8th Bead Soup Blog Party - The Reveal!

Good day to you and welcome! I'm so happy to again be a part of the wonderful blog party created by the lovely Lori Anderson. My partner for this year's swap is the INCREDIBLY talented Kelly Hosford Patterson of The Traveling SideShow and PyxeeStyx on Etsy. Kelly is so talented with so many different types of media.

She showered me with love in creating my beautiful soup. I posted about her amazing soup here and Kelly blogged about it here. Now, I am not a prolific jewelry maker. I wrestle with my creativity in ways I can't even begin to explain. I am in such awe of folks who can sit down for a few hours and create many pieces of jewelry. I can't do it. Just. Can't. I labor over each and every piece and it takes me forever. Why, I don't know but it's a fact. Sigh. I've made several pieces from my beautiful soup (and miraculously, a couple of them came together fairly quickly). I've put several of the components Kelly sent to me away until fall. We've had such a long, hard winter and spring is just ever so slightly beginning to grace us with her presence (it feels like early April here). I plan to work with my beautiful felted wool beads and fiber wire as we head toward fall. I also have a piece in progress that you'll have to check back on May 24 to see as it's for the reveal of Diana Ptaszynski's (Suburban Girl Studio) waxed linen jewelry blog hop.

First up, Follow The Sun. This necklace features the faux sunflower druzy that Kelly created, along with her hand forged, bead wrapped clasp. I LOVE these 2 pieces. I also incorporated the dragon's vein agate egg, printed wood beads and the hammered copper chain segment Kelly made.

I took one of the large washers and wire-wrapped it with the cube crystals that Kelly sent along. I also added a vintage lucite link and some vintage lucite tube beads that I collected while working at The Beadin' Path. I also created some twisted copper wire jump rings and created small sections of chain to suspend the focal from.

I also included a little hand painted sunflower bead (on a Natural Touch resin bead) that I had created some time ago. I love that I could combine my sunflower with Kelly's. I absolutely love this necklace and I'm sure I'll wear it often.

Next up are earrings made with vintage lucite tear drop hoops and some of the crystals Kelly sent me along with copper balled end headpins that I made. Light weight and casual.

This next pair of earrings pairs the same crystals (I love the color) along with the vintage lampworked leaves. I tied on short lengths of red sari silk.

This bracelet is in progress, I need to figure out what I want to do for a clasp (copper or brass/bronze?). I've used one of the large printed wood beads, honey jade rondelles, carnelian rounds, and vintage luster glass.

My second necklace includes two different vintage copper chain lengths, Kelly's collage bee treasure box pendant, her hand forged sunflower link (which I altered by adding color with Alcohol Inks), a fringe of copper chain and beads along with a bee skep connector I made. I have a dear friend who keeps bees (mmmmm is the honey delicious!), he calls them his girls. I'll think of Kelly and Jimmy when I wear this!

My final creation isn't jewelry to wear, but is very close to my heart. I have a thing for ornaments (surprising given my blog name, eh). I've recently started collecting sunflower ornaments. This is the first I've created, using the other hammered sunflower Kelly created (which I altered by adding color with Alcohol Inks) along with the polymer crow by Beady Eyed Bunny.

This has been so much fun! I still have a number of pieces in progress on my desk (it actually looks much worse than this presently):

Thank so much for stopping by. Please visit Kelly's blog to see what she created with the soup I sent to her. You can also hop along to see what the other 500 artists created (this is going to take a while!). Thanks again Lori for creating such a fun event for us to meet new people, share and create! Here's the link to Lori's post with all of the participants listed: Participant List

Relieving Stress

Grab a drink (preferably a stiff one) and settle in. This is going to take a while.

Stress. Some days I think my picture belongs next to the definition in the dictionary (I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way). To cap off the stressful day, I went to the main branch of the post office in Portland to mail my scrap sterling and PMC silver to Rio Grande. I've been collecting these bits and bobs for about 6 or 7 years now. I had 6.1 ounces (5.55989 oz troy), not a small amount of money to cash in so it was worth the trip. Sort of.

