Project Bead

So those of you around Creative Bead Chat might have seen some posts about this. I figured I should blog abut it and let you all know a bit more about it. ;)

First off... This was FUN, let me tell you!

The idea came to me when I contacted Kashmira about being part of my monthly blog feature. My plan had been to send business to her shop, thus my purchasing a gift card... she however suggested donating a pair of earrings. I think I said something along the lines of that being silly, since all her work is donated already.

Bingo.

Idea.

I contacted Marla James to discuss my idea, since she has more experience dealing with groups and fund raising, etc, and could let know what she thought of it... and perhaps who might be interested in hopping on board.

Within hours, I had created Project Bead. In total, we had 14 ladies taking part... each of whom packaged up some amount of beads/ beading supplies... Some just a few that they could spare, and some enough to choke an elephant under the guise of 'cleaning out their stash' … they know who they are ;) lol

I waylaid Marlene Cupo to act as a 'middleman' and we all sent our contributions to her, where they were all packed up together into one box... and sent to Kashmira :)

What I had expected to be a dozen ladies sending a handful of beads or so a piece, pulling together to fill a small box with maybe a couple pounds of goodies... turned into this...

photo courtesy of Marlene Cupo

this pic shows all the loot together.. but doesn't really let you get the full feel of JUST how MUCH is there...

For more photos, visit Kashmira's album in CBC 'Project Beads'.

That pile... contains NINE AND A HALF POUNDS OF BEADS!!

Can you believe that?! In two weeks, we got a little over a dozen ladies to gather up almost TEN POUNDS of beads and get them to Kashmira... and then we all bounced around on our toes waiting for it to arrive at her door... and some of us ( re ME) stalked the usps tracking page waiting for the delivery confirmation ALL DAY :D

So my little group of Bead Faeries pulled together to gift a box of goodies for Kashmira to create more jewelry out of to raise money for her Project Why kids :)

Sure, we could've just donated the money, but where's the fun in that?! ;)

Despite the gathering and delivery of goodies for Kashmira being finished, I've decided to leave Project Bead active.. There are plenty more angels out there, slipping past under the radar, and sooner or later they'll come to our notice... then we'll send out the call for beads again!

If any of you would be interested in joining and becoming a 'Bead Faerie', each bead drive will be done separately, so if you don't agree with the cause, or if you can't participate in one, there's no worries. You'll receive a new invite for each one and you can decide based on the info provided whether or not you want to join in :) I'll just add your name to a list of people to contact when the time comes; IF you're interested, send me an email, or a pm on fb :)

If you'd rather no one know you're a 'bead faerie', you can join the ranks of Anoymous B.F's and chose a 'codename'. I'll have your real/ FB/Blog name on my list, with your 'faerie name' beside it. The cards sent with the goodie boxes you took part in will have your codename listed among the participants :)

As for what to donate, that will no doubt change from gathering to gathering. Beads for the most part, but some times other items would be appreciated as well. Since each gathering will be done in a short span of time, you should be able to use only what you have on hand. If you want to purchase or make something special to send, it must be able to be ready to mail to our Collection Faerie with in a week. If something comes up where specialty items are needed, we will send out invites and notes in advance of the actual gathering, so if you wish to, you'll have time to make or order items in.

As for what not to donate- nothing too big or too heavy. Remember, these items are all being gathered together and sent to the recipient as one package. As well, we do NOT collect money - the sole exception would be if we were taking on an overseas case where we had no Collection Faerie close to them. If that were the case, we MIGHT consider doing a small fund for shipping costs, HOWEVER, we'd most likely just coordinate things so that each would be sent separately, but on the same day with a note stating it was from the group.

I can already see that Project Bead is going to be kept busy... so to keep people from getting burnt out, each gathering will be limited to between 12- 20 'faeries', depending on how big a gathering we need to accomplish. The participants will change through out, cycling through the list so people aren't being asked constantly to donate beads to various causes. 

My Beading Faerie List, however, is going to continue to grow. All are welcome :)

If you join my list and then something comes up and you find that you won't be able to take part in any for a while, or you receive an invite but don't agree with the cause... all you have to do is just respond to the invites with a 'sorry, not this time. Try me again next round' and we'll send that invite on the next person in line. 

