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It's finally done! My Bead Soup piece is complete! I had so much fun making this piece, mainly because I used that gorgeous Venetian glass focal and a gorgeous Venetian glass clasp that I normally wouldn't use.
From the wonderful helping of soup I received from Ann Rishell, I chose the Venetian glass focal and clasp, the strand of beautiful white freshwater pearls, and two of the different types of seed beads.
I have been reading a lot of books about the history of England lately, and the two that I finished while working on this piece were a biography of Elizabeth I and a critical examination of the events and circumstances that led to the downfall and execution of Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boelyn. Both were fascinating, and the whole time I was reading them, I was daydreaming about the clothes and jewelry that the English royals wore. That was when I took a good, long look at that Venetian glass focal and I thought how much it looked like a gem that wouldn't look out of place around the neck of a queen.
This is a closeup of this incredible sterling silver and glass clasp that was included in my soup. Now that I've used a clasp like this, I can see myself buying more of these to use in future designs! Oh, my!
Here's a not-so-good photo of what it looks like on a necklace bust. This piece was definitely a challenge for me. I didn't want the bare thread from the two double spiral ropes to rub up against the edges of the glass focal, so I had to figure out a way to get both ends into a set of tiny size 15 beads that I passed through the center of the focal bead. Finally, after quite a few pokes from my beading needles and a lot of swearing (!), I got it secured. And it looks marvelous!
I so enjoyed the whole bead soup swap party, I can't wait for the next round! I would definitely participate in this again, and I would really encourage anyone who is interested to sign up and give it a go. It was really a great way to stretch my creativity a bit and work outside my comfort zone with materials that I normally wouldn't choose. The best thing I took away from this experience is that now I feel like I've "discovered" a whole new set of materials that I enjoy working with.
And on that note, now that Colden is finally asleep and my indigestion from dinner has finally simmered down, I am going to try to get some rest!