The Marsha and Malin Bead Soup Adventure Begins...

This is my 2nd time participating in Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party - which is in the 6th round.

Lori Anderson's Beads Soup Blog Party

My partner for this round is Malin de Koning.

She is a talented artist (love her jewelry skills!) from Sweden, and she and I have very similar "quirky" sense of humor and outlook on life - which is just perfect if you ask me.

Check out her blog post on our Bead Soup Trade...

Part of my packaging to Malin for our Bead Soup Trade.

 She and I are working on some extra special "themed" soup this year.

Still shot of the "Birdie Num Num" from "The Party" with Peter Sellers.

Our Bead Soup is based on the movie "The Party" with Peter Sellers.

I had never heard of it or seen it until Malin and I were paired up, and she posted "Howdy Partener" on my FB page, followed by a link to the clip, then the full film on YouTube.

As we had a bit of time to pick out our "Bead Soup" for each other, and we agreed that picking a theme would add some extra "spice" to our soup. 

Here is a quick photo of the "Bead Soup" that I sent to Malin.

Artist Beads = Nikki Thornburg (Thornburg Bead Studio) and Marsha Neal Studio.
Silk Painting is Fun Hand Painted 2mm silks (sold by Marsha Neal Studio).
Recycled Sari Silk and Banana Fiber String (Darn Good Yarn)
Square Tube Seed Beads from Twisted Sistah Beads & Fibers.
Indian Silver from Beads Mosaic (Expo USA Inc).
Misc Seed Beads. Mood Beads. Vintaj hoops. Purple Daggers. Purple Turquoise (I believe).

I tend to send a lot of stuff because I traveled for a number of years selling my ceramic beads at bead shows all over the USA. And I have a lot of beads in my "stash". Serious addiction...

And here is the fabulous, groovy selection of Bead Soup that Malin sent to me (photos from her blog):

I want to spend some time here going into the inspiration because on August 25, 2012 when we reveal our final finished projects, I plan on posting mainly photos to speed up the blog hopping experience.

And so here is how this Bead Soup adventure began...

First I sat and watched the entire comedic film (from 1968 - that makes it 44 years old!)

Not that that is "old" but how different is life now than back then.

I was born in 1975, so this time period for me really is based on seeing old photos from my grandparents in their prime adult social life and my parents in their teenage years.

I will see if I can dig up some old photos...

I loved some of the lines in this film (not to mention the colors!)

One of my favorites was when Peter's character says (around 17 minutes into the film):

"I love a good laugh don't you? Makes the world go round. It's good to have a laugh."

I personally think you need to have a good laugh as often as possible to get through this life...

After watching the film, I knew what color palette I wanted to send to Malin.

And pulling from my stash, the items just jumped out at me.

Fast Forward a few weeks: we received each others soup, drooled quite a bit, then started to create...

With the movie loaded in YouTube, and my soup from Malin in hand, I ventured down into my basement studio where I sat down to this craziness.

First thing I did - clean up the mess and give myself some table space.

Then I laid out the soup and turned on the movie.

Immediately the sounds of the period and colors of the outfits and home decor started to come to the surface.

And the comedic awkwardness of Peter's character in so many situations, and how he deals with it - well, let me say - I can relate. I can SO relate...

And the inspiration as a whole - I want to make finished items that could be worn to a party like that - but for today...

Malin's Soup To Marsha

I love how Malin captured SO many of the colors from the film in her soup she sent me.

The dancing girl was great fun to watch. Again - awkward.

To me that dancing girl is going to be relating to these pink and purple beads.

I think the blue green of the pool may come into this piece too.

Pink Purple Palette and Yellow Purple Palette (for two different pieces).

These pieces in these two sets will be worked into necklaces.

I even found a perfect strand of rich muted yellow beads in my stash to go with these!

And there are SO many ideas brewing.

I'm grouping these bits and pieces into related piles that then I will focus on individually.

I plan on create sets that can be worn together.

Here is a peek at couple of almost finished pieces in a color palette I am comfortable working in...

And hello - Spiral! Of course you would be my first pick to work with!

Marsha Neal Studio Bead Soup Peek.

I am very curious to see what comes about from all of these bright colors that I rarely ever work with.

But I'm feeling good about this challenge after a few hours of working on it today.

I feel I should also mention that I am not a sketcher-designer,

but rather a go with inspirational images from my head 

and see-what-comes-out kind of designer.

Let's hope it all works out by the reveal date on August 25th!

Want more of Marsha and Malin's Soup?

I'll be labeling and tagging all my BSBP Round 6 posts.

Follow me on FaceBook for lots of updates!

Thanks for taking the time to read all this!

Happy hopping if you are enjoying your time reading through the Bead Soup Posts!