 Being on the list doesn't mean you HAVE to accept the invite when it comes. No pressure to take part. 

If you DO accept the invite, then you ARE expected to get your donation into the mail as quickly as possible, and meet the deadline. The deadline will be mentioned in the invite note, so if you can't make it, don't accept! Wait for the next round when things might be easier for you.

... and whoever stuck that term 'Bead Faeries' in my head... thanks >.< Now I have this image that I'm totally going to need to doodle out and make into a logo or mascot lol

So if this sounds like something you want to be a part of... leave a comment asking to be put on the list. Make sure you leave a way for me to contact you. If you don't want your contact info known, or don't want anyone to know you're joining, email me :)  mattiashogan@gmail.com  OR skye_sands@hotmail.com

F.F. #14 – With a Twist

* For those who asked, no I didn't make the bead I used n my Death Star earrings. They're bettlenut (sp?) and they just worked out perfectly :D

So long time no chat! Sorry... again... lol

I have nothing to blame but my procrastinating tendencies.

On the up side, I DID get a blog hop in PLUS I managed to get my Christmas tree down … it's still in my living room, BUT it's all boxed up and ready to get hauled back into storage, just as soon as I move crap around in there again.

… that only took me a month to do ;)

Here's to hoping February will see me being a bit more productive! :D

So, you are all no doubt wondering what I've been up to.

Well...I STILL have the reorganizing I started originally back in.. November, I think. I did progress ( sort of) away from my desk and is spread out over my floor where I can access everything to see that it gets where I want it.... see...?

View from my desk....

View form my couch...

That's my Pit .. aka Pit Baby, or Pitters... An no, that jackolantern does not have candy in it... it has empty bead bags... the candy is in the caldron tucked away in the bottom right corner ;) lol

Of course... I get my stone, shell and half my glass sorted, and realize I'm going to need something bigger for my metals... those little gray guys just aren't going to cut it anymore >.< Luckily I managed to catch them on sale again and got the last one in the size I wanted!! Once I finish getting those little drawers all filled and labeled, I have to clear off the desk and shelves and figure out the best place to put them all :) But hey... I'm getting there!

And... while procrastinating over THAT, I created a NEW mess, by recycling some of my bubble mailers :) I only got about a third done when I ran out of glue, but here's what my new butterflies look like...

Pretty new butterflies to travel to your mailbox ;)

For those wondering … and too lazy to go check the rafflecopter widgets to see the name displayed...

1) the winner of the Tori Sophia ear wires was Angela :) She has already received her goodies and no doubt has used them all up by now ;)

2) the winner of F.F. #13 was Shaiha .. and I shall get it in the mail to her soon :)

3) the 'With a Twist' n the title of this post does indeed go with the Freebie Friday giveaway ;)

For those of you who don't like this idea... blame Kashmira... she suggested it ;) lol

The last day of February is World Rare Disease Day ( http://globalgenes.org/world-rare-disease-day/ ) As such, I thought we'd try a little something different with this goodie bundle.

Most of you have heard of the Global Genes Project & their 7000 Bracelets for Hope campaign. Each year, thousands of blue bracelets are made and donated to this group, who then gifts them to the mothers and caregivers of children with rare diseases.

So this round there's a condition … you can only enter if you're willing to do something in exchange for winning ;)

The goodie bundle this month is primarily blues... and whoever wins it, must make and donate one bracelet to the Global Genes Project. They don't have to use all of their prize, they don't even have to use ANY of it... they can use beads from their own stash instead. They just have to make sure their bracelet complies with the groups requirements ( http://globalgenes.org/7000-bracelets-for-hope/ ) :)

Winter Blues Bead soup

Since it's still winter, I'll add some pretty silver snowflake charms to this, as well :)

Think you can make a bracelet to donate? If so, go ahead and enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sci-Fi Blog Hop

So AGES and ages ago, there was a discussion about good ideas for bloghops on one of the groups...

... or at least, I think that's how it started... lol

Anyhow,  the suggestion of a Sci-fi bloghop became a big long discussion, and it was decided that ' IT MUST BE DONE'.

