Fresh Glass 5.11.16

I did make it to the torch finally and had a disastrous sesh. First a joke bead... There was much Facebook drama over Seagull beads lately so, having never wanted to make a seagull, I was suddenly on fire to make one... with a binky attached...for those that cry over seagull beads! The face was just a Beads of Courage Bead... I was thinking of "watching over you" while making it. I dropped it going to the kiln...UGH! And the last bicone is hideous. I had seen these gorgeous pink and blue beads and this is my crappy attempt. GRRRRR

Art Charm Swap Revealed

Jennifer Cameron hosts and Art Charm Swap every year. Participants are asked to make one extra to be donated to an auction for Beads of Courage. And while making 10 of anything (exactly the same) would just about kill me, making stuff for Beads of Courage is close to my heart! The theme this year is love. I love glass and I love Beads of Courage, so, I hope that counts!

Here are my charms, ready to be packed:

 

Most of them are made from my jewelry making stash except for these:

These beads were made by Krissy Beads

These beads were made by Bindy Lambell

This little bunny is from my treasured stash of Palmtree Queen beads and he sold right away in a buy it now auction! Made my day!!!

And this guy... never left my house. Very sad 'cause he was my absolute fave. Made my a "really famous" beadmaker... His pom pom popped off while I was packing him!!!

These and SO many more are being auctioned off RIGHT NOW! Please go bid! It's for a GREAT cause!

Fresh Glass 10.30.13

I've been a busy bee... aren't I always??? Lots of news to share with you in the next few days!

Just the highlights:

• The Fire Divas are now hosting glass bead / Lampwork Jewelry and gifts in trunk shows on our Fan Page and the wonderful and talented Amy Sims has agreed to go first!!! More on that tomorrow! 
• I will be the third Diva to host a show... Mine is in early December... stay tuned!
• While working on a freelance medical bookkeeping project,  I got a nice size custom order and making that led to more great ideas. I love when that happens!
• Started on the next 40 bead challenge...torching aimless instead of with a plan.... more on that soon!
• Created 16 glass bead charms from the upcoming Art Charm Challenge. I didn't make matchy ones to trade...trying to keep excess stuff OUT of the house these days. But I made all of them to donate to the Beads of Courage Auction. Photos and more on that before the auction goes live! 

Beads of Courage Bead Challenge

I've been meaning to post some pics from the Beads of Courage Challenge a few weeks ago. We made almost 100 beads and many more brought beads to donate.

We actually got a list of dream beads from some kids that would be attending the event. I made a lego bead for a sibling. He wanted a green one. I enjoyed making it so much, I made several more. Great idea for a "boy" bead! 

Here's some shots of the So Cal Flame Surfers at work. A big thanks to Wendy Leys for making this happen!!! She's an awesome organizer!

Beads Of Courage Bead Challenge

I will be participating in the Bead Challenge this weekend sponsored by the So Cal Flame Surfers in Gardena.

To get ready for the event, I've cleaned out my Beads of Courage drawer... not too many in there as I made a donation this summer.

But I hope to make a lot while I'm at the event!


You can find a way to participate at a city near you on the Beads of Courage Website. They also have a way to participate from home with their Torch from a Distance program.

Big Sale For Cancer Research

I made one of these dichroic survivor hearts in honor of my sister for the Syngenta Cruisin for a Cure. My sister and brother - in - law were always active participants in this annual charity event. With us losing her this year, my brother in law and I both wanted to donate some goodies in her honor!

The event is hosted by the ARC Car Club (Alternate Route Cruisers) in Baton Rouge, LA and all proceeds go to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life program.

I strung a heart on a gorgeous pink ribbon from Jamn Glass and... it sold for $115!! YAY!!! So happy to contribute in my small way in honor of my sis!

Beads of Courage Flame Day

The SoCal Flame Surfers sponsored a Flame Day last Saturday for volunteers to come and make large glass beads for Beads of Courage. Donna Conklin, owner of The Mandrel, provided the space, gas and torches.

