1000 Necklaces to Feed Hungry Children: August 2013

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Bead Retreat creations

Here are some amazing necklaces that my friend Susan made for the project, again, at our bead retreat. It was unexpected to have such amazing necklaces donated, and I'm very thankful for the help. These bead retreat ladies are really the best, every one of them.

Thank you Susan!

New Jade with Chrysoprase center

Amazonite center with Pearls

Wire lace with crystals and pearls

More wire lace, different colors, with crystals and pearls. Quite beautiful!

Guest Donors continue!

Once a year, a few of us friends get together and have our own little bead retreat. It's an event I wouldn't miss for the world, it's such a great time, with such wonderful women, what more could I ask for? At this year's retreat, the incomparable Patsy Silva decided to venture out of her comfort zone and string a few necklaces to donate to the project. Her goal was 10, and she did it. (We counted the double strands as two for her)

They are beautiful, Thank You Patsy!

Poppy Jasper and Sea Glass

Amethyst, crystal and pearls

Yellow Jade and crystal

Czech glass with Pewter

Carnelian with crystals

Dyed blue bamboo coral with pearls and crystals

Peach Aventurine with Czech glass

Amazonite with pearls and crystals

Some wonderful necklaces have been added to the project by another young person who was excited to donate their time to help us out. My friend Susan's adorable granddaughter, Kelli and one of her friends, decided to make some necklaces for the project. The girls are 13 years old, and obviously inherited their grandmother's talent for jewelry design.

Thank you Kelli, you're a great kid!

Porcelain Necklaces

Ok, so these are the pictures of the necklaces that I have made with the porcelain beads. I think they turned out pretty good considering their "newness" to me. It's interesting to deal with beads that are opaque, I'm so used to having beads that are transparent, or at least translucent, light plays an entirely different role. Mixing them with transparent beads became a neccessity.

Golden Coral (dyed) with the porcelain

Porcelain beads with Lampwork beads by Shani Barrett

Porcelain beads with Magnesite and an intricate Lampwork bead by Toni Lutman.

No porcelain here...

Agate beads with Aventurine (donated by the wonderful Kristine Buchanan)

and Freshwater pearls

Sea Glass with Copper beads and a Lampwork bead made by Lisa Fletcher

Some porcelain with old raw brass beads and a Lampwork bead

Monday, August 19, 2013

August necklace update

Here are a few of the newest necklaces. I have been having some fun working with the new porcelain beads we got in just for the project. It's not something that I have worked with much before, so it's something new for me. I think they turned out well, hopefully everyone else will agree.

Czech glass, crystal and Freshwater Pearls

Czech glass with Sea glass and Freshwater Pearls

Sea Glass with Freshwater Pearls and Lampwork glass

Lampwork bead by Lisa Fletcher (who only agreed to give me this bead if I agreed to use it in a necklace like this for the project!)

Green Florite, crystal, Abalone, Sea Glass, Crystal, and Seed Beads

Friday, August 9, 2013

Thank you Chris Thompson!

I wanted this project to be a challenge, so that it would mean something. This whole idea was our "nod" to Chris Thompson who had the amazing idea to do the 1000 Bowls to Feed the Hungry. I mean really, what a great idea he had. So, to my surprise, Chris walked into the shop this week and told me how thrilled he was to see us doing this project. His hope was that the bowl project would inspire others to do something similar and to "pay it forward" so to speak. I had a great time talking with Chris, he's such a talented artist to begin with, and such an inspiration to talk to about working through set backs and all the other challenges I am going to face with this. I was looking for a sign from the universe that I should go on with this project and not quit... and the universe sent me Chris. Thank you Chris, your words meant the world to me.

Ok, so the first 5 necklaces were made by a very special person, and probably the youngest of the people who has asked to help us do this. It's my daughter, Kristin. She really wanted to make some of the pieces that will be sold, and I was very proud of her designs. I loved beading with her, and hopefully we'll have more to show soon. After the first 5, there are 10 new ones that I made. I will also be posting more tomorrow after I get some decent pictures of the super new ones. I had a lovely customer named Andrea come in today and help me with a couple of necklaces in the shop. She did a great job, it helps that she has great taste and makes pretty jewelry! Thanks Andrea!

Forgot to mention that the date for the sale has been changed. After much consideration and deliberation, I have decided that we will do the sale of these necklaces in July of 2014. The issue of having enough necklaces done was one thing, but the larger problem was finding a gallery to help us sell them. With the sale at a much slower time of the year for the galleries, it'll make it easier to work out the details and get a great gallery or two on board. As of right now, I have two galleries that are interested and we're currently working out the details. As soon as I know for sure, I'll post it here!
Enjoy the necklaces!