Home Thrift Lab: November 2012

Several bead artists came together recently to raise funds for a favorite charity. Each of us created ten beads and traded them with nine other artists. I believe there were five groups all together. Now a set of all 50 beads is going to be auctioned off and the proceeds will be given to Beads of Courage, which is a group that distributes beads to severely ill children.

We were allowed to choose any medium, and my favorite is glass (lampwork specifically) but I chose to use polymer clay. The theme was "Laughter" and that helped me choose clay over glass. Don't get me wrong, working in glass is one of the great joys of my life and it's quite therapeutic, too. But polymer clay gives me a different kind of joy. It's like adult play-doh to me. Not trying to diminish the value of polymer clay at all here...just trying to convey why I chose this medium. I love smooshing it in my hands and pulling and shaping and balling it up if I don't like how it came out. Definitely can't do that with molten lava glass.
Ok, I'm going to make this short and sweet so that you have time to visit the other blogs that are involved with this project. Make sure to leave me a comment if you recognize this smile... I used a "Hunchback of Notre Dame" doll to make a mold. I chose this face because I know one child in particular who loooves this character :) After I made an impression with the mold, I smooshed it around and used tools on it so that each one would look a little different from the rest. A few of my family members are represented here, lol! After I baked them I used red, white and gold acrylic paint.
Please be sure to visit the other blogs...my favorite of all the beads I received is bacon and eggs...it definitely made me giggle :)

And here are the blogs...Please be sure to visit them all and check out the auction, too :)

Auction Site: http://myworld.ebay.com/glassaddictions

Alenka Obid http://pepita-handmade.blogspot.com/2012/11/art-charm-exchage-reveal.html

Alicia Marinache http://www.allprettythings.ca/2012/11/charm-swap-reveal-blog-hop-and-auction.html

Babette Cox http://babettecox.com/blog.htm

Carol Watson http://www.carolwatsonartglass.blogspot.com

Carolyn Chenault http://carolynchenault.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/beads-of-courage-auction/

Cassi Paslick http://cassisbeads.blogspot.com/2012/11/beads-of-courage-charm-swap-reveal.html

Charlene Jacka http://clay-space.com/2012/11/early-christmas/

Cheri Reed http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/2012/11/to-participate-in-charm-swap-you-must.html

Cheryl McCloud http://cherylmccloud.blogspot.com/2012/11/charm-swap-reveal-blog-hop-and-beads-of.html

Deb Kauzlarich http://debkauzlarich.blogspot.com

Denielle Hagerman http://somebeadsandotherthings.com <<<You Are Here