Bead-it-Forward Project ~ Beading Against Breast Cancer

For the past 2 years, Jeanette Shanigan has been uniting bead artists in the fight against breast cancer. Jeanette collects beaded squares from volunteer beaders and sews them together and along with some finishing touches makes full quilts. The quilts are then auctioned off at the annual Bead & Button show in Milwaukee, WI. Since starting the project in 2007, Jeannette together with bead artists have raised close to $10,000.

Each year has been a different theme. Click HERE to see the 2007 Butterfly quilt. You can see the 2008 Roses quilt HERE. This years theme is "Hearts".

A bunch of the members of the Etsy Bead Weavers Street Team thought it would be a great idea if we could have an all EBW quilt, so we'll be sending our squares to Susan over at Clickscales Art and she will ship them all out together. Thank you Susan!

This is the first year I am participating and I am so excited to be part of something so wonderful! Here are the 2 squares I've created. The first one is done in 2-drop peyote stitch with delica seed beads. The second one was something new for me - bead embroidery. I love what I've seen others do with it, but have been a little apprehensive to try it up until now. It was actually quite fun. A lot like cross stitch, but with beads. It was fun to just bead along and see what happens.

If you're interested in donating your time and talent for a good cause, check out the ground rules page HERE for exact instructions. Completed squares are due no later than March 15th, 2009.

I've also put together a couple patterns for people to use if you don't feel like graphing out your own. Both patterns are 2-drop peyote stitch. You must use size 11 (standard) delica seed beads to get the correct measurement for the quilt. I probably don't have to say this but I'm going to anyways. Please use these patterns for the quilt project ONLY. Using these patterns to make something to sell for personal profit would be bad ju-ju.

The Art Zoo

I was perusing through blogs, sipping coffee and dropping entrecards when I came across The Art Zoo. Noticing they have some fabulous handmade items...I started going through the archives and found they featured my white gold flapper earrings on Sep. 10th.

So a late, but heart felt THANK YOU to The Art Zoo.

If you haven't checked out this site yet, you should! They feature a unique, handmade item each day...from jewelry to journals to sclupture and paintings. Candy for the eyes indeed!

End of Summer Giveaway - Win this set!

Based on the poll that some of you voted in, the most wanted item for a giveaway was a ring. Rings are nice, but I wanted to be a little more generous, so I made a matching bracelet and ring set. This candy corn motif was something I came up with while doodling around trying to come up with holiday patterns. Cute, huh?
The bracelet measures 7-3/4" long with a goldtone swivel lobster clasp. The swivel keeps it from twisting up on ya, and the lobster clasp is bigger than normal, making it easy to get on/off. The ring will be custom made to the winners ring size.

This is a worldwide giveaway, so even if you do not reside in the USA, feel free to enter. I will ship the set for free to you, however international participants are responsible for any customs fees.

Ok here are my very simple rules for entering to win:

1. Leave a comment on THIS post and tell me how you found my blog. Was it entrecard, a webring, did you randomly stumble upon this site from a search engine? Inquiring minds want to know. If you do not have a blog, you must leave a way for me to get in touch with you.

2. Please indicate your ring size in your comment. I'd love to get your prize to you as soon as possible, so if I know your size I can weave one up immediately after drawing the winner, and I don't have to wait to hear back from you.

That's it! Easy, right? The winner will be selected via random.org on the evening of October 1st. That's just about 2 weeks to get your comments in. Good luck everyone!

Winner Announced

The winner of the Etsy Bead Weavers monthly challenge, "Complimentary Contradictions" has been announced. Congratulations to beadsandblooms, who won first place with their beautiful necklace, "Tears of Joy".

Runners up this month are:

Yin and Yang Peyote Bracelet- SmadarsTreasure

Roundabout - ThesePreciousThings

Lapis Lazuli Necklace and earring set - dreambeadweaver

Circle Gets the Square - yours truly

Pin Stipes and Flowers Bracelet - GrandmaMarilyns

Free and Formed - OOAK - beaddiddy

Bananarama Mask - Beadmatrix

Textural atmosphere - LiciaBeads

Le Rouge et le Noir Freeform Bracelet - enchantedbeads

Congratulations to all the participants, you're all winners in my book!

Voting has commenced!

Voting for the Etsy Bead Weavers September challenge, Complimentary Contradictions, has begun. What a wonderful display of talent this month! Part of the charm of these challenges is seeing the different ways each artist interprets the theme. Luckily I was able to finish "Circle Gets the Square" just in the nick of time.

Take a look over the entries and please do vote for your favorite!
Voting ends September 15th, so take this opportunity to VOTE NOW.

