2016 Art Charm Swap and Beads of Courage Benefit Sign-Ups are Open

2014 charm by Niky Sayers

For several years I have coordinated an art charm swap with people from all over the world  participating. Each year is assigned a specific theme that artists interpret into their charms any way they want. Some of the previous themes include: Play, Laugh, Love, and in 2014, it was Soar. You will see examples from some of our own AJE team members sprinkled throughout this post from that theme. 

This years theme is.... Fairy Tales. I'm actually really excited about this one. 

2014 charm by Lesley Watt

In addition to the fun and exciting charm swap, I decided early on to add a charity auction via ebay, which makes the swap that much more fun. We have raised over $3000 for Beads of Courage through our auctions. Why BOC? Because I love their mission, which is "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." Oh, and because BEADS. What's not to love?

2014 Charm by Jenny Davies-Reazor

So how does this art charm swap thing work anyway? First, there are rules to read and the sign-up process to go through. 

Next, each participant makes 10 charms to swap, plus 1 extra to be auctioned off on ebay, which is done through giving works, with 100% of the bid price going to Beads of Courage. 

Then everyone sends their charms into me, and I get to count, sort, separate, and store until all charms arrive by the deadline. 

2014 charm by Sue Kennedy

Once I have all the charms, I lay them all out on my table and swap them in a very un-scientific manner so that every participant ends up with 10 charms from 10 different artists. 

Then I get to package and ship all these charms out across the world. There are usually between 40-50 packages to send. 

But that's not the end. I get to take photos of all the charms for the auction and write up the listings. We have a blog hop about 2-3 weeks after I ship the charms, and the auctions go live close to the same time as the blog hop to help promote the auction and share the charms they made and possibly  show off all the cool charms they got from other artists. 

Once the auction is over, I ship those charms all over the world. 

2014 charm by Jen Cameron

If this sounds like something you would love to participate in, sign-ups are going on right now on my personal blog. Be sure to READ EVERY SINGLE WORD so that you know the procedure for signing up. It isn't difficult, but there can easily be misunderstandings.  Sign-ups end May 9 at 11:59pm. 

2014 charm by Caroline Dewison

FYI~ there are additional ways to raise money for Beads of Courage other than directly donating (although donating directly is definitely appreciated by the organization!). One of those ways is through Amazon Smile. Simply go to this link: http://smile.amazon.com and shop as usual. Make sure you select Beads of Courage as your charity of choice and they will get a small percentage of the money you spend at Amazon.

If you're interested in signing up, here is the link again. Sign-ups end Monday May 9 at 11:59 pm.

Get in on the art charm action

The art charm swap and Beads of Courage charity auction is an annual event that spans 3 months every autumn. It starts with an invitation to sign up the first week of September. Every participant that signs up agrees to make 10 charms to swap, and one charm to donate for the auction.

Charm by Michelle McCarthy

After everyone has signed up, they get to work coming up with a design that will fit the theme. The theme for 2014 was "soar."

Charms are due to me by mid-October. Once I have them, they are spread out, sorted, packed up, and shipped to their new homes. 

Once that job is complete, I start photographing and editing the photos for the auction. The auction runs before/concurrent with the Thanksgiving holiday so that these miniature pieces of art can be given as a gift, made into an ornament, or into wine glass markers. Or simply worn on a chain.

Charm by Mallory Hoffman

After the auction is over, I get to package up the charms and send them to their new homes.

Charm by Niky Sayers

Charm by Jenny Davies Reazor

Why do I go to all this time and trouble? I've been doing swaps like this for years. I have always  enjoyed what came out of it. A few years ago I decided I wanted an extra element...something to make it more wonderful than it already was (because what could be better than getting charms from fellow creatives?) That's when I had the inspiration to add the charity auction. And Beads of Courage is an organization I think any bead lover and/or person who loves children will readily support.

Charm by Lesley Watt

Charm by Sue Kennedy

Unfortunately I was unable to participate in the swap this year. I did, however, make a single hot air ballon charm for the auction.

Charm by me (Jen Cameron)

The auction is a culmination of hours of hard work, and I absolutely believe we're going to break our previous fundraising efforts. Last year it was $1500. You can be rest assured that 100% goes to Beads of Courage. So bid high and bid often. It goes to a great cause. And in case you've missed the subtle hints to visit the auction page, here's the link: AUCTION 

Beads Of Courage

I recently wrote about 7000 Bracelets and Ears to You charities, and today I'm writing about Beads of Courage! 

 Bumpy beads made by Susan for a specific request.

From their web site, Beads of Courage is "...a resilience-based intervention designed to support and strengthen children and families coping with serious illness. Through the program children tell their story using colorful beads as meaningful symbols of courage that commemorate milestones they have achieved along their unique treatment path."  