 Here's Donna working on a mushroom bead:
 

 This is Kathy working on a caterpillar bead:

 And here's Charlie Warner working on a garden critter:

Notice all the toys on the table??? They are there for inspiration! We also had pages of coloring books taped on the walls. Kid stuff is great inspiration as the drawings and toys are usually in the simplest form!!

We made over 70 large beads in 4 hours!

Sharing the Love

I got my rear in gear in the nick of time to get my Beads of Courage donation in! Yay! It always feels so good to ship some beads off to the kids and know that they are making a child happy!

Here's what I sent:

I'm still buried under taxes but...new beads soon! ;-)

Beads of Courage Show the Love Challenge

I've been more than a little out of it with all my family issues...so I only just found out about this Beads of Courage Show the Love Challenge. Send in 30 beads with a 3/32" hold by 2/28 and get a pewter love bead and a My Beads Go for Good Deeds Sticker! Cool!  Time to clean our my Beads of Courage Drawer!

Link to the donation form

My Beads of Courage Necklace

Earlier this year, a member of the Beads of Courage Team asked me to make her name in glass. She said it didn't seem right that we use so many glass beads in the Beads of Courage projects but that the name beads were not glass. I made her name and my brain started stewing.... Why don't I make one for me to wear at our local Beads of Courage events???

And just like the cobbler's children with no shoes, the beadmaker is the last to get some beads! I originally started with an "L"... those of you who know me will understand. I do EVERYTHING bass ackwards! I read the last page of any book first; learned to crochet by making a king sized blanket instead of something small. Heck, I even started fusing when I really wanted a torch!

I knew I wanted something colorful and fun as kids are often at these events and purple is my favorite color...so I made a matching "O" but then I realized I should make beads I LOVE.

Most of those are multilayered and colorful...hard to do in a precise press. But, I'm fairly happy with the results... except I hate the matchy matchy O and L! One of those will eventually GO!

The H was done in Kim Neely's Ether style. The first L is in the Rio Party Beads colors I've been toying with and the Y is in another silvered glass style.

The Beads of Courage disk, the NASA shuttle bead and Courage bead were all given to us by the Beads of Courage team for various events we've participated in.

Whadayathink?

Beads of Courage May Bead Drive

Back in May, Beads of Courage sent out a call for bead donations, asking artists to donate at least 50 handmade beads by the end of month of May. The charity is an arts in medicine program that allows children with serious illnesses to tell their story through beads.

 I cleaned out my donation drawer and bead bowl and came up with more than 60!

What was cool about this year's bead drive is that Beads of Courage mailed all the bead makers who donated a Beads of Courage t-shirt!

I'm so happy to have the shirt to wear to our upcoming Beads of Courage fund raising event in September!

I HATE You Vetrofond!

I got a custom order from an Avon Walker...making custom boobie bracelets for the group of ladies she's walking with. She wanted half pink and half ivory. OK... easy peasy... but I quickly discovered I was out of my beloved Vetrofond dark ivory.

I know many bead makers think "Ivory is Ivory." Oh, but it is NOT!  Case in point... These two beads were made with two colors... the only difference being one is Effetre and one is Vetrofond. And, you know it... my favorite is the green which is vetrofond!

But my tale of woe gets worse! I found out Vetrofond is "no longer making rod for beadmakers".... GRRRR! So instead of making nice little perfectly pale tan boobies like these:

 ...they came out like this:

I think they are too pale and kinda anemic looking ( so yes, these are ON SALE! on the Fan Page at the moment)

But at least my customer liked the pink ones...

At least I got the chance to make my customer happy but... I feel so betrayed by a favorite glass maker...

Headed to Beads of Courage

Beads of Courage is planning a BEad Inspired fundraising event October 20th in Paducah, KY. Their most recent event in Katy, TX sold every piece of jewelry available. So the BoC team put out a call for handmade jewelry pieces for the event in Kentucky.

These two pieces are headed there... I'm in a rush to get them in the mail so these aren't the finished versions:

This tiger key has been strung on ribbons.

And this ghost has been threaded on a friction clasp chain.

