Soup season...

So, it's that time of year again - Bead Soup Blog Party time! The packages have already been sent and received, and this year I've been lucky enough to have not one but two fantastic partners! Here are the beautiful soups they sent me, photographed by my equally beautiful husband, Pete.

First up is the super-talented Lynn Jobber, the Creative Klutz. She's sent me a bunch of glorious stuff mostly sourced from Etsy:

Lots of ceramics here, lots of copper and a lot of real statement beads.

Because I'm a lousy, lazy blogger, I've already started working with these and I have to say the ceramic is a total revelation; it's glossy and shiny and colourful like glass and stone but with only a fraction of the weight! How did I never realise this before?

That package felt like all my Christmases coming at once, so when I stepped in to help Jackie Ryan of Kydo Jewellery I wasn't expecting anything in return. Jackie was kind enough to send me another beautiful soup, though, with more wonderful surprises, as shown below:

I've been talking to Jackie a lot over the past few days and she feels like something of a kindred spirit in terms of materials and colour palettes. I think we both feel something of an affinity with the natural world, and the combination of greens and pinks here has absolutely bowled me over. Again, there's lots of unfamiliar stuff but I'm really looking forward to seeing how I can make it all work together.

And that's it from me, possibly until May - I have a lot of work to do! If you're interested in my experiments and detours along the way, I tend to post quick pictures at my Tumblr.

Thanks again!