A Belated Show and Tell

About 2 months ago, I had asked polymer artist and dear friend, Betsy Strebe of Strebe Designs, if I could purchase one of her Limoges style boxes. She generously offered to send me one as a gift. Because I know she puts a lot of work into these lovely trinket boxes, I said that if she would like, I'd make something to send to her in return. She agreed, and she sent me this beautiful little box:

Limoges style box by Betsy Strebe of Strebe Designs

Inside of Limoges style box by Betsy Strebe of Strebe Designs

Betsy's little box is displayed in one of my polymer art shrines in my studio. This little shadowbox display contains a few of the little gifts I've received from other polymer artist friends over the years... (I have a couple of other polymer art shrines, so this is only some of my treasures from friends)

In this photo: Top Orange Mokume Gane box by Susan O'Neill of 11BOLDstreet, 2nd shelf Blue Marbled egg by Angela Hickey of Polymer Clay Creations, 3rd shelf Limoges style box by Betsy Strebe of Strebe Designs, 4th shelf Polymer appliquéd glass heart ornament by Linda Riopel of NKDesigns, 5th shelf Millifiore egg by Cindy Matthews of Arrowdale Art Studio, 6th shelf rock and succulent plant pendant by Maiah Tanner of Walk Home Happy, bottom 2 shelves are some little pieces I made (place holders until I get other small polymer gifts to fill those spots!)

As an added surprise, Betsy also gifted me these lovely gift cards that were created with her own hand carved stamps! Beautiful!!

Hand carved stamped designs on note cards by Betsy Strebe of Strebe Designs

Backside (logo) of hand carved stamped cards by Betsy Strebe of Strebe Designs

It took me a while before I finished the piece I made for Betsy and sent if off to her. When I received her piece, I had been in the middle of a major studio reorganize, where I moved all the furniture around (more to come on that later...). Then I had to spend time creating my Cocky Trump sculpture, then I got busy with Thanksgiving, creating ornaments and finally having to deal with pet injuries and family health issues. So I decided today I was going to sit down and finally get these lovely gifts posted for show and tell! Aren't they gorgeous?! I'm so glad to have an example of my dear friend's work in my collection of polymer art from artist friends! Do you have special collections of art in your home? Tell me about it in the comments, and be sure to go check out Betsy Strebe's work at Strebe Designs!

Thanks so much again, Betsy!! I absolutely LOVE my beautiful little Limoges box, and the gift cards too!

Oh, I almost forgot... here's the little container I made and sent to Betsy:

Soup mail!

I received soup in the mail yesterday!  That is, bead soup...  I signed up to do the 8th Bead Soup Blog Party which is organized by Lori Anderson of the Pretty Things Blog.

So the way this blog party works is that we are given a partner with whom we swap a gift of soup beads, and then we have a month or so to design something with the soup that we received.  The soup each person receives is totally unique and a complete surprise.  The soup must contain a focal, a clasp and complimenting beads.  Lori Anderson, and a few people who help her, processed all the requests to join the party and spent loads of time partnering everyone.  This was a Herculean task to say the least, as this blog party has something like 600 participants, and she endeavors to not repeat partnerships from past bead soup blog parties. 

Lori partnered me with a glass bead artist named Arlene Dean who blogs over at A Glass Bash.  Arlene sent me a beautiful package that I received yesterday (March 21st).  It was presented in a beautiful little box with a matching gift card:

I opened the box and I first laid eyes on this:

Beautiful blue silk sari ribbon and some great metal textural plates!  So fun!  I've always wanted to try some sari ribbon, so I was thrilled to see that!

Delving further into the box contents revealed some spools of wire and these organza bags:

...and upon opening those bags, here's the full soup:

I love the focal, it really reminds me of SPRING with those bright colors!  I think Arlene must have known that since I'm in PA, I've had a long winter and am craving spring!  And the clasp is darling, two interlocking butterflies.  Here's a close up of the focal, clasp and large green lampwork glass bead:

 The complimenting beads are a melange of various sorts, which also remind me of spring.  I really love the large moss agate beads and the bright pink dyed shell beads.  There are a couple various colors of freshwater pearls, a couple acrylic pearls and the rest are mostly faceted glass or czech beads.  Here's a close up of the bead mix:

I'm really looking forward to creating something with my soup.  The gears are churning already!  The reveal is on May 3rd, so you'll have to check back then to see what recipes I come up with to utilize these charming soup ingredients!

As this is a swap, I did indeed send my partner a package of soup.  It's likely at her house by now, but while it was in transit from my home to hers, she had to attend to some family matters elsewhere; so it awaits her opening.  Thus, I cannot share a photo of the soup I mixed for her until her eyes have seen it in person... I will tell you that I have a couple handmade components in her soup and it's all coordinated in a color combo that I love, but rarely use myself.  I will post photos of what I sent her as soon as I hear that she's opened the package, so check back soon to see what I concocted!

Have you joined in any of the past Bead Soup Blog Parties? If so, leave me a comment telling me about your experience, and remember to post a link so I can check out what you did with the soup!  If you haven't, leave me a comment anyway and tell me how you'd use my soup ingredients! ;)