If you have jewelry you would like to donate to the Paducah event, please get in touch with Ashley (at) beadsofcourage.org

Go Divas! Go Divas!

WHHHOOOOOO HOOOOOO!  The Fire Divas raised $107 bucks on their auction for Beads of Courage!!! Every penny of the auction money will be donated through Mission Fish on Ebay to the most worthy charity.

And the Divas donated a matching set directly to Beads of Courage. We decided to make Beads of Courage our monthly challenge in June and I just adore all the beads the Divas made. 

I simply adore the little race car made by Karen of Fire-n-sand and the space shuttle monkey from Lara Lutrick. It's hard for the charity to find "boy beads" sometimes... and these are great choices!!

I'm also loving Barb Reed's (River's Edge) new tribal face beads... these are just great. Yeah, that's my cupcake next to them.

And aren't Abbie's (Abbielyn) inch worms just the cutest things ever????

I'm sure this won't be the last Diva auction for Beads of Courage. I found it so rewarding to participate! 

Bead of Courage AUCTION!!! MULTIPLE WINNERS!!!

Jumping the gun on my Tuesday post with some big news! The Fire Divas are hosting their first ever TEAM AUCTION to benefit Beads Of Courage!!

13 different artisans on our team donated matching beads to the auction. Our leader Lori Bergmann of Ashlyn Design organized the donations into two sets... one set for the auction and... one set for the KIDS!

The collection is SO CUTE! Check it out:

Clockwise from top—Tribal heads: Barb (riversedgeglass); Yellow round: Sonja (SilverRiverGlassWorks); Magic Mice: Lori (ashlyndesign); Multicolor round: Judith (icarusbeads); Blue organic: Rosemarie (spawnofflame);  Shuttle: Lara (Lutrick); Blue nugget: Patrice (Shepherdcreations); Yellow car: Karen (giapet); Blue/brown organic: Susan (susanlambert); Critters: Sharon (rightturnartwerks); Blue cubes: Kathleen (uglyducklingbeads); Cupcake: Holly (HollysFollyGlass); Green inchworms: Abigail (abbielyn)

All of the proceeds from this eBay auction HERE will go directly to Beads Of Courage and make it possible for the brave boys and girls battling cancer throughout the United States to enjoy the amazing outreach and cancer support that this wonderful program provides. Not only will you be helping to put a smile on their faces, but you will receive 19 handmade Collector beads that you will cherish for a lifetime!!!

The beads in the auction include:

     * Lovely free-form organics
     * A pair of Disney inspired "Magical Mouse" ears
     * A sporty roadster car 
     * A Space Shuttle with a monkey (a similar bead from the same artist went up on the last Shuttle!)
     * Fun and festive graphic designs
     * A sweet chocolate cupcake (calorie free, of course)
     * Happy "critter" face beads 
     * And the cutest pair of tiny green inchworms!

BUT THERE'S MORE THAN ONE WAY TO COME OUT A WINNER!!  If you:

• Place a bid (win OR lose...)
• Make a donation to   Beads of Courage via their website during our auction

Just leave a comment on the Fire Divas original post let us know. You will be entered to win some great prizes like gorgeous beads or gift certificates from more of the Fire Diva members, chosen by a random drawing. How cool is that?!

The additional prizes being offered include:
$15 Gift Cert to Holly's Folly.com
Michelle will be donating a small bead set
10% Off Gift Certificate from Sonya's Art Fire shop

Please help us spread the word about our first Annual Beads of Courage Auction and don't forget that the bidding will end on Wednesday, June 1st at 6 pm PST. Thank you so much for your support!

Cupcakes to Go

The Fire Divas have a special project for May. Instead of our usual monthly Bead Challenge, we're doing something special for Beads of Courage. Each participating Diva had to make two similar bead that kids would like. Naturally, I made some chocolate cupcakes:

The Divas will be blogging more about this project in a week or so.

No secret sale this week....busy with a custom order and still in some pain from my surgery. I did make a handful of beads  that I'm kinda excited about and will be getting them up on the glass bead website over the weekend.

Ya'll have a wonderful weekend!