That was... before Christmas sometime... and here we are, hop day, and the nice long list of interested people has shrunk to a few of us geeks that felt compelled to see this plan out :)

As I've said, I've known about this hop for MONTHS. I had plenty of ideas... too many in fact. So many fabulous books, movies & tv shows that I can pick from.

In the end there really was no contest about which one would get picked... Star Wars won, of course. Can I get a 'duh!' ? lol You all knew that as soon as you saw I was taking part, didn't you?

So... months of planning and creating time... I must have done lots, right? :D

*snort*

Yeah right >.<

It came down to crunch time. My necklace plans ended up getting scrapped in the interest of finding the time to 'get something done'... and thus I fell to the fabulous little mainstay... Earrings :)  the one pair of which I wore today and loved... the others are getting worn tomorrow.

 They're mine. 

Keepers.

:D

What? You wanna see? Well... alright....

So... according to the rules we need to provide a link to our inspiration...

So.... THIS 

The Death Star

... inspired THIS...

And THIS ...

Darth Vader

Inspired  THIS ..

I did have something for 'the good guys' in the works too... but as I was finishing up I realized I'd made a boo boo... got frustrated and chucked them aside. >.<

Make sure to check out the others in the hop... see what they drew inspiration from, and what they made :)

Hostess - Pamella Rachelle  - Crazy Creative Corner

Melissa Trudinger - Bead Recipes

Debbie Rasmussen - A Little of This, A Little of That...

Lee Koopman - Strega Jewellry Blog

Zoe Marcin - Beads, Tea & Sweets

Shelley Graham Turner - The Fabric of My Life

Denielle Hagerman - Some Beads & Other Things I Like...

Susan Bowie - http://susanbowie.wordpress.com/

Memories & Thanks Blog Hop

I'm very lucky to have a mom who, despite the trying times I've put her through growing up, is still one of my best friends, if not THE best friend...I mean, after all, friends may come and go... but mom's are kinda stuck dealing with our crazy butts, now aren't they ;)

My first piece is for my mom. Not surprising, since some of my favorite ( and biggest ) 'art projects'...( or attempts >.<) have been for her :)

Background ... my mom LOVES frogs... especially Kermit the Frog and those red eyed tree frogs. so needless to say, My eyes have become programmed to spotting 'frog' or 'Kermit' stuff across a busy store with no problem... despite my having to squint to make out the sign four feet away...I can see that frog keychain hanging on the tent pole ten yards away, past two or three dozen people moving past ;) lol  When my mom got a dark green pick up truck one year...I painted a giant Kermit the Frog head on her tailgate... and made a patching one for the back of her jacket. Everyone LOVED it... she was known as ' Mrs. Kermit' all over town :D

And of course I've made her plenty of frog jewelry. Every time I find a cute frog bead or pendant, I make something for her. My dad, however, is NOT a frog fan, so she doesn't get to wear the cutesy frog earrings when they go out, because 'they're embarrassing'. I did make her a pair that she wears with his okay, because the frogs are itty bitty images on itty bitty brass 'coins'... so you can't tell they're frogs until you're up really close >.< Bored of making earrings she 'can't' wear, I decided to make her something that would fit with just about every 'dressy' outfit she had, as well as most of her casual stuff, that contains her precious frogs, but not in such an obvious way that dad would grumble.

 

Four simple silver frog charms that 'blend in' with the silver chain,  four little green Czech Glass beads, and one little charm that says simply 'mom'.

Mom's a big fan of black and silver for her dressier outfits. For several years, every dressy outfit she had.. was black and silver. Seriously... she wore black to my wedding... although I really can't fault her on that one ;) *L*

The monochrome wardrobe is something we've tried to break her of by introducing other colours into her wardrobe that she likes, but not matter what colour she ends up wearing, you can usually find black and silver being teamed up with it. Usually in the form of a beautiful black velvet jacket decorated with a silver frog pin 'climbing' up the front .. so the bracelet is a win-win ;)

My second piece is for HER mom. My Gram doesn't love frogs... or Kermit. No... she loves Tweety Bird and dolphins ;) She's pretty much told us 'no Christmas gifts' her reason is that she has too much stuff already. Personally I think she just doesn't want to feel like she has to get us something in return... so I always bypass that by sending her something for her birthday instead... which is just four days before Christmas ;)

This year was not a good one, and her birthday was far from happy as news arrived that my cousin, George, had been lost at sea. By the time I learned of this, I already had this made, but  it oddly enough kinda makes me think of him, as well as her... I don't know if she feels the same, but I heard she did love it.

