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