Beads of Courage Event

The Beads of Courage event in Orange on Saturday was very successful! We had a great turnout and raised money and awareness and got lots of beads made!

For me personally... the morning did not go as planned. I was on the freeway, driving down the backside of our mountain when my check engine light came on! My car sputtered and smoked as I exited and took surface streets back up the mountain and home. After getting some help from my new favorite mechanic, Bessie the Jeep was feeling dandy enough to make the trip to OC... an hour and a half late! OY!!! Of all the days! Being late threw me off my game and I forgot the camera in the car!

I arrived too late to donate the necklace I had made to the raffle. But they had SO many gorgeous entries... it was no biggie.

Chocolate Cupcake Pendant

Luckily I was there in time to set up my part of the boutique and get to my job at the bracelet making table. People purchased a bracelet kit containing two elastic beading cords...prepared with a rainbow stop bead to make it easy for kids. They got to make a bracelet for themselves and one for the kids in the program. I was amazed at how many made both for the kids! We had some really talent bracelet designers come through.

Next, I was on the torch for two hours and what a hot day it was! I think I drank three bottles of water while torching and I only got up to put beads in the kiln! My group was so amazed at how many beads the previous group had made. By the beginning of the third shift, our team leader was purchasing MORE mandrels for us to use in the event! We made 150 beads (I think it was closer to 200) for the Beads of Courage program!

We met some incredible parents and kids dealing with cancer. More than a few tears were shed too!

The boutique was really successful too! It was rather interesting to watch folks wander through and purchase nothing. Then they would go watch the bead making demo and they would come back and buy, buy, buy!
I was so excited to come out of my demo and see my Eggster Bunny had found a home! I sold quite a few items ... all for a good cause.

It was a very fun and meaningful day!

Beads of Courage Challenge and Fundraiser

I will be participating in the Beads of Courage Bead Challenge this coming weekend in Orange, CA at Coatings by Sandberg. There will be all kinds of beady happenings from glass bead making demos to make-it-take-it bracelets. My fellow Southern California Flame Surfers are also hosting a gift shop and a raffle! All of this is to benefit the new Beads of Courage programs in Southern California hospitals: Children's Hospital of Orange, Rady Children's Hospital and City of Hope National Medical Center.

To learn more about Beads of Courage and the children it helps, watch this video!

I will be at the bracelet making table with my good friend Bindy Lambell from 10 - 12 and will demo bead making from 12 - 2. My friend Donna Conklin (among others!) will also be on demo duty from 10 - 12.

This is a great chance to see some talented bead makers in action. Heather Trimlett will be demoing from 10-12 and Barbara Birbeck (her fabulous shells are amazing!) will be demoing from 2-4.  There are going to be six torch set-ups with demos going all the time!

The volunteers will be bringing a selection of their work to sell with proceeds going to the charity! It's a great cause and a fun day!

The Details:

• 4/16/11 
• 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• 628 N. Eckhoff, Orange, CA 92868 (Please note: this is the Coatings by Sandberg Classroom, not the factory!)

Ya'll come!!!

Beads Of Courage - Last Day to Donate

Marcy Lamberson of Studio Marcy is giving away a torch she won! For every $25 donation or 25 beads donated, you get one entry! Since I've been otherwise occupied...working too much... I got busy and found well over 100 beads that I made just lingering in my bead bowl and rounded it up with beads from my jewelry making stash. Monday, I'm shipping all 200 to Beads of Courage. The last day to enter... so typical of me!

If you want to get in on the fun, read about it on the blog Marcy set up for the event. Beads of Courage is such an amazing charity and I'm so lucky that the BoC folks will be in Orange county in April to kick off a chapter out here in So Cal! I'll be blogging about that for sure.

This strand is some of my first beads... I love some them still... the silver and the reactions! Oooh! 

Thanks for checking in! I'm still here... and I miss my torch!

This last set is from my beading stash. I didn't make them but I'm more into bead making than jewelry and I know they will have a good home now!

Beads of Courage Video

I wanted to share the video. This is so amazing!!! If you want to know what all the fuss over Beads of Courage is about, PLEASE check this out!