And the Winners Are......

I am so happy! Out of all the entrants, my Believe necklace was picked as a runner up for the 7th Bead Soup Challenge! You can see all of the winners here.

First of all, thank you so much to Lori Anderson who organized this event, it was my first time entering and I really enjoyed making everything from my "Soup".  Thank you to all of the sponsors: - Beaducation, Kalmbach Publishing, Fusion Beads, Nina Designs, Lima Beads, and PJ Tool Jewelry & Craft for their time and contributions.

A special thank you to my Bead Soup Partner, Jennifer Davies-Reazor, I was thrilled to be partnered with you and to receive such amazing pieces to work with - I am so happy to have made a new jewelry friend and am in total awe of your work!

Faux Bone with Becky

 What a fantastic day I spent with Becky. Her boyfriend, Harry, a good friend of mine, bought her a class to take from me as a Christmas present. She chose to spend a day exploring faux bone and what a fabulous outcome she had with her first piece! For those of you who aren't familiar with the substrate, it was founded by artist Robert Dancik. It is a completely non-toxic, high grade rigid PVC that does not outgas (produce fumes) when heated properly. Because it is malleable at just below 250 degrees it can be heat formed into just about any shape. You can learn more about it at Crackerdog Design.

Becky teaches African Dance and just a little over a year ago travelled to Africa, so, that was the inspiration for her creation!

 First, she learned how to use a jeweler's saw - talk about picking that up quickly, look how great her shape turned out!

 
Here is Becky cutting out a couple discs to possibly use on her piece. After the texture was added to both sides, she applied acrylic paints and shoe polish.

                 

Becky decided to put "location markers" with tube set cz's in the countries she went to when she visited Africa. She decided to put the copper disc she cut with an etched image of a butterfly wing on the back.

 Here are the finished creations with chain. She will be stopping back at Bead Paradise in the near future to pick out a couple African Trade Beads to add a splash of color to the chain.

Thanks again Becky! How much fun it was to hang with you for the day!!!