I (Michelle from Firefly Design Studio) have been participating in bead and jewelry swaps and exchanges for many year now. Sometimes you are paired up with one partner, and other times you send in a certain amount of items and get a random selection in return. No matter the details, it is lots of fun and a great way to get your creations in the hands of art bead loving friends!
Sunday was the reveal for the “Swap and Hop” hostessed by Linda Anderson. She has the big job of pairing up partners and keeping all the behind the scene action flowing. Pretty much the only requirements are you have a blog and love handmade jewelry! I was partnered up with Jenny Kyrlach from Cincinnati, Ohio. She is a paper bead artist and made me at least 100 of them in white, black, red, blue and brown shades. I wanted her beads to be the star of my designs. These are the 2 necklaces I made and I also used the pendants, clasps and spacer beads she included. I added the waxed linen and chain from my own stash.
Brown necklace:
Red, White and Black Necklace:
And this is what Jenny made with my ceramic beads I sent her:
And Jenny’s version of the Red, White and Black Necklace:
We hopped around to all the participant’s blogs, made comments and admired the many varieties of beads and jewelry that was sent and created. I usually find out about swaps on Facebook through the many bead groups I belong to. So I encourage you to participate in the future if you come across an opportunity. Really the best thing is now I have a great new beading friend, Jenny!