Artfully Ornamental: November 2013

Welcome to the 2013 Art Charm Exchange hosted by the lovely Jennifer Cameron of Glass Addictions, benefiting Beads of Courage! What is Beads of Courage? BOC provides arts-in-medicine programs for seriously ill children and their families in over 150 hospitals in the United States and around the world. The beads and materials provided by BOC allow children to tell their story. Not only are monetary donations made to BOC, many artists contribute art beads to BOC to help make each piece a child makes very, very special.

When I saw Jen's post about the swap and it's theme of LOVE I knew I had to join! Create 11 charms to send to Jen - 1 to be used in the auction to raise money for BOC and 10 (including one of our own) to be returned to each of us. 9 new, lovingly created art charms and money for charity - it's a win-win! Last year the auction raised $600 for BOC.

AUCTION INFORMATION: You have the opportunity to help raise funds by either bidding on a charm or charms that make your heart sing (bid high, bid often) or use the Buy It Now option (new this year) to get your favorites! The auction is here on ebay: the auctions are staggered over 3 days - today starting at 7 a.m., Saturday (11/16) starting at 9 a.m., and Sunday (11/17) starting at 5 p.m. Each day, charms will be added every 2 minutes. Jen will combine shipping charges and hold your items to ship at one time. If you opt for the Buy It Now option you must buy immediately. Jen will hold your BIN and not charge additional shipping for your auction items. You'll need to message her through ebay to let her know.

Now, for my inspiration - I LOVE the beach, I've written about my love for the beach and my favorite local beach, Willard Beach, a number of times on my blog. I also always have my camera with me when I walk the beach, whether it's my iPhone or my DSLR I'm always taking pictures. I have a thing for hearts and search them out wherever I'm walking. When I find one I take a picture of it in its "habitat" and quite often bring it home with me if it's a rock, a shell, or a piece of sea glass. I generally have my happy little trinkets in either my camera or my pocket.

Auction Charm: LOVE spelled using a rock, a rusty doorknob, mussel shells and white shells; seaweed heart

I also like to "write on the beach" whether it's directly in the sand or with the trinkets I pick up. I happen to write the word LOVE a lot! So, when I saw Jen's call for participants I knew I needed to join! Using Photoshop I reduced the image size of 10 of my pictures - 5 beach hearts and 5 of the word LOVE. The word LOVE is spelled out using driftwood, rocks, sea glass, white rocks, white shells, mussel shells, a sand dollar, tumbled brick "stones", and written in the sand. The "hearts" are a seaweed, clump a piece of heart shaped seaweed, a rosa rugosa petal, mussel shells, and a heart shaped piece of tumbled brick. The bezels were another story- for another post. I ended up finding base metal pendants that I could use as double-sided bezels. I used a punch to punch out the images, sealed them multiple times and glued them to the bezels; then I glued sand in the bezels around the pictures - multiple times. I also used German glass glitter to highlight the ocean foam. Then I sealed it all with several pours of ICE Resin. The sand ended up being a bit sparse in a few places, but wasn't visible until the resin cured...Sigh.....

Did you know sand grains encased in resin can be sharp as a knife? Well they can be, so some filing was involved and re-coating with ICE. This resin is fantastic! Its leveling and doming properties, its glass like finish - fabulous! I love the charms I created - they totally represent me and what I love. I hope the ladies who received my charms love them as much as I do.

These are the amazing charms I received. I am so honored to have received such beautiful, miniature works of art. I'm not certain yet whether I'll combine them into one piece, use them sparingly, or hoard them (and participate again to add to my collection) to make something at a later date. I am so thrilled with each and every one of these charms and the love infused into the making of them.

Kristi Bowman, Linda Haskell, Caroline Dewison

Cheryl (Lee) Koopman, Charlene Jacka, Shai Williams

Julie Schmidt Bowen, Ginger Bishop, Carolyn Chenault

To our hostess with the mostest - Jen Cameron, thank you so very much for coordinating such a wonderful swap and fundraiser. I'm raising my glass to you! I can't wait to hop along this weekend. Now, check out the auctions & check out the other artists blogs to see what they created and the inspiration behind their designs:

Jen Cameron: http://glassaddictions.com/blog/

Toltec Jewels: http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com

Vanessa Gilkes: http://culturezine.com/blog/

Caroline Dewison: http://blueberribeads.co.uk

Lesley Watt: http://www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com

Susan Kennedy: http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com

Nancy Dale : http://www.nedbeads.blogspot.com

Alicia Marinache: http://www.allprettythings.ca

Cassi Paslick: http://cassisbeads.blogspot.com

Alenka Obid: http://www.pepita-handmade.blogspot.com

Renetha Stanziano: http://www.lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com

Shelley Graham Turner: http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com