"Program beads" are commercially produced beads due to the volume of beads needed.  They are tied to the color chart children receive when they first join.  The color chart is tied to specific treatment events in a child's journey.  "Act of Courage" beads are beads made by glass artists that represent milestones in a child's treatment journey.  Here are some guidelines about donating beads:

What is an Act of Courage Bead?Act of Courage Beads can take almost any form that you would like to make-it's an opportunity for you to let your imagination go! The 3/32" mandrel is preferred but other sizes are also usable.

Special Requirements for Act of Courage Beads: Please have nice 'puckers' on the ends of the beads, sharp edges on the bead holes cut fingers and can not be sent out. Overly frilly bits sticking out may break off and leave sharp edges on the surface, be sure that raised dots have solid connections (no undercuts) and that surface decorations are robust enough to take some knocking about.

We ask that you refrain from using reduction frit or glasses that give a metallic sheen on the surface due to heavy metal issues with these materials. We can't send metallic reduction surface beads to the kids.

Anneal your beads properly in a kiln to ensure they don't crack. Cracked beads have to go in the waste basket.

Please make sure that the bead release is cleaned out. Beads with the release still inside take more time for our volunteer staff to clean and this tremendously slows down turnaround time to the hospitals.

When you send your beads please fill out the Bead Donation Form, it helps us to expedite sending you a receipt and certificate for your donation.

Polymer Clay Beads are used in many of our programs including Creative Courage Journal, Beads of Courage Program for Siblings, Arts-in-Medicine Workshops and as a Member's Choice bead in the Beads of Courage Program.

Special Requirements for Polymer Clay Beads: Any size or shape is acceptable. The kids love bright colors! Our preferred hole size is 3/32" with no sharp corners, edges, or protrusions that would easily break off. Please remember that they beads are worn and handled by children and should be sturdy enough to stand up to wear and tear.

Other Manufactured Beads are used in many of our fundraising activities and workshops. We welcome your donation of miscellaneous beads, they all find a perfect home to further the mission of Beads of Courage, Inc.

Bead Delivery to Hospitals: None of our member hospitals are set up for direct donation. All beads distributed in our programs are our responsibility, we need to see every Act of Courage bead before it goes out.

How do Donate Beads

Print and fill out this Bead Donation Form and send with your beads.

Mail to:
Beads of Courage, Inc.
Attn: Bead Donations

3230 N. Dodge Blvd. Suite J

Tucson, AZ 85716

Questions?

Robert Simmons, PhD, our Director of Bead Donations is available to answer your questions. His email is rsimmons@beadsofcourage.org. 

AJE's own Jennifer Stout-Cameron holds a Beads of Courage Charm Swap/Auction every year.  Participants are asked to make charms to swap, related to a specific theme, and one to auction on eBay.  All proceeds are directly donated to Beads of Courage.  This year our theme is "Soar". While the function is quite fun, it's also very worthwhile - last year, $1500 was donated to Beads of Courage.  Most people donate more than one charm to be auctioned.  While this year's signups are closed, you should look for our auction on eBay on November 14th! And please consider joining next year, it's lots of fun!

2014 Art Charm Swap and Beads of Courage Benefit Auction Sign-ups

2013 charms by Jen Cameron

For the last 5 years or so I've been coordinating an art charm swap with people all over the world. After a couple years I decided I wanted to add a fund raising aspect to it. Because I love the mission of Beads of Courage, and also because BEADS, that is the charity we raise money for.

2013 charms created by Susan Kennedy

Maybe you're wondering how we accomplish raising money by swapping some charms? Simple. Participants are required to send an extra charm in addition to the 10 charms they swap. Then I photograph, edit photos, and write copy for each and every charm to be listed on ebay for a week long auction.

2013 charms created by Caroline Dewison

I invest a LOT of time on this project (much to the chagrin of my family at times), but it's totally worth every minute. Last year we raised $1500 through our charm auctions. The entire amount people bid (minus the additional amount paid for shipping) is donated to Beads of Courage through eBay's Giving Works.

To sign up, you can go to this link on my Glass Addictions blog, read thoroughly, then follow instructions to sign up.

This post has been sprinkled with charms created last year by AJE team members with last year's theme of "love." You can see the rest of the charms from 2013 on the Flickr album I created.

2013 charms created by Lesley Watt

FYI~ there are additional ways to raise money for Beads of Courage other than directly donating. One of those ways is through Amazon Smile. Simply go to this link: http://smile.amazon.com and shop as usual. Make sure you select Beads of Courage as your charity of choice and they will get a small percentage of the money you spend at Amazon.

2013 charms created by Kristi Bowman

Thanks for reading! And if you're interested in signing up to participate in the charm swap and auction, here's the link again. Sign-ups close on September 10th. 

