Fire Divas' Beads of Courage Auction

My lampworking promotion group, The Fire Divas, have collected a group of great handmade lampwork beads to auction off to honor of the Beads Of Courage program. All of the proceeds from this eBay auction HERE will go directly to Beads Of Courage and make it possible for the brave boys and girls battling cancer throughout the United States to enjoy the amazing outreach and cancer support that this wonderful program provides. Not only will you be helping to put a smile on their faces, but you will receive 19 handmade Collector beads that you will cherish for a lifetime!!!

The beads shown were donated by 13 different Fire Diva artisans, who also created a similar set that will be sent directly to Beads of Courage for the children to choose from and enjoy. This is your unique opportunity to pitch in and lend a helping hand to this amazing organization too!

The beads you will be getting include:

* Lovely free-form organics
* A pair of Disney inspired "Magical Mouse" ears
* A sporty roadster car
* A Space Ship with a monkey (THIS IS MY BEAD! Very similar bead was just launched into space on the last space shuttle mission)
* Fun and festive graphic designs
* A sweet chocolate cupcake (calorie free, of course)
* Happy "critter" face beads
* And the cutest pair of tiny green inchworms!

In addition to this special auction event, we would like to offer another opportunity to our customers and fans: for everyone who places a bid (whether you win or not), or donates directly during the auction week to Beads of Courage via their website, please leave a comment on our blog post. You will be entered to win some great prizes from more of the Fire Diva members, chosen by a random drawing.

Please help us spread the word about our first Annual Beads of Courage Auction and don't forget that the bidding will end on Wednesday, June 1st at 6 pm PST. Thank you so much for your support! *Ü*

New Beads and Bead to Orbit

I seems like the Shuttle Launch is a go for tomorrow morning. I sure hope so, my little bead is ready to go. Check out the last launch at 8:56am EST. Wish it was a little later for those of us on the west coast. YAY for TIVO. Check out my blog post for more about my bead in space.

RETRO

I also listed some new beads today. The first set is a turquoise and orche set. Very Retro and the second set as some fun summery colors. Click on the photos for links to the Etsy.

SUMMER PICNIC

Beads in Space!

A view of all the beads going into space on the shuttle. my chimp bead is in the top left hand corner.

EXCITING NEWS!!!!

The bottom chimp is going to space, yay! Now I'm wondering why I didn't send the top chimp, I think it was the ears.

Group shot of all my rockets.

I got some exciting news this week. I have a bead going into space with the next Space Shuttle launch. Yes, it is the last scheduled launch. It is now or never to get something in space, right? How did this come about? (Read this article about last year's launch and how NASA teamed up with BOC to bring encouaragment to children being treated in hospitals around the globe for serious illnesses).

Check out this video of BOC on CBS Sunday Morning.

Tutorial for Butterflies for Beads of Courage.

Flock of butterflies ready to be sent to Bead of Courage.

Have you heard of Beads of Courage? I think a lot of people that see this blog, will have heard of them, but I finally got some butterfly beads that I like, so I took some photos and am blogging about Beads of Courage.

Beads of Courage is an incentive program for children undergoing medical treatment such as cancer and cardiac treatments. The beads "support and strengthen the protective resources in children 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." (http://www.beadsofcourage.org/pages/beadsofcourage.htm)

Check out their website for more information on their program, to see videos of children and their beads, to see how to donate your beads and for a events and fundraising.

Why butterflies? Butterflies are given to the parents after a child dies. It is very hard for beadmakers to make these beads. It is difficult to think about why you need to make them and very touching to make a final bead.

Below are the steps I use to make these beads. I was never happy with my butterflies until I tried using my Gaffer and Val Cox veiled cane. Nikki Carollo posted some butterfly beads on LampworkEtc and a light bulb went off in my head. I have lots of veiled cane. I tweaked her design a little and came up with this way of making these beads. Feel free to use my tutorial for beads of your own to send to Beads of Couarge.

Wrap mandrel with first color of glass to form a tube shape. Make sure the ends are dimpled nicely as it will not be possible to return to the ends to make them smooth easily. Use the same color of glass to make four tall dots to form the beginnings of the wings. Take your second color of glass and wrap around the raised dots. You can see here the bottom side is done and the topside I started in the middle of t he dots. I like doing this so I can use the molten glass to get into all the edges. If needed add some glass to make the two wings the same size. Use your third color and stripe it down the sides of the wings to build up more height on the wings. Heat in the center of the wing on side. Use a razor tool, stump shaper or simlar tool to crease between the wings. Repeat on the other side. Heat one wing and use parallel mashers or tweezer to flatten the wings. Here all wings are mashed. Heat each wing and use tweezers to make ridges in the wings. You may need to heat and tweeze a couple times on each wing, if you are not fast enough. I like to start in the center of the wing and move to the left, then go back and finish on the right. Finished butterfly.