I locked my car. I know that I locked my car because I double clicked the button on my key fob. How do I know I did this? I always do it, it drives Hazel nuts. I always make him double click it to set the alarm when we get out of the car. I know I did it because I heard beep and saw the lights flash.

I walked across the parking lot, entered the lobby, selected the mailing envelope (6x10 padded) and a roll of packing tape. I set my pocketbook and keys on the counter, filled out the envelope, inserted the baggie of silver along with the form from Rio into the envelope and sealed it. Then I waited in line for the counter.

I paid for the envelope, tape, postage and insurance, stopped at another counter to clip everything together and put it into a pocket in said pocketbook. Then I walked out to my car. When I got to my car I needed my keys, so I reached into my pocketbook. Now, the pocketbook is a mess, but I can reach in and get my keys when I need them. I purposely do not carry a really large pocketbook, for just this reason. It's a small to medium size bag. The keys were not there. Dummy. I walked back into the lobby; no keys on either counter so I looked in the recycle bin where I deposited a pull tab, nothing.

  

Dummy. Back out to the car I do, 'cause I must have left the keys in the ignition, but I swore I locked the car with the key fob. Yep, that's how I locked the car 'cause the keys aren't in the car. Back into the post office, eyes to the ground, scanning for my keys. Nuthin'. I look around the lobby again. Zip. I stand in line to speak with the clerk who just helped me. Nope, he didn't find any keys on that counter either. Dummy.

Back through the lobby, scanning everywhere (even the recycle trash again), out through the parking lot (scanning again) to the car. Nope, zilch. Dummy. Back to the post office lobby. I wait in a long line to speak with the clerk who helped me again. (I'm sure by this point whoever reviews the security camera footage is wondering what the hell cell I'm attached to) I now ask the clerk who helped me if he can retrieve the package I'm mailing to New Mexico. He finds it and gives it to me. Nope, I don't feel keys in the package. I ask if I'll have to pay for new postage if I open the envelope to make sure. Nope, just tape it back up. I open the package, no keys. I move off to the side to tape the envelope up like it was Fort Knox, wait in line for the clerk and then ask him to as his co-worker if anyone turned keys in. Nada. Dummy.

Back to the car I go, scanning (and now cursing roundly) the lobby, floor and parking lot. Nothing. I sit on the metal barricade, sigh and call Hazel. TWICE!! He didn't answer his phone, so I call Caitlin to have her tell her dad to answer the DAMN PHONE! I explain my situation, "Did you look in your pocketbook?".........."Did you check your pockets?".......... (a line of dots is me tapping my foot and glaring). He is instructed to bring me a key.

Hazel and Hazel Jr. bring the car key and feel the need to inspect in and around the car for my keys. THEY'RE NOT THERE, hence the phone call for help! They then feel the need to back-track the parking lot and look through the post office lobby (I expect a visit from the FBI, CIA or Secret Service tomorrow); THEY'RE NOT THERE!!!!! "I think someone took your keys." YA' THINK?!? Back out to the car we go.  I attempted to call the post office to leave my name and number in case a good samaritan decides to turn my keys in (right). Do you know how hard it is to get a phone number to your local post office?? Extremely. Then, when you do get the number (and you're told it's staffed 'til 7 so someone should answer) and no one answers, how frustrating it is? Well, let's say LOTS.

I am now convinced that someone is going to waltz into our home and steal all of our valuables, not that there are that many, but there are a good number TV's and computers here. My family thinks I'm a lunatic; well, they know I'm a lunatic but that doesn't matter. So, when I get home at 7:00 after this debacle and have added a pile of stress to an already stressful day, it's not really a pretty sight. Matty (Hazel Jr.) comments that I should go to his friend Nick's sunflower field with my camera and take pictures to relieve my stress. THAT is EXACTLY what I had wanted to do with my late afternoon/early evening before post office aerobics was in session. He even took pity on me and put his dinner aside, drove me out there in his truck and patiently waited while I took pictures (you have no idea how out of character this is). Thank you Matty for knowing exactly what mom needed today and obliging me. I love you.

P.S.- And fertheluvapete, if you took my stinkin' key fob from the Portland post office today, return the dang thing to them and tell them you found them on the ground in the parking lot!! Thank you.