Reveal Day.  It is with

great thanks that we recognize our " Hostess with the Mostest ", Lori Anderson who has worked tirelessly over the years in creating, organizing and hostessing these wonderful events.  She has even published a wonderful book on the creative process of Bead Soup and all it's trimings.  This year she put together this Blog Hop with the help of her husband and son as she has been wrestling with illness.  A great big Thank you too them both for helping Lori.

Due to the size of the Bead Soup 8, the list is " quite lengthly ", so the first link will be to Lori Anderson's blog for you to have access to all the blog participants.  Lori had a great idea for visiting so many blogs during this hop.  Paste the links to a word document and as you visit each blog, delete it off your list.  

8th Bead Soup Blog Party Participant Link List

Lori Anderson, Hostess www.PrettyThingsBlog.com

Please leave a comment to Lori and tell her how much you enjoyed viewing each participants treasures.

Now, let me introduce you to my Bead Soup Partner:  Chris Eisenberg

Chris Eisenberg http://www.wanderware.blogspot.com

Chris and I have become Facebook friends and I have enjoyed sharing her adventures as she traveled to the Carribean to become certified as a PADI Dive Instructor.  The warmth and love of her family has been wonderful to watch over the months and her incredible talent is so endearing, Hey, another Bead Embroiderer, what more could a person ask for?  We have so many things in common, The Bead Journal Project, Blog Hops with Lisa Lodge, a true compadre.    As she and her family live in the Pacific Northwest, she is close to my son stationed in Oak Harbor, WA and when I visit Mike this year I will make sure we get the opportunity to meet in person.

Here is my soup that I sent to Chris:

And here is the soup that I recieved from Chris.........

Imagine my surprise when my eyes saw the center focal from Zizzyzaza Bead and Embellishment by the artist Carol Risher of  Kokopelli.  I have a long and winding history with Kokopelli for sure.  Being Tribal, during pow-wow season I always wore Bear for Bear Clan but my best friend of thirty years always wore Kokopelli.  She passed away three years ago from Breast Cancer and my tribute to her is in my blog.  From the moment I laid eyes on the focal, inspiration flowed.  Leah had always been my strongest supporter as an artist.  Thank you Chris.  How perfect your selections were.  Of course there is Embroidery, organically so.  And girl, that chocolate from Seattle...... Goodness, I'll have to mail order more.  

And here is what I designed from Chris Soup..... and boy did it cook.

First piece is the Kokopelli focal piece which also incorporates the clasp she sent.

Another view:

And of course I just couldn't stop there.  All of the wonderful soup items were just calling to be used so I came up with another necklace with another lovely focal piece.

And playfully, it was the wrap bracelet time with some lovely organic colored leather I had just recieved.  A good testament to how one can play with leather cording at a moments notice.

That lovely leather button was in a goody bag from another Bead Soup participant, Deborah Apodaca. And then of course, how can one not have a lovely set of earrings to go with their wonderful necklaces.  I came across these love chandelier components in my stash that matched the heart focal and used the faceted 4mm crystals to make earrings to match.

There are two other " Ladies of the Evening "( yes, that is the name of our Bead Group and it is a long story ) participants in this Bead Soup so if you have a moment please visit:

Deborah Apodaca and Genny Smith

Gen Smith http://www.gennysworld.blogspot.com

Deborah Apodaca www.deborahapodacadesigns.blogspot.com

Chris it has been a pleasure to be your Soup partner and I hope I did your Soup justice. I cannot wait to see what your cooked up with mine.  

Leave all the participants comments, we love hearing your thoughts and critiques.