Tuesday 25 November 2014

Beads Of Courage Art Charm Exchange and Charity Auction...

 

Welcome - this is my second year of taking part in this Art Charm Exchange and Auction organised by the talented and indefatigable Jennifer Cameron in support of 'Beads of Courage' a charity 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.

The Program 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. 


The premise of the exchange is that each participant makes 11 charms based on a given theme and sends them to Jen, who then sends each of us a collection of 10 charms including one of our own. The 11th charm goes up for auction for BOC and you can find details of the auction later in this post.

The theme for this year was 'Soar' and my immediate thoughts went to the song from the Children's classic film Mary Poppins since he seems to draw a parallel with these kids daily striving to rise above adversity...

Let's go fly  kite, up to the highest height,
Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring...
Up to the atmosphere, up where the air is clear
Oh let's go fly  kite....

I made from charms from bronze clay and engraved a heart on one side to represent courage, then painted them in the bright fun colours from the BOC logo and added a little brass dangle for the tail.

So those are my charms but what about the ones I was sent...? Well what a fabulous selection in all sorts of media and here they are...



You can find out more about the inspiration behind these charms and the others in the auction by visiting the makers blogs below. All participants will have a charm up for auction so If you'd like the opportunity to get your hands on one... including my design, while donating to a fantastic cause, you can take part in the auction here. You can buy each of the charms individually and the listings will be staggered so keep checking back for new ones!

Last year we raised just over $1500 dollars for the Beads of Courage project, so dig deep and let's see if we can't do better this year.!

Thank you

Lesley

Jennifer Cameron: http://www.glassaddictions.com/blog
Alenka Obid: http://pepita-handmade.blogspot.com
Alicia Marinache: http://www.allprettythings.ca
Andrea Glick: http://zenithjade.blogspot.com
Caroline Dewison: http://blueberribeads.blogspot.co.uk
Cassi Paslick: http://badatbeingmom.blogspot.com/
Cate van Alphen: http://fulgorine.wordpress.com
Cheri Reed: http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com
Chris Eisenberg: http://www.wanderware.blogspot.com
Cory Tompkins: http://www.tealwaterdesigns.blogspot.com
Elisabeth Auld: http://www.beadsforbusygals.com
Genevieve Gabbert: http://www.glassaddictions.com/blog
Jami Shipp: http://celebratinglifewithdamamashipp.blogspot.com
Jenny Davies-Reazor: http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog
Jill Bradley: http://www.jillybeads.blogspot.com
Kim Dworak: http://www.cianciblue.blogspot.com
Lee Koopman: http://stregajewellry.wordpress.com
Lennis Carrier: http://www.windbent.net
Lesley Watt: http://www.thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com
Mallory Hoffman: http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com
Melissa Trudinger: http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com
Michelle McCarthy: http://www.fireflydesignstudio.blogspot.com
Monique Urquhart: http://ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com/
Moriah Betterly: http://mlbetterly.blogspot.com
Nancy Dale: http://nedbeads.blogspot.com
Nancy Smith: http://wirednan.blogspot.ca
Niky Sayers: http://silverniknats.blogspot.co.uk
Perri Jackson: http://ShaktipajDesigns.com/blog/
Renetha Stanziano: http://www.lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com
Shai Williams: http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com
Sheila Prosterman: http://catswithbeads.blogspot.com
Susan Delaney: http://susandolphindelaney.wordpress.com
Susan Kennedy: http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com
Terri DelSignore: http://artisticaos.blogspot.com
Toltec Jewels: http://www.jewelschoolfriends.com
Vanessa Gilkes: http://culturezine.com/blog/



15 comments:

  1. What a beautiful design, I love that you used the BOC logo colours, and the heart is such a wonderful touch! Beautiful as always!

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  2. I love that you were inspired by a Mary Poppins song! Your kites are so sweet. A friend's daughter just played on stage and I was lucky enough to create the parrot head on her umbrella!

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  3. Beautiful!! I love my charm - it's so pretty, and I'm so happy to have been lucky enough to get yours both years now!! :D

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  4. Lesley, I posted info about this event and a link to your blog on the FB page of The Greater Birmingham Bead Society (located in Alabama, USA). I love your kite charm!! :)

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  5. OH, its funny how inspiration strikes twice, unlike lightning

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  6. I love all the different kites that have been created for this swap. What a great idea to use the BOC colors :-)

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  7. Oh, I totally missed that these were the logo colours when I spotted your kite on other blogs :) Memories of seeing this splendid movie as a child. Well done, Lesley... they're Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! (Now I am laughing, because the spell-checker just popped up, with the not-so-helpful "no spelling suggestions" LOL)

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  8. They are all beautiful and I love your kite idea, I'm sure all your recipients will love them too :)

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  9. Love your charms, I'm thrilled to bits with mine :)

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  10. Lesley, what a great idea to put the heart on one side of the charm and to do them in the BOC colors!

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  11. Oh I just love your kites! They are so fun.

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  12. I really want one of these kites! I loved Mary Poppins as a child and still sing the songs :-) Thanks for participating once again this year!

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  13. I was so happy to receive one of your lovely charms Lesley! It's lovely to hear the inspiration behind it too.

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  14. I have the Mary Poppins song stuck in my head... Love your charms!

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