My partner for 5th bead soup blog party

I am very excited to be one of the participants for the 5th Bead Soup Blog party organized by Lori Anderson. This time, Lori choose the participants through a lottery and 200 lucky winners i.e, 100 pairs, were announced over the weekend. I am paired with extremely talented Lisa Chapman from Beach Cat Beads.

Lisa has been beading for few years and her work includes vast variety of semi-precious gemstones, unique lamp work glass, ceramic, and metal beads. She also loves to play with copper and sterling wire and chains.

Looking forward to the bead soup from Lisa.


Picture courtesy dreamstime.com

5th Bead Soup Blog Party sign ups are on

Glad that I didn't miss it like last time and signed up for the 5th Bead Soup Blog Party organized by Lori Anderson in time.


I participated in the 3rd party in February 2011 and it was such a pleasant experience to connect with over 200 talented beaders from all over the world.

The rules for participating in the party are pretty simple and all you need is a blog and your creativity. Check the official rules at Lori's Blog.
This time only 200 beaders can participate at the party and will be selected through a lottery. So I am keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best :)

If you are interested in joining the party, don't wait and sign up today as its the last day for the sign ups.

Happy New Year 2012

Here's wishing all my readers a very happy new year 2012! May the new year brings new beginning, new excitement, new energy and new opportunities for all and you have lots of joy, happiness, health and wealth in the new year.



Did you make any new year resolution?
Well...I did make some :) Not really resolutions but more like promises to myself to do what I couldn't do in the year 2011, like stick to my exercise routine, do more beading, reading and writing, meet friends & family more frequently etc !

Pretty Purple Necklace

I was playing with purple and blue beads and here is what I ended up designing.


The necklace has purple pearls as the base accompanied by purple Swarovski and blue Lapiz Lazuli. The three danglers in the pendant reminds me of dancing puppet dolls and the use of Silver beads added the shine.

Bead Soup Necklace Set

Though I missed participating at the Bead Soup Party this time, but I got a delicious bead soup from the organizer Lori Anderson herself. Going by the tradition of the Bead Soup Blog Party, I knew I will be using the focal and the clasp for sure. Also, I really liked the orange color in the Chinook pendant and decided to use Carnelian chips with brown hint in them along with faceted grey Agate and gold beads. Length of the pendant was little challenging and after few tries, I got it right.

This is what I designed.





Here are the earrings I came up with using a Russian gold circle finding.



What do you say about the set?

Bead Soup from Lori Anderson

When I missed signing up for the September 2011 Bead Soup Blog Party organized by extremely talented and creative jewelry artist Lori Anderson, I was very disappointment with myself to have forgotten to put a reminder. I wrote to Lori to include me to future parties and guess what she replied with...a package in the mail.



I couldn't believe my luck when I opened the package. Inside was a bead soup beautifully packed in a Lori Anderson Designs jewelry box with a personalized note from Lori...what else I could wish for after missing the sign up!





The bead soup included a handmade Chinook pendant, gold filled clasp and beads, purple pearls, Czech glass beads and oval wooden beads.



Thanks a ton Lori for the wonderful gift. Now my challenge is to come up with a beautiful design with the lovely beads I got.

Chicken Soup for the Soul

My husband loves to read Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books and lately my elder son has started to enjoy them too. The series consists of more than 300 books with vast variety of titles. Each book comprise of short stories and can be calming read for the bed time. Though we have different titles at home, our favorite one is Chicken Soup for the Soul - 101 Stories To Open The Heart And Rekindle The Spirit. Few days back we read a very touching poem written by famous writer and family counselor Dorothy L. Nolte. I am sharing it here and hopefully you will relate to it too.


Children Learn What They Live

If children live with criticism,
they learn to condemn.

If children live with hostility,
they learn to fight.

If children live with fear,
they learn to be apprehensive.

If children live with pity,
they learn to feel sorry for themselves.

If children live with ridicule,
they learn to be shy.

If children live with jealousy,
they learn what envy is.

If children live with shame,
they learn to feel guilty.

If children live with tolerance,
they learn to be patient.

If children live with encouragement,
they learn to be confident.

If children live with praise,
they learn to appreciate.

If children live with approval,
they learn to like themselves.

If children live with acceptance,
they learn to find love in the world.

If children live with recognition,
they learn to have a goal.

If children live with sharing,
they learn to be generous.

If children live with honesty and fairness,
they learn what truth and justice are.

If children live with security,
they learn to have faith in themselves and in those around them.

If children live with friendliness,
they learn that the world is a nice place in which to live.

If children live with serenity,
they learn to have peace of mind.

With what are your children living?


Photograph courtesy dreamtime.com