Bead Soup

One day Angelina was quietly playing in her bedroom. So, I decided to take advantage of the fact that she was entertaining herself and use this as an opportunity to sit down and do some beading. I went over to the table to pick up my latest project and the craft box that held the beads that I had been using; however, the craft box that held my beads was missing. I was positive that I had left the box on the dining room table. I check the kitchen, my bedroom, and the hallway, but it was not in any of those places. I could not understand how or where I had missed placed the bead box.

I walked towards Angie’s room and opened the door. But, before I could even ask her if she had seen my box of beads, she looked up at me with an angelic smile on her face and said, “Look Mother, I’m making soup!” I looked down into the bowl. To my utter horror she had taken and dumped my entire box filled with seed beads into the bowl and was stirring them with the spoon. The tiny beautiful transparent seed beads that had been so carefully sorted into their own respective color compartments were now being gleefully mixed together into bead soup!

I had to leave the room in order to get control of my emotions. When I had my emotions under control, I went back into Angelina’s bedroom. While I was gone, she abandoned the bead soup that she was making and was now sitting on her bed reading a book. I looked forlornly at the bowl that was holding the bead soup mixture. I realized that there was no way that I was ever going to get all those mixed up seed beads sorted. But, I could not bear the idea of throwing all those lovely little beads into the garbage either. I poured them from the bowl into a decorative glass jar. There they sat on top of my desk unused for a very long time.


On a sunny day when the sun was shining on the jar of beads making the multitude of colors sparkle like little jewels, I got the idea to use a portion of the beads to create a “Bead Soup Bracelet.” I poured some of the bead soup mixture into a dish. Then I beaded the ladder stitch foundation row using gold seed beads. (I also used gold seed beads for the side edges and top row of the bracelet.) I created the rest of the bracelet using the brick stitch beading technique. Instead of designing a pattern and using it to create my bracelet, I let the beads jump up onto my needle at random. I made a beaded bead ball on one edge of the bracelet and a beaded loop on the other edge of the bracelet for the closure.

The bracelet turned out very pretty and it reminds me of stained glass. One of the great things about this bracelet is that because it has such a variety of colors in it, I can wear it with any solid color shirt or dress. It really brightens up the outfit that I am wearing. It is one of my favorite bracelets. And, every time I wear it, I receive compliments from strangers. (There is a picture of this bracelet in my 2007 beadwork photo album on my picturetrails site).

So, in retrospect I now can give thanks to Angelina for making “bead soup”. Without her help I never would have been inspired to create this beautiful bracelet.

When you have the chance, stop by and visit my website, "Bead Between The Lines." You just might find something that you like, or something that will inspire you.

http://www.picturetrail.com/bead_between_the_lines