Introducing Ana, my Bead Soup Blog Party partner!

This post is to properly introduce my Bead Soup Blog Party (BSBP) partner, Ana. She has done the BSBP before but this is my first time - it's nice for me to be paired up with some a little more experienced in beady/bloggy stuff. She's kindly allowed me to use pictures from her blog to illustrate this post. Just for fun I've also done an email interview with her about her work (see below).

my BSBP partner Ana

Ana uses colour to great effect: I love the way the colours sing in these recent earrings of hers. A good way of seeing a lot of her work at once is in her Etsy shop, which also contains pieces made by her husband - they're evidently a creative pair of people!

Some recent work by Ana

Here is my email interview with Ana.

1. What is your favourite colour to work with at the moment?
Ana: Yellow, grey and green. I used to steer clear of these colours now I'm making an effort to incorporate new colours as part of the next step in my beading evolution. And the most surprising part: I'm having so much fun using these colours!

2. What is your favourite metal to work with at the moment?

Ana: I'm having so much fun discovering gun metal. As part of my dedication to improve my beading skills I go through my finished jewellery on a regular basis taking apart pieces that I'm no longer satisfied with because I see something in the design or technique used that could be improved. So I took apart some designs and substituted silver wire with gun metal with amazing results. It's just awesome how a piece of blah jewellery was transformed just by changing the colour of the wire.

3. What special place inspires you and why?

Ana: I've thought long and hard about this one because going on road trips is one of my favourite things to do. My husband and I love to travel around Slovenia and discovering our lovely country and its less known beautiful places. And while I do have a favourite city that I love to travel to it doesn't really inspire me. When thinking about what place inspires me I kept going back home, literally. So the place that inspires me is our home, our apartment, the way we've decorated it that resonates our personalities and our lifestyle from the tiny twin shelves to the vinyl sticker of a giant tree on our bedroom wall I love to look at as I sip my morning coffee.

4. What are your favourite books to read at the moment and why?

Ana: As I'm currently preparing for my bar exam I have put fiction literature aside for the foreseeable future and replaced them with law books, articles and other materials I have to study. While some of them are very interesting the others slightly less so and I do miss reading a good novel from time to time but at the end of the day the thought of reading some more makes my head sore, so I opt for some easy entertainment like watching my favourite hero: Poirot.

5. What things about jewellery-making have you learnt over the years that you wish you had known earlier?

Ana: To pay as much attention to the quality and diversity of clasps and findings as to the beads themselves. This would be the biggest lesson learned in all of my DIY whether it be sewing or beading or anything else, is that the foundation or the ground structure of any project has to be solid. By that I mean not only when it comes to materials used but also the techniques and knowledge of all steps of the creative process, like learning to fit clasps properly, knotting, wire wrapping etc.

6. What is your favourite jewellery-making technique at the moment?

Ana: Bead knotting using waxed cord. It's a bit time consuming but oh so relaxing.

7. What do you like most about the BSBP?

Ana: My favourite part of the BSBP is meeting new people. Since I live in an area with no crafters I could connect with, I often feel isolated. I love the bead soup because so many people get together to exchange thoughts, ideas, interesting techniques, knowledge and just talk to each other and connect and have fun.