Bead Soup Has Arrived And Other Awesome Things

I am SOOOO excited!  My bead Soup Mix has arrived and it is AMAZING!  I have been blessed with the most amazing artist for a bead soup partner - Melinda Orr.

For those of you who aren't familiar with her work, Melinda is a phenomenal metal smith and jewelry artist.  She makes handmade copper components with the most amazing patinas, and I've gotta say, her style is right up my alley!  I received her package yesterday, and boy, am I spoiled!

Here is where I started unwrapping:

Such cute dragonfly paper...

Oooooo!  Look at these fun little baggies chock full of goodies!

From the peach baggie:  gorgeous beads to compliment all the other components.

From the top blue baggie, handmade copper components that turn over to reveal...

This stunning patina!  (Sorry - my photo editor just plain didn't want to get the colors right in this  picture - the colors are so incredible rich!)

The top baggie also had these wonderful  components:  handmade bead caps, fasteners, copper rivets, and large oval connectors along with the domed glass circles to go with the cool artwork for mixed-media pieces.

The bottom baggie contained a beautiful handmade clasp with the gorgeous patina of the other components, 2 fun textured copper circles, copper beads and spacers, lovely Sue Beads lampwork beads form Sue Kennedy and a sweet bird charm from Lisa Petraka.

My Bead Soup cup runneth over!

Now that you've seen what I received, I can show you what I sent to Melinda:

I made the focal and clasp using seed beads and copper; the large lampwork beads are from EB Bead and Metal Works; the small turquoise lampwork beads are from Blue Seraphim; and I sent some cute hot pink Czech pressed glass bellflowers and some funky blue and yellow glass beads I found on an out-of-town trip.

The focal I sent Melinda is from a new series I am making using mixed media collage with seed beading techniques.  Here's some of the others I'll be putting up in my Etsy shop soon:

I love how these turned out, and have some more in the works right now.  In fact, I made one that completely reminded me of my friend, Patty Gasparino, and I sent it to her, asking if she would be willing to make something with it and post it on her blog.  Here is her gorgeous design:

Love's Letter Lost

Isn't is fabulous?  You can read more about this piece on her blog, My Life Under The Bus.

So, BIG thank yous to Melinda and Patty - you ladies are completely amazing!

For more information on the Bead Soup Blog Hop, check out Lori Anderson's blog, Pretty Things.