 Silver, black and dark & light blue... simple, understated, but very pretty at the same time, I think. the darker colours I think are what make me think of George.. A silver heart toggle that hangs in front over her heart... and a black dolphin - rather fitting to commemorate a death at sea... Not done intentionally. Like I said, I already had this finished, photographed and boxed up when I heard about it.

So two pieces of jewelry made as 'thanks' to two wonderful women in my life... and inadvertently in memory of a man I  really didn't know at all, since the last time I saw him he was still pretty much a boy.

Alright, now you've seen my pieces, and maybe someone of you have put a tissue or two to use over the last piece... so off you go to use up the rest of that kleenex box while you visit the rest of these blogs!

You can use the main list on Lori's blog 

Memories & Thanks Participants List

#100 + Tori Sophia

... hmm... suddenly wish I knew how to do animations and crap... woulda been cool to have exploding fireworks and crap right here...

... post number one hundred on Blogger :)


... and I'm using it to tell you all about something new I'll be doing this year... starting right now, actually :)

I have lots and lots of friends online here who have Etsy, Artfire or FB shops...some for jewelry, some for beads and other goodies. Seeing comments all over FB about driving traffic to the shops, and advertising, etc etc etc... it got me thinking I should go back to doing 'artist features' again.. like I'd started on my old blog. Only this time around, make each feature... special ;)

So here's what I'm doing.

 I contacted five of my shop-owning friends, all of whom I believe are also followers on this blog, actually, come to think of it. Well, no, I contacted FOUR of them about continuing this idea... the lady up today I contacted before hand, just about today ;)  Each month until April or May, I will be featuring one artist and their shop... and hosting a giveaway to go with it. It might be in place of a Freebie Friday ... or in addition too... depends ;) This month, it's 'in addition to' ;) There'll also be a new catch to some of the F.F.'s to come.. starting with Feburary's... that I'll fill you in on later... you can all blame Kashmira for giving me the idea ;)

Okay... off track ... gotta stop rambling...


 I hope most of you know Shelley Graham Turner.

 She's a member of both the FB groups 'Bead Soup Cafe', and 'Creative Bead Chat',  has teamed up with Marlene Cupo to host two rounds of 'The Holiday Bling Blog Hop'...( and I believe I saw mention of a third in the works?), and start a new group called  'MarShell Swaps'.

Plus, Shelley is also the lady who started the 'Pink Hair For Lori' campaign last summer :)

She's witty, sarcastic, fun, and just a great lady to know :) She also has one of the biggest hearts I know of.

And some of the cutest grandkids ;)

Anyhow... back to business ;) She's also pretty talented when it comes to making stuff ;)


 Have you seen her adorable LOL charms?

Etsy Link

  They are SOOO CUTE!!! I have a purple one... I call him ' Lol' ( pronounced lawl ;) )


 You've probably seen her sand dollar... right?

Etsy Link

How about her new Dressed Up Ear Wires?

Etsy Link

Well I have a surprise for you :)  One lucky person is going to win, not one.... but TEN pairs of  Dressed Up ear wires. All of these...

Makes you want to pull out your beads and start designing earrings for these, doesn't it?

So, anyone who wants a chance to win these pretties, here's what you have to do... ( There's a Rafflecopter widget below to check off each entry you've done. If you can't use rafflecopter, please say so in your entry comments! )

Go to  Tori Sophia  and look at all the goodies. Come back here and leave a comment telling me what your favorite item is. Check it off in rafflecopter... Tada! One entry.

You can get another entry by faving her shop or an item in her shop ( and letting me know in a comment & rafflecopter).

