Friday 15 November 2013

Art charm swap and auction in support of beads of courage

Last year I stumbled upon Jennifer Cameron’s art charm swap in aid of the Beads of Courage program.  As that swap went on it was clear the amount of work involved in receiving, swapping, triple-checking, shipping, photographing, auctioning and more shipping that Jennifer undertakes with this event.   Last year all this effort brought in $600 for the cause and this year, the goal is $1000!  So the most important link is the one right HERE for the auctions where you can join in on the fun and bid for your very own charm.

In the course of this hop you will likely hear a lot about Beads of Courage, here is their mission from their website:
Our Mission: We are growing every day, providing innovative, arts-in-medicine supportive care programs for children coping with serious illness, their families and the health care providers who care for them. Beads of Courage, Inc. is an approved public charity under I.R.S. Code Section 501(c)(3), based in Tucson, Arizona.

My child started her life in hospital and the first time I held her we were skin-to-skin and overtop was a handmade quilt.  I’ve experienced arts in medicine – it is important.

a little love
With a theme of love this year I toyed with several ideas as usual.  Thinking on the loves in my life, the ideas all got a little too personal.  I mean, an inside joke is no fun if you aren’t on the inside right? So despite trying to escape the universal heart I somehow ended up right back there.  I thought of young love and carving your initials in a tree… but what initials to use? I found some branch beads in my stash and knew that I had to try and carve them.  I pulled out the wood burner I had bought some time ago and never tried.  A little testing on some tongue depressors and off I went to carve the word “LOVE”. 

and the back

While the branch bead itself is a decent size I couldn’t have just that.  My little tree got a canopy in the form of a polymer rondelle I had made already (inspired by an artichoke originally).  Fortunately I still had more of that cane I had started from raw so created a little leaf to swing from the branch.  It’s more suggestive than realistic I’d say.

It’s wonderful to receive charms from the group and I’m excited to read more about the ones I’ve received.  I’m going to share a bit of a teaser picture of them since I’d really like it if you took a closer look at them during the auction instead :) Oh, and I added this years to last.

photo (34)

Enjoy the LOVE tour! Thank you to all involved!

Jen Cameron: http://glassaddictions.com/blog/
Toltec Jewels: http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com
Vanessa Gilkes: http://culturezine.com/blog/
Caroline Dewison: http://blueberribeads.co.uk
Lesley Watt: http://www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com
Susan Kennedy: http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com
Nancy Dale : http://www.nedbeads.blogspot.com
Alicia Marinache: http://www.allprettythings.ca
Cassi Paslick: http://cassisbeads.blogspot.com
Alenka Obid: http://www.pepita-handmade.blogspot.com
Renetha Stanziano: http://www.lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com
Shelley Graham Turner: http://www.shelleygrahamturner.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
Jean Peter: http://jeanpdesigns.blogspot.com
Linda Florian: http://lilysofthevalleyjewelry.blogspot.com
Patricia Pulliam: http://rusticstudio.blogspot.com
Karin Grosset Grange: http://ginkgoetcoquelicot.blogspot.fr
Julie Bowen: http://blog.autochthonous-evolved.com
Susan Delaney: http://ladyflowersbysusan.wordpress.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
Andrea Glick: http://zenithjade.blogspot.com
Jacqueline Carlson: http://www.beadgypsy.blogspot.com
Michelle McCarthy: http://www.fireflydesignstudio.blogspot.com
Charlene Bausinger Jacka: http://clay-space.com/blog/
Kristi Bowman: http://dreamsomedesigns.blogspot.com

14 comments:

  1. Love the sentiment here - and the charm! It is a wonderful cause!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stupendous, complex charm. Your photograph of it really shows it well.

    Susan Delphine Delaney
    LadyFlowersbySusan

    ReplyDelete
  3. I adore your charm (I have one...) and it's just so clever. Thank you for participating and helping to raise money for Beads of Courage.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a special charm. So creative! I'm impressed with the amount of work you put into every aspect of it - a mirror of the work we put into protecting love, I think. Wonderful! - Julie

    ReplyDelete
  5. What an awesome design, Emma... I love the "primitive" touch with the wood bead!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love your charms. I really like the incorporation of the wooden bead, since nature definitely says "love" to me.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love this little charm! So natural, so beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  8. So cute!! I always love stacked beads and these are very cool!

    ReplyDelete
  9. That's a novel idea, burn the wooden beads! The story of how your art charm became is very sweet ~ and the charm is absolutely adorable... I wasn't lucky enough to get one, but I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love your design and I still have a chance to get one...

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a great idea to carve the wood! And the combination of beads is just perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love what you created. I thought about making charms but I couldn't think of anything besides a heart so I decided to see what everyone comes up with this year and try for next year.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I was lucky enough to receive one of your charms and it's gorgeous! Thank you x

    ReplyDelete
  14. Lovely charm Of course artichokes have hearts ;)

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear what you think, thanks for taking the time to join in the conversation