Showing posts with label handmade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label handmade. Show all posts

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Beads of Courage, Show & Tell! (The Art Charm Exchange)

This year, the Beads of Courage auction has had a few hiccups as to the date of starting! I hope you don't mind the wait, for the auction is here! (UPDATE: There is another hiccup with the auction starting date. Jen will still be selling the charms, so the seller won't change as is linked to in my post. I will post again when the auction has OFFICIALLY started).

THIS IS A REALLY LONG BLOG POST. :)

Almost every year, (2015 was skipped), Jen Cameron hosts The Art Charm Exchange which benefits Beads of Courage! We make 11 charms- 10 to swap and 1 Jen sells on ebay to benefit Beads of Courage. Beads of Courage is an AMAZING charity that gives beads as milestones to children who reach treatment milestones while they are staying or having a visit to the hospital. These patients then get to turn their beads or charms into necklaces. More beads = more treatment milestones = a longer necklace. I believe in 2014 we raised over $1,500 to donate to Beads of Courage! For more information on Beads of Courage, (BoC), please click here to visit their website. 

This year's theme, (every year we have a theme!), is FAIRY TALES.

I chose the wonderful tale of "Alice's Adventure in Wonderland." A classic, to be sure!

The first thing that I remembered from the tale, (aside from the Cheshire Cat, hehe!), was the caterpillar sitting on a magical mushroom so that is what I decided to make as a charm!

Here are some photos of the creation of the magical mushrooms:
Making the mushroom caps!

Still making the mushroom caps!

A completed mushroom body.

A whole bunch of mushrooms! Each one is slightly different.

Cutting the clay for the spots on the mushrooms.

On the tray, ready to be baked...

All of that work to make some mushrooms. Then they were off to be baked!

Here they are finished:

A pile of finished mushroom charms.



This year is Jen's last year hosting The Art Charm Exchange. Thank you SO MUCH Jen for so many wonderful years doing this for us and for Beads of Courage. *mad love*

Here are the charms I received in this year's 

Miya Beads


Brooke Bock


artisticcaos



Boho Bird Jewellery



SueBeads


CultureZine


Fulgorine



Pepita


THEA Elements


Clay Space


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Thursday, April 21, 2016

Happy Mail Art 2016

So in 2015, I did the Happy Mail Art Project. Anyone remember? :) I am thinking I'd like to do it again! Here are some examples from 2015 of the art I made, (some of it is stamp art, and some is hand drawn & colored):









 I did NOT keep everyone's addresses. So if you want Happy Mail again, please send me a message with your address. Please do not post your address on this thread, as I am posting publicly. Thank you! Feel free to nominate your friends for Happy Mail, (send me their address instead of yours!).
 
Last time I did this, I mailed over 40 pieces of art world-wide!! If you'd like to help with covering shipping, please let me know! (International mail costs a little over a dollar to ship an envelope and US costs $.49- it adds up pretty fast). But don't fret if you can't help- it just may take me a little longer to mail out all the art! *mad love*

Thank you for participating in this year's Happy Mail Art Project! Woo!

YOU CAN SEND ALONG YOUR INFO BY CLICKING HERE, (it leads to my facebook page where you'll be able to message me privately). Thanks!
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Saturday, December 6, 2014

2nd Annual Bead Hoarder's Blog Hop!

This blog hop is hosted by Lori McDaniel Anderson of the Pretty Things Blog. :) You can view the participant list by clicking HERE. (Almost 100 people signed up for the hop!)

I've been having a pretty rough last couple of days. The stress of the holidays is really hard on me, as it is a LOT of other people. I feel fortunate though because I am just about DONE with my Christmas shopping- most of it was done online so I didn't have to jostle with a lot of other people, (which is great because my immune system can't handle "teh sick" again) and I don't very much like crowds...

So! Making something Friday night and yesterday was ROUGH.

Regardless, I did make a couple of things that are worth sharing. :) Go me for managing to pull through the mental ick!

The first thing I made was Thursday, and it's one of my signature Waterfall Necklaces (with a matching pair of earrings, woo!)...
 You can see one of my new hoarded beads, (it came in a set of 10!), front and center. It has the swirly on it and is a lovely blue/purple color. I got it from one of Lori's destashes, and is made by, *drumroll please*, Maryse Fritzsch-Thillens of Glass Bead Art!
 You can see lots of Swarovski, glass pearls, a leather bead, some high quality China crystal, a blue chalcedony briolette, and some glass beads. Next to no stones, which is VERY unusual for me... and only glass pearls, no real ones, which is also very rare.
 Here's another view... It sure turned out well! :) I'm very pleased!

On to Friday night's project, (just before the deadline!)-
 The hoarded goods used in this necklace are Michelle McCarthy's/Firefly Design Studio Owl Pendant (with included dangles), and some lovely Czech glass beads in silver & clear...
 I made matching earrings for this set too...
 Here is the whole necklace + earrings! I used more faceted China glass in two shapes of teal, some sea sediment turquoise type of stuff in ovals near the owl, silver seed beads, teal triangle seed beads, Michelle's lovely owl, and the Czech glass silver/clear beads. It's another blue necklace and earring set! LOL!

