beads of courage

It’s been another busy year for me. I got to spend time with several of my Best Arty Friends in Seattle for some Amazing Watercolor classes at Daniel Smith. The store is incredible! My Mom and I had a wonderful time catching up with Bexs, Jane and Angus and on top of that met some absolutely gorgeous new friends!

I was featured in the news! It was all about my work with Beads of Courage! I jumped at the chance to bring light to this cause. Thank you Cheryl for thinking of me and contacting the station. A huge thank you to Bobby Lewis from 10 News St. Pete for the absolutely amazing piece he put together. I have added the link below.

http://www.wtsp.com/entertainment/places/bobby-lewis-on-the-road/making-courage-beads-to-honor-sisters-memory/307252432

I have also been selected as a Feature Artist for the Beads of Courage “Carry A Bead” Kits. I have been having a blast coming up with funs designs. I have started making Holiday themed kits which have been very popular.

Beads of Courage

For those of you that know me… You know that this organization is near and dear to me. I had a sister pass away at the age of 2 due to a heart defect. Please Check out the link at the top of the post to learn more about this awesome organization.

One way to help is to buy Carry a Bead or Team Beads. I am creating some at the moment and just wanted to share a little about an epiphany I had while making them.

I was asked to make as many as I could and have them to Beads of Courage by the end of the month. The one prompt I was given was they want more shape… Normally they are the traditional donut shape. My style is whimsical and sculptural anyway so I wanted to see how small I could make some of my favorite designs. But as my work is mainly “girly’ stuff I wanted to come up with some unisex designs.

My epiphany is pay attention to what your are attracted to because ideas will come to you! I was making little monkey faces and I kept looking at a stuffed Christmas Mouse my grandmother made that has a prominent place in my studio and an idea for a bead popped into my head. The next day I was going through my email and normally I delete all the spam. I was thinking about what to make that day and one of the emails jumped out at me is was for a scrapbooking place and one of new papers by Doodlebug inspired my Big Eyed Baby Octopi… So pay attention!!!! You never know when something will just come to you!