-Jen Cameron

Glass Addictions

Sneak Peek: Benefit Auction for Beads of Courage

It's been mentioned a time or two or three...an art charm swap with an added twist-to raise money for charity.

Basically how it works, is every artisan made 10 charms to swap +1 to auction (some opt to do 20 +2). The theme was "love."

The artisans all send me their boxes of charms, then I sort and ship them out to each participant.

Last year our auction raised $600 for Beads of Courage. My personal goal for this year is $1000...again to go to Beads of Courage. 

The auction will start at 7am EST tomorrow (Friday the 15th). In addition, each participant will blog about the charms they made for the swap. When the auction starts, you will be able to find listings at this link on eBay. Or search seller ID glassaddictions on eBay. I use eBay exactly once a year. So every year I have to relearn how to do everything. 

I would love to show you some of the amazing charms, but that's supposed to be a surprise for tomorrow. You'll just have to be patient. And PLEASE visit the artist blogs (links posted on Glass Addictions tomorrow), visit the auctions, bid high and bid often. It's for the kids. And you get art charms as a bonus! Perfect for hostess gifts, gift wrapping tie-on, ornaments, and jewelry designs. I used some to make wine glass charms last year. And I LOVE them. 

Until tomorrow!

-Jen Cameron

Glass Addictions

BOC Funny Face Bead Tutorial

As you may know, Beads of Courage is a country-wide organization that provides fun beads to children who have life-threatening medical conditions as a way to hallmark their successful foray through the multitude of procedures they have to face.  Here's a fun tutorial for a bead you could make to send to these brave children!

Tools needed:  Zoozii straight-sided lentil press, tweezers, marver or magic wand, 3/32" mandrel

Note:  Mandrel size does matter in this tutorial.  In order for the kids to be able to string the bead on their necklace, the hole needs to be large enough.  Since most necklaces are made using thicker cord, a 3/32" mandrel is needed.

Note:  Remember to flash your bead in the flame from time to time, to avoid cracking or the face additions from popping off!

This is what the Zoozii press looks like.  You do NOT have to have a press - you can make this bead free-form, too!  You can flatten it with a marver or magic wand on your graphite pad, too.

 Glass colors for this bead - white commercially pulled stringer (or your own pulled stringer), olive green rod, black rod, red pulled stringer, black pulled stringer.  To pull a stringer, simply melt the end of a rod in the flame, take out of the flame and pull with tweezers.

 First, wind a blob of black on your mandrel, checking against the size of the press to make sure you are getting the right amount of glass.  Since it's a solid color, you can add more glass without ruining the effect of the bead!
 This photo shows the black glass still very hot, which is why it looks red!

 This photo shows the bead pressed into the lentil shape - if you need to add more glass, don't worry, just heat the glass up enough to re-press!  Make sure you have very nice dimples with no sharp edges.
Fire polish your lentil bead so it is nice and shiny with no press marks!

I add the eyes first, because they become part of the bead and most likely will not pop off if you don't flash the bead in the flame enough. First, add two blobs of white stringer in the place where the eyes would be!  Use your marver or magic wand to flatten them.  Fire polish the dots.  Then add blobs of olive green over the white, either covering it entirely or leaving some white showing around the edges, it's up to you!  Again, flatten and fire polish.  Then take your black stringer, and add two dots.  Flatten in slightly or leave elevated!

 Next, I add the ears (or horns, or whatever appendages you want to add!).  This will take a couple of dabs of black glass.  Heat the end of the glass, dab on the bead, and pull up slightly.  If you want the ears bigger, do this a couple of times.  You can get a few different effects by doing this, but make sure there are no sharp edges.

 Finally, I add the mouth.  I use the red stringer.  Turn down your flame, slightly melt the end of the red stringer, place it on the bead, and using the heat from the flame, draw your mouth.  You can make it smily, or wiggly, or however you want!

Below you can see some other variations - use a murrini for an eye, or both!  Use different colors, make the mouth different, whatever you want!  I'd love to see what you come up with!

On November 15th, the benefit auction portion of the charm swap Jen Cameron hosted will begin. 100% of the amount bid will go to Beads of Courage. Save your pennies, bid high and bid often. These little art charms will make perfect gifts. 

-Sue Kennedy

Sue Beads

Charm Swaps

Charm swaps - they make up a particular niche in the jewelry world.  From the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

NICHE

1

a :  a recess in a wall especially for a statue

b :  something (as a sheltered or private space) that resembles a recess in a wall

2

a :  a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted <finally found her niche>

b :  a habitat supplying the factors necessary for the existence of an organism or species

c :  the ecological role of an organism in a community especially in regard to food consumption

d :  a specialized market

 

I've been a part of many charm swaps, particularly our own Jennifer Cameron's Charm Swap to benefit Beads of Courage, as well as charms swaps with ArtBLISS, Ornamentea, and a charm swap group I belong to on yahoo.  