Thanks for reading and hopping! I hope you enjoy looking at what I made for the blog hop. :)
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Friday, June 13, 2014

Time for a GIVEAWAY!

I promised that I'd give away some swanky handmade-by-me keychains a while back, and I am following up on the promise!

Check out this rafflecopter giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveaway


When I get 500 fans, I'll host ANOTHER giveaway to celebrate!
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Sunday, June 1, 2014

Blu Mudd Contest/Challenge! TIME TO VOTE!


My contest piece for the Blu Mudd challenge! Moriah Betterly makes these lovely ceramic components and hosts contests and challenges for jewelry designers. This time she provided us with a lovely kit containing the clasp, the amazing bird pendant and the teal ceramic beads...

https://www.facebook.com/BluMudd/photos/a.795777873767744.1073741885.272858342726369/795777967101068/?type=1

I crocheted a five strand necklace using 24 gauge copper wire and used the following beads:
labradorite, amazonite, vintage ivory glass pearls, Czech Preciosa crystal in copper, and green ceramic beads-->

all of which I had in my stash and matched perfectly with the beads that Moriah sent! I was a VERY happy camper!

VOTING IS EASY!!!
All you have to do is "LIKE" the photo for which you're voting for, and you can "LIKE" as many entries as you want to. :) (Easy peasy, huh?)



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Friday, November 15, 2013

Art Charm Exchange for the Auction Benefit for Beads of Courage... "LOVE"

So here is my official post for the Art Charm Exchange (hosted by Glass Addictions) & the Auction Benefit for Beads of Courage (BoC)... the (our!) theme this year is "LOVE".

I suffered pretty bad "performance anxiety" during the making & reveal of our charms. I just wasn't sure if my charms would be "good enough"... after receiving my charms, I realized that it wasn't necessarily how "good" they were, but how much LOVE and SOUL went into each piece... now that is something I have in SPADES. :) I am so honored to be a part of the Art Charm Exchange and the Auction Benefit for Beads of Courage. Let me share the creations I made & received with you...

A BUNCH OF LITTLE CHARMS made by ME!
 Beautiful light blue pearl polymer clay, with a dark blue pearl heart coated in Pearl-x powder and sealed; it also has a lovely *vintage* light blue marquise stone that I acquired from a friend and embedded in the clay... and the heart has little rays coming from it, like a comet! Universal love, or love from above. The findings are silver-plated.

See the little rays? :) It's a LOVE COMET!
 It actually has a silver-plated screw eye, so the charm stays on the post! :) I bought mine in bulk at the BeeHive on facebook. Andi & Dee (the owners) have them in a variety of finishes, including gold.

 The hearts are formed by hand, using my fingers and some mad skillz. *winks* The little bases for the charms are formed the same way- entirely by hand. :)


Here are the charms I received, in alphabetical order by first names:

By Alicia Marinache of All the Pretty Things @



By Julie Bowen of Autochthonous Evolved @



By Kristi Bowman of Kristi Bowman Design @



By Lennis Carrier of WindBent @



By Linda Haskell of Lilys of the Valley Jewelry @



By Lori Bowring Michaud of Artfully Ornamental @



By Michelle McCarthy of Firefly Design Studio @



By Toltec Jewels (Rita) of Toltec Jewels @



By Terri DelSignore of artistcaos @



Here is the complete list of all participants, (there are a LOT of us- please visit us each when you can!):

Caroline Dewison: http://blueberribeads.co.uk
Susan Kennedy: http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com
Alenka Obid: http://www.pepita-handmade.blogspot.com
Renetha Stanziano: http://www.lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com
Monique Urquhart: http://ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com
Shai Williams: http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com
Lennis Carter: http://windbent.wordpress.com
Cheri Reed: http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com
Moriah Betterly: http://mlbetterly.blogspot.com
Perri Jackson: http://shaktipajdesigns.com/blog/
Mallory Hoffman: http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com
Ginger Bishop: http://lilmummylikes.blogspot.com
Karin Grosset Grange: http://ginkgoetcoquelicot.blogspot.fr
Julie Bowen: http://blog.autochthonous-evolved.com
Emma Todd: http://www.apolymerpenchant.blogspot.com
Carolyn Chenault : http://carolynchenault.wordpress.com
Terri Del Signore: http://artisticaos.blogspot.com
Cory Tompkins: http://www.tealwaterdesigns.blogspot.com
Cheryl (Lee) Koopman: http://stregajewellry.wordpress.com
Lori Bowring Michaud: http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com
YOU ARE HERE- Andrea Glick: http://zenithjade.blogspot.com
Charlene Bausinger Jacka: http://clay-space.com/blog/

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