Friday, April 15, 2011

Beads of Courage...

A portion of what I "took"

Beads of Courage - Providing Arts in medicine for children with serious illness.

Have you ever heard of it? If not, I encourage you to check out their website and see the all the wonderful things they do in supporting children fighting illness. Take a look around while you are there, there are so many inspiring stories.

Recently I was lucky enough to be chosen to participate in a fund raiser for Beads of Courage by way of the Best Little Bead Box which is the brainchild of Jennifer Van Benschoten of VanBeads and Carol Dean Sharpe of Sand Fibers

Twelve beaders are chosen for each round, we are now in the second round. A large box full of beads, cabochons and other wonderful beady supplies are shipped off to the first beader. They take anything and everything they want from the box provided they put back more and better than what was taken. Then ship it off to the next beader and so on down the line.

Once the boxes make their way back to the starting point, all the contents are sorted and grouped into packages that are auctioned off on EBay with the proceeds going to Beads of Courage.

The boxes upon arrival

So not only is this a great way to acquire some wonderful pieces, it also provides a way to lighten your own stash and connects you to the bead community in an extra special way. It
s fun and it just feels GOOD!

If you would like to learn a little more about me, there is an introduction page on the Best Little Bead Box blog. And if you would like to see what I took as well as gave to the boxes, you can see that in a separate blog post.

If you enjoy photos of beads and learning about other beaders - take some time to read through the whole blog for the Best Little Bead Box. And if you feel compelled to participate, they will be taking new applications at the end of round two. I encourage you to follow their blog, bookmark the page or follow them on Facebook to stay current on all the latest news.

Chief - guarding the boxes

4 comments:

Initial Charms said...

I think it is a wonderful idea and such terminally ill children need all our support and love.Very good work indeed.

DVArtist said...

Hello and congratulaions!!! You are one of my winners for my birthday party!!!
Just send me your snail mail and I will send your gift. Thank you for being part of my birthday party

Nicole/Beadwright

Dawn Doucette said...

Hi Grace! I love Beads of Courage's mission. They are really an incredible organization. I first learned about what they do when Wisconsin Children's Hospital joined them and our local news did a feature!

Anyhoo, I just found you via Nicole's blog post and I'm loving your beadwork! Can't wait to see more of your designs!

Make it a terrific day!
{Hugs!}

Jean from beadingprojects.org said...

What a thoughtful idea! I'll check it out.

Leaves of Grass

This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body - Walt Whitman