Bead Soup Has Arrived!!

I received my bead soup from Mary on Thursday. My. Oh. My! She sent me a luscious soup that has me dreaming of summer (while we've had a mild winter relatively speaking, with the wind chill it's 9 degrees here today - the sun is at least shining, thankfully)!

Look at those colors! I've spent a few minutes going through my personal stash and have pulled a few interesting things to go with them. I LOVE the focal I'm going to create! The three lampworked (torch fired, flameworked - pick a term) beads Mary sent me are GORGEOUS. They were made by Sarah Moran of z-beads. I have admired (coveted maybe?) Sarah's beads for a few years. They are beautiful - her color combinations and technical precision are AMAZING! I simply haven't been able to afford them. Don't get me wrong, they are worth every single penny - but with the raising of the children, kids in college, etc. they just haven't been in the budget (that aside, I have a rather large hoard of artisan beads that need to be dealt with).

Can I just say again that I love my beads? Thank you very much Mary! Below is the soup that I sent to Mary:

My picture is not spectacular. Mary has much better pics on her blog. Mary's soup includes mocha latte sari ribbon from Barbara Lewis of Painting With Fire, drilled sea glass fron me, lampworked chicklet beads from Jessie Harding of Burke Mountain Beads (I don't know if she's still making beads, the web address I have for her doesn't appear to be active), a bezel clasp from SLK's Industrial Chic line filled with sea glass bits and ICE Resin, and from The Beadin' Path (my favorite bead store) vintage willow green givre lucite rounds, vintage patterned copper rounds, vintage twisted copper love knots and a vintage raw brass bezel pendant filled with sea glass chips and ICE Resin. I can't wait to see what Mary makes with her ingredients. See you on March 3rd for the reveal (I'll have the list of all pairings on that day)!