Oct 10, 2012

Bead Table Wednesday: Kalmbach Books, BOC Charm Swap, "My Bead Table" Hop

Join "Bead Table Wednesday" on Flickr :)

It's bead table Wednesday. Here's what's on my bead table this week:

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The"My Bead Table" Blog Hop

This week I'm preparing for a fun blog hop, "My Bead Table" hosted by lovely Lisa Lodge of "The Grateful Artist." The idea is for 25 of us to create jewelry using only beads sent to us from Lisa and beads from our bead table -- but we are not to buy anything new! Lisa sent each of us bead soups and here is what I received:

I can't wait to see what everyone made. The artists in the hop are some of my favorite, and I'm honored to be a part of the fun.

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Kalmbach Books Jewelry Design & Bead Soup Party

The Kalmbach Books Bead Soup Party is upcoming! Necklace designs are due by the end of October. Kalmbach's challenge is to "create a beautiful necklace" and I've been thinking a great deal about my necklace design and the bead soup I've been gifted. It's magical, with a dragonfly clasp and Florida tropical charm.

The Kalmbach bead soup party is a wonderful mix of soups and designers. I can't wait to see all the jewelry that will be created! Artists applied to win bead soups gifted by top bead shops, artists, and galleries. The soups and jewelry celebrate the release of Lori Anderson's book, "Bead Soup: 32 Projects Show What Happens When 26 Beaders Swap Their Stash." The Bead Soup party takes place late October / early November on Kalmbach's Facebook page.

I received this beautiful bead soup from Island Cove Beads & Gallery. The colorway is rich, with cobalt blue beads and an enameled focal leaf that reverses to blue and green!

Shown above is just part of the generous bead soup from Island Cove; I purchased the two brown enameled leaves from SueBeads to compliment it perhaps. The brown enameled leaves jumped out at me as I shopped for Beads of Courage art charm ingredients. I wasn't looking for anything; the soup is perfect! Yet the little brown leaves seem happy with the enameled leaf focal, don't they? Earrings perhaps?

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Beads of Courage Art Charm Swap, Hop & Auction

The Beads of Courage Art Charm swap has it all: it's a challenge to create art charms, an art charm exchange, a blog hop, and an auction for Beads of Courage! The annual event is hosted by the talented Jennifer Cameron of "Glass Addictions" and "Art Bead Scene," a very cool, collective blog. The auction is TBA and the blog hop is scheduled for October 27th.

If you are wondering what an "art charm" is, here is a book showing some examples:

By Peggy Krzyzewski and Christine Hansen (photo from Kalmbach Bookstore)

This week I created 22 art charms :) I was lucky to be able to add in an extra set when a participant had to leave unexpectedly, but the idea is to create 10 art charms to swap, and one to donate to the Beads of Courage auction. The theme of the art charm exchange and auction is laugh! :) There will be some amazing art charms to bid on, and the proceeds all go to Beads of Courage!

I enjoyed creating the art charms very much. My art charms include SueBeads lampwork glass and Pine Ridge Treasures lucite mixes. Here is a little peek at my charms:

The theme of the Art Charm Exchange & Auction is "LAUGH"

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So there's my Bead Table Wednesday. I'm posting on Friday because my body threw me a hoop or two to jump though this week. But just as I struggled to use my arm to create jewelry despite my body having other ideas, I received a wonderful surprise from The Global Genes project: a bracelet made for me from a wonderful artist! It will get its own post, but for now many thanks to the anonymous artist and good Samaritan who gifted me hope, support and love. Getting a beautiful bracelet to acknowledge the challenge of living with a rare genetic disease is more than encouraging, it is a gift of hope. The bracelet is lovely and brings a sense of the possible, empowering and appearing like a rainbow in the storm! Thank you my friend, whomever and where ever you are. ♥