Hmm.. and how about one more entry for sharing a link to her shop on your FB page or blog? Yeah... not a link to this blog & giveaway... Share the link to her Etsy store, Tori Sophia.  And again, leave  comment & rafflecopter check to count it :)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'll let this run for a week, then have rafflecopter pick the winner.

IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO USE RAFFLECOPTER -- please let me know. Leave your entries comments below, and state with each one that you are unable to use rafflecopter... , and I'll make sure you're included :)

So now that you have something to look forward to... and drool over... ;) I guess I'll let you all know... that one of my followers has ALREADY  won a little something. Just for being a follower on this blog :) I've got 52 followers here, and after assigning everyone a number... the winner is LISA LODGE ( aka pineridgetreasures, for those searchers for her among my followers ;) ) Lisa,  I'm sending you a little something in the mail... not sharing pictures or anything until you get it ;)

Make sure to drop back in on Saturday for the Memories & Thanks bloghop!

ABS & YoJ, plus #99!

Yup, multiple topics post :D

You may remember I attempted to take part in the ArtBeadScene monthly challenges last year... I think I managed one... maybe two, but I remember one for sure, and I don't recall making it on the list so I must have screwed up the submitting somehow >.< lol I did want to try several of them, but they never amounted to much due to various reasons. I wasn't really planning on trying this year, since I signed up for The Year of Jewelry Project  instead... but fate smiled :)

The painting for the January ABS challenge...

And my entry....

The gorgeous peacock focal was made by Marti Conrad of Marti's Buttons n' Beads.  This was actually made for a gift exchange Lori Anderson put together over on BSC . My partner was Rebecca Anderson, and this baby spent about a month in the post to reach her. Her gift to me is still traveling, so I'll have to share that another time ;)

As for The Year Of Jewelry , week #1 's project started off great... then hit a snag and stalled... then grew into three different ones, all of which went slowly due to them each demanding my attention... >.< This meant that my Week #1 project is a day late in getting posted.

The theme was 'renewal'.

Sorry for the crappy pic... night time, indoors... and my normal background is currently acting as a 'table' to hold current projects >.<

Alrighty... now.. for the #99 part..

This is (or should be, anyhow) blog post #99 ... which means the next post has goodies up for grabs :) The day I write the post, I'll do a random.org pick of my followers for one surprise prize.. and then I'll have a second fun little giveaway posted for everyone to enter :)  So make sure you keep an eye out for #100! ;)

Plus, you can still pop over to the F.F. #13 post and enter that giveaway, too :)

F.F. # 13

Happy New Year, every one :)

Despite ending 2012 sick, I still managed to start off 2013 good. January 1st was the first day in almost a week that I didn't feel nauseous, and I've felt fine since :) Yay! Here's hoping the year continues on a much healthy note for me :D

For those of you that are a part of the Bead Soup Cafe on facebook, don't forget to sign up and take part in the third non-Blogger/ blogger challenge, Fur-liz Navidad' :)You can find it under 'files', and there's a link to the album where your inspiration photo is. All you have to do, is make a piece of jewelry, or a bead or something inspired by the pic, and on Jan.14, add your photo to the album :) One lucky participant will win a lovely bag of goodies from me and become the next hostess... and let me tell you, this is one impressive bunch of goodies. I was inspired by the kings ransom in beady treasures that Robin sent me for my prize, so this is even bigger than my F.F. bundles. As in about three times the size, if not more ;)

For those of you who would rather just stick with blog winnings that you don't have to work for, your chances at winning here are tripled this month :) First off we have the FF that I'm about to post here... plus my 100th post is just a post or two away, so I'll be doing two little giveaways for that. One will take place on the 100th post, and the other will be announced on the 100th post... or I should say, the winner of the other will be announced. All my followers will have been entered in that one automatically :)

But back to the matter at hand... GOODIES!!

The feature artbeads of this bundle, are four bumpy lampwork beads made by Gail, of Oregon Made Jewelry. Added in are a couple of new jade leaves, some Tibetan silver leaf charms, a couple crackle agate rounds, a big piece of amethyst, and I believe that big baby there is blue apatite. Plus there's a big puffy copper heart, some blue faux suede, and a bunch of assorted glass beads in colours to go with the various lampworks :)


a Rafflecopter giveaway