Spinning Spun Sugar - Jewelry Confections : love

I am so excited for this year's Bead Soup Blog Party! Lori Anderson paired me with an extraordinarily talented lady from Florida named Carol Wilson! Her jewelry is gorgeous!!

Life has been insane busy lately with my little guy, Spring Break, and a few other things that we haven't anticipated, but I wanted to give you all a sneak peek of the beautiful soup that Carol sent to me and the one that I sent to her.

Look at all the lovelies!! Gold isn't a metal hue that I use a lot in my jewelry, but I am always open to new and exciting avenues. I just love the glass pendant focal and the hand-made clasp. Just gorgeous! The color palette is delicious!! I can't get over the richness of the colors! Carol sent me the most beautiful seed pearls in rose and peacock. I am a pearl FREAK! I love them! She also sent some gorgeous little pale rose pearl coins. Beautiful amethyst and gorgeous Czech glass crystals, also two coordinating samples of size 6 seed beads. I cannot wait to get to work!!!

Here is the bead soup that I sent to Carol. My friends, Laura and Rachel, at Bead Bayou (beadbayou.net) helped me compile it. Three heads are always better than one! We included a gorgeous copper compass focal created by local jewelry artist, Glenn Levent! His work is absolutely stunning!! I also sent copper findings, a copper clasp, Swarovski crystals, green opal beads, gorgeous opal cup chain, large hole pearls, stringing materials, and so much I really have forgotten it all. I hope that Carol gets to have a lot of fun with the soup that I've sent her.

First of all, I would like to thank Lisa Lodge at Pine Ridge Treasures for hosting this blog hop and for creating such a beautiful kit for this creation.

I absolutely loved it. There was a beautiful ceramic pendant by "Gaea" as well as Swarovski Crystals, Turquoise, Serpentine, Agate, Crystal and some gorgeous Czech glass. I was thrilled when I poured the mix out onto my workspace and started to conjure a "season" in my head.

The Themes were: A season of the year OR A season of your life.

I decided to combine the two themes into a single piece.

The events of my life from January of 2007 until around October of 2009 have largely shaped my life. January of 2007 was when I learned that I was expecting my first child. As the months progressed, what started as an easy pregnancy turned into one where I spent two months in the hospital on supervised bed rest (went in at 24 weeks) and saw my son come into this world in August of 2007 at 32 weeks (2 months early) weighing 2 pounds 11 ounces and 15 inches long. He spent another 2 months in the NICU, and finally came home 3 days before his "due date." During those 2 months, I was at the hospital every day, every 3 hours for his feedings, every time the doctor was scheduled to visit him. My husband was out of town a lot, so most of this time it was just me, in a town 2 hours from everyone I knew, fending for myself and my tiny, tiny baby. For the next year, we took him to so many specialists that I lost count.

In January of 2008, my stepfather took his own life. He had gotten very sick just before Thanksgiving, and his decision to end his own life shook my family to its foundation. My mother and my 9 year old little brother were heartbroken, and I was angry. I was so angry at him for doing this to all of us. So angry that he couldn't see what my son needed his step grandfather and my little brother needed his dad.

In March of 2008, my best friend passed away. She was the matron of honor in my wedding and passed at the age of 32. It was yet another blow. She left behind 3 young sons all under the age of 6, and I was simply in shock. I didn't feel strong enough to handle all of the hits that kept coming my life's way.

In April of 2009, I talked my husband into moving me and our son back to my hometown of Dawsonville, GA. I missed being close to my family, especially with him away working so much, and wanted to have my support network close by.

That summer, the summer of 2009....

Me, my husband, mother, little brother, stepdaughter and son decided to go to Port St Joe Florida for a week's vacation. It was a time for us to get away, to spend some time as a family and have some FUN. It had seemed like fun was something that we felt guilty to enjoy, but on that trip to the beach, we enjoyed ourselves again. We stayed in a beautiful little beach house with its own pool for the kids to play in. The beaches were practically deserted, so we were able to enjoy them without fighting crowds. It was one of the best trips I have ever had.

That trip showed us that we were going to be able to overcome our adversities, and that we'd be OK. That with love and time, we would be OK.

Today, my little brother is a 14 year old young man who is taller than I am. My son is a brilliant 5 (almost 6) year old who is excited about starting Kindergarten and is honestly the smartest little guy I know. My mom is remarried, and my husband is about to start his own company.

Me? I am throwing my attention into my jewelry business, and counting my blessings. Even the ones from that very dark time where it seemed like they were so few and far between.

So my piece is in commemoration of that trip to the beach that defined the true beginning of healing.

The pendant says "Wave," which to me symbolizes both the waves of the beach, of waving goodbye to sorrow, and of waving hello to happiness.

I included some seashell beads as well as a few Czech glass ones that look like sand. My mom picked these out of her own stash for this project. :)

"Life is like an ocean. It can be calm and still or rough and rigid. But in the end it’s always beautiful."

My little family in 2009, Port Saint Joe, Florida (Indian Pass)