New earrings

I made this pair of earrings back in December. Finally got around to taking pics. And also listing them in my Etsy shop.

Look what I got!

Yay! My partner June and I have both received our soups! It took just about a week for our beads to travel the distance between New Zealand and Singapore. Wasn't that quick?

June has already blogged about the soup I sent her. You can read her post here. She also took a great pic of the beads. I did take a photo of the soup before I mailed it off, but I forgot to include some ingredients that I added at the last minute. Doh! For what it's worth, below is a pic of most of what I sent June:

The main focal is a glass disc by mandrel2 on Etsy. The back-up focal is a ceramic pendant by White Clover Kiln. The beads are an assortment of Swarovski crystals and pearls, Czech pressed glass beads and spacers, lampwork beads from Tokyo (the white ones with swirls), glass rounds, fire-polished rondelles, and acrylic rounds again from Tokyo. The clasp is a vintage faux pearl box clasp. I also added 2 metal leaf connectors and some rubber tubing. Just for fun.

And now, for June's fantabulous soup brewed just for me:

That fantastic focal is New Zealand Paua (Haliotis Iris - a member of the abalone family and found only in NZ). June tells me she tumbled and polished it herself. I was so touched to know this. I love that she sent something native to New Zealand. How thoughtful! June also sent some accompanying Paua beads, as well as a good amount of Swarovski crystals and pearls (what a coincidence we both sent Swarovskis!), Preciosa crystals and dyed stone rounds. She also sent a beautiful silver toggle clasp and a wee frog charm. 

I love the colours of the soup June sent me and I'm cracking my brains as to what to make with that beautiful focal. I so want to do it justice. June and I are in the 3rd Reveal so please come back on April 13th to see what we end up creating.

Introducing my Bead Soup Partner

My partner for Lori's 7th Bead Soup Blog Party is.....drum roll please...........June Butt of One White Swan! Yay!! June is from New Zealand and is an uber-talented jewellery maker. She created the most amazing necklace (the sex-bomb necklace) using polymer clay, pearls, crystals and ostrich tufts. You have to visit her blog to see her cool creations. June assures me she also makes 'normal' stuff. Yeah, right. I'm pretty sure whatever June makes, it's all fab!

I must say that I'm thrilled to be partnered with June since I've always heard wonderful things about her country. I've never been to New Zealand but I have several friends and colleagues who have. And every last one of them has raved to me - at various points in the past - about how beautiful it is, how nice the people are and how much they wish they could live there. In fact, I know of a few Singaporeans who have chosen to start a new life over in New Zealand. From all I've read and seen, it certainly sounds like a nation with a saner pace of living. 

Back to the BSBP, June was super quick in emailing me once we were partnered and we've already exchanged several emails, even though she's tremendously busy overseeing the overhaul of her kitchen. Unlike previous swaps, I didn't procrastinate much this time. I'm proud to say that I mailed June's bead soup this morning - it was the earliest I could send it off since the post office was closed the last few days due to the Chinese New Year public holiday here in Singapore. 

Also unlike previous soups - where I seemed to send everything but the kitchen sink - I opted for a more.. umm.. 'focused' bead soup this time. It's a smaller helping but I tried my darndest to pick beads that complemented each other, as well as including a couple of slightly out-of-the-ordinary 'ingredients'. I really hope June likes what I sent. Here's a pic to tease her, and the rest of you: