Welcome to the sixth Bead Peeps Swap n Hop! Linda Anderson organized it. Again Linda matched jewelry designers with partners. We sent each other beads in order to create jewelry. What fun!
This year my partner was Michelle Marson. Michelle lives in Bradford, New Hampshire and makes jewelry created from vintage and repurposed materials celebrating nature. She often uses vintage and antique flatware in her jewelry. Michelle sells her jewelry on Etsy and Instagram.
Michelle sent me a most interesting assortment of beads. There were beads made of many things including metal, stone, shell, and glass. An eclectic and very cool bead soup!
I made 3 necklaces.
For my first necklace I used the two long turquoise beads and the clasp from Michelle along with lampwork beads I made to match and paper beads from my stash.
For my second necklace I used pearl beads and shell beads from Michelle. I also used some of my lampwork beads.
The third necklace is my favorite. I used the feather focal and a variety of stone and glass beads. Most of the beads are from Michelle. There are some wonderfully colorful glass beads that I believe came from the Czech Republic, other glass beads, stone nuggets, and round turquoise beads. I added just a few lampwork beads and some turquoise nuggets.
I am happy with how all the pieces turned out!
Thank you so much Linda for hosting this blog hop for the sixth time. Thank you Michelle for the wonderful beads.
About ingetraud
I make lampwork beads and jewelry. My other interests include traveling, reading, hiking, and collecting art and handcrafted items, especially pottery.
I have always loved handmade things and have collected hand-thrown pottery since I was a teenager. I have done stained glass and weaving. I had been stringing beads into necklaces for a while when I attended a clay and glass show in Palo Alto. There was a beadmaker there whose work I fell in love with. I bought one bead to make into a necklace and decided I wanted to learn how to make glass beads. I took my first beadmaking class from Jackie Marr in Santa Cruz. After taking another class from Katie Stuart in Santa Barbara I set up my own studio and have not looked back. Beadmaking is like meditation for me. What has kept me interested is that there is always some new technique or color combination to learn or try. I have taken advanced classes from Sally Prasch, Marjorie Langston, Holly Cooper, Shirley Cook, Dolly Ahles, J.C. Herrill, Kristen Franzten Orr, Amy Waldman Smith, Claudia Trimbur-Pagel, Astrid Riedel, Amanda Muddimer, Melanie Moertel, Angela Meier, Gay Massender, Kris Schaible, and Jennifer Geldard. I love combining my love of beadmaking and traveling by taking classes away from home. In September, 2016 I got to attend a bead symposium in Wertheim, Germany. I took a bead lining class and watched many demos.
I am married and have one son, age 26. I live in the Santa Cruz Mountains between Los Gatos and Scotts Valley, California.
Inge's Blog 
Oh my gosh!!! I 💚💜💛💙 your pieces! One is better than the next..but like you my fave is the feather one! Soooo cute! GREAT work!
Nice work!
The multicolored piece is my favourite too!
I love turquoise so I am drawn to your second necklace. I really like how you used the larger beads in the center and the size decreases as you approach the clasp. The white shells in the front add a lot of interest. It is a wonderful piece.
All so cute! I’m with you, I love the multicolored feather design – so boho! ♥