 

This first photo is from the Ornamentea Charm Swap.  Cynthia does a charm swap every year - you send six, and get six.  She has a party, and if you can't make it to the party (since they're in Raleigh) you pay for postage, and she puts the package together for you and mails it! I've done it for two years in a row now and it's always fun to open the package and see what everyone made!

This next photo is from a Seafoam Blue/Green swap I did with a Yahoo Groups swap.  In this group, there's a hostess who coordinates the theme and the swap.  You make the charms in the appropriate number, send them in with money for postate, and the hostess distributes the charms back.  This is a nice group because you can pick and choose which types of swaps you are interested in, and they aren't all limited to jewelry or beads. 

We also do charm swaps at the ArtBLISS workshops in September, in Virginia.  This is fun, because we get together at a pizza lunch, someone usually makes a really nice bag to put the charms in, then chaos ensues as everyone drops their charms in the various bags.  This is the charm I made the first year I attended, the theme was leaves.

This is a group photo of the charms made the second year - the theme was Bliss.  Unfortunately I didn't attend the third year, so I don't know of the theme.  This year there's a swap and there's no particular theme.  And I will be there and make a group collage of the charms I make and receive!

You may have read the post by Jennifer Cameron - she is hosting a charm swap this year to benefit Beads of Courage.  This is the second year her swap will benefit that organization.  Last year the theme was FUN!  This year the theme is LOVE.  You make 11 charms - 10 to swap and 1 to auction.  She lists all the charms separately on eBay and all proceeds of the auctions go to Beads of Courage!  Even though registration for the swap is closed, you can still participate by donating a charm in that theme for the auction! Or, you can bid on the charms when the auction becomes available!

 

I enjoy participating swaps because 1. I love seeing what other artists make and 2. getting those packages in the mail is so much fun!  There's so much creativity out there, and charms are a nice little way to express it!

SO, do you participate in charm swaps?  What do you like about them?  What other "niche" swaps do you participate in, in the jewelry world - earring swaps (a la Diane Ptaszynski) or ornament swaps (a la Sally Russick)? 

Art Charms for Fun and for a great cause

Doing swaps with other artists is really fun, which is why I organize an art charm swap every year. However, last year I decided that in order to participate in the swap, each person needed to send an extra charm to be auctioned off to benefit Beads of Courage.

I love what Beads of Courage does for sick children and their families, and I especially love that they use beads to accomplish their mission. I try to help the organization when I can. 

Last year's charm swap  had about 6 or so participants. Imagine my shock when nearly 50 people signed up this year and every one of them was just as excited to help BoC as to get charms from other talented people. 

Basically how it works is each person made 11 charms. 10 to exchange, 1 to donate. They sent their charms to me for sorting and shipping. Once the deadline had come (and gone!) I sorted, boxed, and shipped. I scheduled to have them picked up from my porch:

Each time I organize a swap, I learn new things to get more organized. Here are a few of those tips:

-add the email of each person to a specific category in your address book as they sign up. I used "2012 charm swap" 

-start a "secret" Facebook group. I want it to be secret so we can share info like addresses, etc that we don't necessarily want the general public to know.

-add files (documents) to the group with the info they need to know. There are docs for blog addresses, shipping instructions, dates to remember, art charm guidelines (what makes an art charm), blog hop and reveal info. 

-use the Facebook group to chat and get to know your fellow swappers. 

The charms I made for this year's swap

-I tried to email info AND post it in the facebook group because not every person checks both places everyday. 

-Be prepared to answer lots of questions because what sounds perfectly fine to you will make no sense whatsoever to others. 

-If in the US, use USPS.com to print labels. That made life SO much easier! 

-Also, use the small flat rate boxes. Again, made life much simpler. And if you do it online, it's about 20 cents less and includes free delivery confirmation.

-People are depending on you, so don't flake out! You don't get to keep all the pretty charms no matter how much you want to. 

-Don't stress out. Remember, this is FUN!

Here's how you can help Beads of Courage...the auction is going on RIGHT NOW. The holiday season is pretty much here and you have lots of shopping to do and things to make. Why not buy handmade art charms? 100% of the purchase price will be donated to Beads of Courage. So everyone wins!

Here is a very small sample of some of the charms available:

Small sign says "break for emergency laugh" by Deb Kauzlarich

Darling bucket and shovel by Shelby Foxwell

Unfortunately my photo of Marsha Neal's charm is not very good. The blog post about the process she used to arrive at this design is very good. See it on her blog

This one by Mallory Hoffman just makes me laugh every single time.

Charm by fellow AJE contributor Kristi Bowman

You will have to visit the auction to see some of the other incredible artwork.