My partner Heidi and I received our packages on the same day! She has already blogged about it-you can read her blog HERE.

In case you didn’t see my first post about this event, the Bead Soup Blog Party is a really cool event organized once a year by Lori Anderson. She single-handedly matches up artists (there  are over 500 participating!) who then swap a collection of beads that includes a focal and a clasp. The artists then create one or more pieces from their “soup”, and reveal their creations on their blogs. You can click here to see the list of all the artists participating this year and the links to their blogs.

Now that we have each other’s soup, I can show you what I sent to my partner, Heidi!

I had THE hardest time deciding what to send her! I know she is very earthy and organic, and works in copper a lot. But, I was really in the mood for Spring, and these are some of my favorite colors. (okay, so I haven’t met a color I didn’t like…)

I started with a BIG hole focal, even bigger than my normal big hole beads, lol! I added some plain spacers in coordinating colors. Then I found the purple silk cording, and added the faceted amethyst beads and the Czech glass flowers and leaves. I’ve had those green ceramic beads for a year on my workbench, and decided they looked great with this mix. That made me think of flowers, so I added three flower pillow beads and a round raised flower spacer. Finally I added some purple and green drops and Karen Hill Tribe silver (clasp and rings) and some sterling chain. Oh, and then I raided my scrapbooking stash and threw in some really cool fiber. I can’t wait to see what Heidi comes up with!

So, now to show you what Heidi sent ME!

First, if you haven’t already done so, you need to check out her web site. She is so talented! She has been working on a new blog and logo, and they are so beautiful. Take a look at her packaging:

When I was looking at her website I was blown away by her copper “Strike a Chord Guitar” that were gifts for the artists at the 46th Annual Country Music Awards-how cool is that?! So when I opened up the box and found this:

WOW!  A copper guitar AND hand woven Viking knit. Here’s the whole soup, in it’s glory:

Yellow quartz, Sesame Jasper, Blackstone, Sea Urchin (!) Baltic Amber, Fire Agate, and Chinese Porcelain donuts.

And here is all of Heidi’s handmade copper! I am in love with the twisted headpins and copper clasp. And check out the big hole bead caps 🙂

Even though I don’t work with copper much, I love it and I am really looking forward to creating from Heidi’s soup mix. Our big reveal is April 13, so stay tuned!

(See what I did with Heidi’s soup HERE!)