The Soup Gods Are Smiling On Me

    I left town for a few days to visit with my younger brother and family who drove down from Provo, Utah for a visit.
    It was Spring break for both my brother, who is a professor at Brigham Young, and his eldest daughter.
    They stayed at my older brother's house out in Simi Valley for the week.
    The big highlight of their trip, according to my niece, was Disneyland. Can't blame her. Disneyland is a pretty magical place.
    I went up there on Wednesday afternoon to join in a couple of family activities.
    I spent Wednesday visiting with my parents and helping set up for Thursday's festivities.
    Most of the group went to Magic Mountain on Thursday. My dad and two brothers did their own thing that afternoon.
    Then we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house for an Easter egg hunt.
    Followed by a tour of my sister's new home, just two miles away.
   Then dinner at our favorite eatery, the original Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake.
    Bob's was a hang out for my dad as a kid and a long time family tradition.

    It was quite the full day.
    On Friday we all met up at Ventura state beach for a day of fun in the sun.
    It wasn't the best beach weather. In the 80's when we left the house, but down to 61 degrees by the time we hit the beach.
    The kids didn't seem to mind that it was cold. They had a blast.
    The rest of us spent the afternoon huddled up in sweaters and wrapped in towels trying to keep warm.
    We enjoyed a picnic lunch and had a lovely visit.
           All in all, it was a great day.
    I arrived home on Friday night to find my soup waiting for me on the front porch.
    I didn't get a chance to open it until Saturday afternoon though.
    My boy was quite needy after being left home alone for 3 days.
    He's physically fine. He had plenty of food and water left. He was just really in need of some love and reassurance.
    This is the 1st time he's ever really been alone in 16 years. He had always had his brother with him before, whom we lost about 2 months ago. So this trip was especially traumatic for him.
    I made him my priority and we spent a lot of time snuggling to make up for what he was missing.
    When he was feeling secure again I was finally able to open my soup.....
                          .....and Oh, what a soup it is!
    It came beautifully wrapped in a wooden box with green burlap ribbon, a green polka dotted Gerber daisy clip and a darling little accent charm handmade by Lori.  
    The charm has a different photograph on either side. Each of different treasures found on her 'seaglunking" expeditions. One side is a heart shaped stone. The other, the word "Love" spelled out with things like sea glass, and stones and a sand dollar. A little bit of accent sand and set in resin.
    A lovely sunflower note card with a very sweet letter.
    All my goodies were wrapped individually inside.

    This was as far as I got with the pictures. Once I opened everything, I was off and running. 

    I was halfway done with the first piece before I realized I hadn't taken pictures of the beads yet. 

    Oops! Can't show you now. 

   So I borrowed the soup photos from Lori to blog about it. 

    She actually sent me multiple soups that are sort of mix and match. Several focals, and several clasps as well. 

    I think my favorite piece of the whole lot is this absolutely exquisite lampwork glass focal by Sachiko Kawakita. For two reasons. I'm an absolute glass junkie, but I can rarely afford to add this kind of quality work to my collection. It also happens to be my favorite shade of green. Peridot is actually my birthstone.
    It has beautiful 3-dimensional botanicals, with blossoms in soft pink and lavender, climbing the sides, and is accented with gold leafing foil.
     There's some lovely sari silk in the same shades of greens. As well as vintage brass chain, vintage brass bell clusters, and vintage corrugated brass bell shaped beads that go perfectly with it. 

    The other thing that I am over the moon about is the soldered pieces that Lori made for me. Three connectors and a pendant made from broken china shards found washed up on her beach. Two sea glass clasps. One deep green, and the other black.

    I went nuts over her handmade shard-ware and sea glass pieces when I was initially exploring her blog and getting to know her. I was really hoping she would put some in my soup.
I'm doing the happy dance!

    She also included lots of drilled sea glass links in shades of green, amber and frosty white. As well as some connectors she made with little bits of green and amber sea glass in brass bezels and set in resin. 

    Here are all the coordinating goodies she sent. Stunning rainbow druzy agate rounds, green Impression Jasper (also known as Aqua Terra Jasper), vintage mother of pearl buttons, Citrine nuggets, Swarovski crystals, fresh water pearls, yellow Jasper rounds, vintage brass filigree, marbled Lucite, vintage jet hand cut glass, and vintage luster glass.

    Then she threw in some fun things to mix it up a bit.
    Some leather scraps, a vintage enamel daisy, and a piece of crocheted lace. The beautiful lace was actually made by her husband's great grandmother. 

    I already have about 6 different ideas brewing from my soup mix. We'll see how far I get.
    Only three more weeks until the reveal date on May 3rd.

    I'm almost done with the first piece.

    I'm gonna have to put this on hold this week to finish up my piece for my challenge.

"Free Spirits Of The Wild West" challenge is due next Saturday, April 19th. It's not to late to jump in if you want to join in the fun. I'm offering some of my handmade components for the prize.

I'll see you back here next weekend for the blogger/non-blogger challenge reveal.
    Have a Brilliant day!