Complimentary Contradictions

I had been hoping to get my latest done before midnight on September 5th so I could enter it into the Etsy Bead Weavers challenge "Complimentary Contradictions". You can vote for the challenge on our blog from September 9th through 15th. Don't worry, I'll be reminding you again when voting opens!
I actually finished at 10pm, thinking I had plenty of time to take some pics and get it listed. HA! What was I thinking? I DID get the necklace listed before midnight (11:54 EST to be exact), but I struggled with the photo taking. I even tried again yesterday to get some better photos...different light, going outside, but I can't seem to get the camera to see what *I* see.
Nonetheless, it's finished, it's listed, and it's officially entered in the challenge. I call it "Circle Gets the Square".
I used a bunch of different types of beads for this one. Swarovski glass pearls, delica seed beads, toho seed beads, czech firepolished beads, and swarovski crystals squares and one circle for the clasp. I put a lot of energy into making my hands do what I saw in my head, and I'm quite pleased with the result.

Short and sweet

I managed to snag a treasury on etsy.com today. Unless you have access to your computer, including UN-fire walled connection 24/7, you know that they can be slippery little suckers.
For the non-etsians out there, a treasury is a collection of your favorite items. These are some of my favorite bead-woven items of the moment. Check it out, and comment if you like.
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=6294

Don't forget to vote!

I'm going to be hosting a giveaway very soon, and today is the last day to vote in the poll. Make sure to get your vote in! Don't forget to come back soon for your chance at winning a beautiful beaded creation by yours truly.

Also, I've been beading, I promise. The Etsy Bead Weavers monthly challenge for this month is "complimentary contradictions". I suppose I started a little later than I should have, but with the summer almost over I've been taking every opportunity I can to hoop outside.
The deadline for the challenge is the 5th, tomorrow. I'll be beading like a mad woman when I get home from the dayjob, and I already told the hubby that he's making dinner tonight.

2008 Bead Dreams

Every year, Bead and Button has a "Bead Dreams" competition. Bead and Button is a magazine tailored almost exclusively to bead weavers (to the chagrin of many, I've seen some angry letters to the editor in my years as a subscriber, I can imagine all the ones they didn't print). Us in the 'little bead' cult really enjoy it though. Anyways, back to the competition. This months magazine announced the 2008 Bead Dreams winners. Although there are several categories, my favorites always tend to be the seed beaded items...can't imagine why!

Sarah over at The Beaded Lily compiled a list a list of her favorites so I thought I'd share mine. Unlike Sarah, I really can't judge based on what I could see myself wearing. Creations entered into the competition are more of art than jewelry, I think. Which is fine. But they tend to be large pieces...like bigger than my head. I'm a tiny gal, some of those necklaces would swallow me whole! I also doubt they'd play nice with my hula hoop.

Ok, on to my favs:

Early Summer Wedding Bouquet

Miyuki Sugimura, Hiroko Toda, Masako Kato, and Akemi Hara
Nagoya, Japan

I don't usually dig beaded flowers but this wedding bouquet is gorgeous! The judges must have thought so too, it won Best in show. The flowers are so realistic, and the work that must have gone into it is astounding.

Babe in the Woods

Lauren Macgregor
Melbourne, Australia
laurenelisedesigns.com.au

I love this one and could totally see myself wearing it to a festival. Ever build an entire outfit around a piece of jewelry? Yeah, that would be the case. Ok maybe I DO like beaded flowers!

Jumped
Yuko Shiba

Kanagawa, Japan

Sculptural beading at it's finest, IMO. Plus I love frogs. Have a close look at it's mouth, it's a purse too!

Caribbean Beach
Mieko Ogura
Nishinn Aichi, Japan

I absolutely adore these! I'm not a girly girl at all, I don't even wear high heels, but these are too amazing not to mention here. The colors are perfect, and the bead work flawless. I'm sure they'll look lovely in an art gallery or on display in a woman's house who has lots of shoes.

Cityscape
Julie Picarello
El Dorado, Calif.
yhdesigns.com

I am amazed at the things people can do with clay. While there are several other entries that are incredibly detailed, this one is just so funky!

Click HERE to have a look at all the amazing artists who places in this years competition.

Beading against breast cancer

Fellow bead weaver Kerrie Slade is using her superpowers for good! Kerrie designed this pretty ribbon in collaboration with Beading Daily for the Power of Beading Contest & Charity Fundraiser.

You may purchase the pattern HERE. All funds raised from the sale of the instructions until the end of September 2008 will be donated to The Wellness Community and the American Institute for Cancer Research.
And if you have a "power of beading" story of how beading has helped you through a hard time, be sure to visit the Beading Daily website and enter to win a ribbon beaded by Kerrie herself.

In more beading for breast cancer news, so far, 25 members of the the Etsy Bead Weavers have agreed to get an early start on Jeanette Shanigan's Bead-it-Forward Quilt. Since 2007, beaders have been invited to bead squares to donate to the quilt. Jeanette then stitches the squares together, and the finished quilt is then auctioned off at the Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee, WI. Proceeds are donated to the Medical College of Wisconsin Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Jeanette, together with other beaders, has raised $10,000 total in the past 2 years. Check out the beautiful finished 2007 Butterfly and 2008 Beaded Rose quilts. This years theme is "Hearts".

The Etsy Bead Weavers have set an October deadline for themselves, but Jeanette is accepting donations up until March 15, 2009. If you are a beader interested in being a part of this wonderful project, please see the official rules/form HERE.