Beading For A Cure (BFAC) 2010...

I believe I mentioned last year was the first year the annual BFAC included a competition. A request was made to each participant to send five photos of their finished piece(es) to be judged by the BFAC board as well as Jeannette Cook, Marcia DeCoster, Diane Fitzgerald and Sherry Serafini.

The contest included a generous prize list for First, Second and Third place as well as Best Use of Kit and Best Non-Wearable Item

To my surprise and utter delight, my pieces won second place. What you see in the photo up at the top of this blog post is some of the loot that came with that second prize win. Here is a list of what I received:

• Victorian Iris Bracelet kit donated by Ann Scherm Baldwin
• Five strands of African Trade Beads donated by Beads of Marin
• What I believe is Ancient Roman Glass Beads donated by Beads of Marin, I did not receive a certificate of authenticity as noted in the prize list, so am making an assumption on this one, click on this photo and get a nice close up - they certainly look old, don't they? SO cool!

• CRYSTALLIZED Swarovski Elements book - Spring/Summer 2010 Issue 14 and a bag
  
• An assortment of vintage glass cabs donated Marilee Layman
• One bead weaving kit donated by Reeds Beads
• Autographed copies of Steampunk Style Jewelry by Jean Campbell
  
• Beaded Opulence by Marcia DeCoster
  
• Seed Bead Fusion by Rachel Nelson-Smith including a Sea Star Bangle kit.
• Two items previously owned by Layne, donated by Jeannette Cook - one is a vintage glass sew on parrot the other is a green glass connector bead - artist unknown. If all goes as I have planned (in my head anyway), I will use one of these in my BFAC piece for 2011. It seems only right since BFAC is in the name of Layne and these belonged to her.

And last, but far from least are the gift certificates... $50. from Beyond Beadery; $75. from Out On A Whim and $150. from Sylvie Lansdowne.

Now...one thing I have always wanted to do is go to a bead show, a big bead show, a real bead show. Right now, I am toying with the idea of going to the Bead & Button show in Milwaukee next month. It would fill my wish of going to a bead show AND allow me to spend my generous gift certificates since all three of these vendors will have booths at the show. The added bonus is the opportunity to meet some other vendors/people/friends that I have had the pleasure of getting to know online through beading.

Beading For A Cure 2011...

Are you ready for some GREAT auctions? Well then - set your alerts, alarms, reminders... whatever you have. The auctions begin March 21 - 3:00 pm Eastern time and there are some fantastic items up for the first round! All for a good cause too (colorectal cancer research).

Here is the link to the auctions, bid high and often! Here is the link for each round of auctions with photos and dates they will be auctioned. I also have a badge up on the right side of my blog that is a direct link to the EBay auctions. If you want to take some time and see all the great photos for each item that will come up for auction this year - you can check the gallery. There are wonderful close up photos of each piece. If you want to print off a flyer for the auctions, that is also available here.

This is the fourth year I have participated in the annual event and the first year there was a competition. I was notified last week that my entry won second place - I was shocked. You will see what I mean when you have a chance to see all the beautiful entries. I am honored to be a winner amongst so many incredible bead artists and their pieces.

Each participant is given the same kit of beads. We are required to use at least one of each bead in the kit, we are allowed to add one additional bead type and can incorporate as many non bead items as we like - such as cabochons and sequins.

Here is my photo of the beads for this year provided in the kit

As you can see, it is a beautiful selection of purple and bronze. I loved working with these colors! My first step was to go through my stash to see what I wanted to add, if anything.

I found these beautiful vintage bronze/brownish faceted cabs, I only had two - I used both of them. I also found these smaller glass cabs with purple and bronze. I had four and used them all. It seems I cannot bead anything with out adding sequins. Vintage are my favorites and while I do not have many left, I did find this wonderful strand of deep purple sequins. My added bead is a small purple/brownish bugle.


The items of mine together with the kit led me to make this cuff. Once I get the big cab glued on, the rest seem to just flow. I did not have a plan, I let the beads take me where they wanted to go.



I used Nicole's bead backing in light purple as my base. When the beading was completed, I sandwiched a brass cuff blank between the bead backing and light purple Ultrasuede and stitched it up with LOTS of those beautiful crystal bicones.



I was going to just make a cuff, but that hardly seemed fair since I still had a ton of beads left from the kit.



So I found that last brown faceted glass cab and worked up a brooch.



That's when I discovered I had more of the smaller cabs and still plenty of beads from the kit so thought a pair of earrings would be the perfect addition to complete the set.



Little did I know at the time that would make me a...


I am stunned and honored!

BFAC - Beading For A Cure 2011

Royal Trilogy - that is the name I have given my entries for next year.



This is the main piece - the cuff. It meets the requirement that we use at least one of each bead provided in the kit. I only planned to make a cuff, but because of the generous amount of beads in the kit, with the amount left over after the cuff was completed I was compelled to make more. First - I LOVE the colors this year, they look positively regal to me. Second - with that many beads left in the kit, how could I not add some additional pieces?

Generally, I make pieces that I want or would wear and I do not wear necklaces. That is how I decided on a cuff, a brooch and earrings and not a necklace. There has to be more folks out there like me, right? After finishing the cuff, I found I had a matching faceted cab I could use for the brooch. They are the only two I had in that color and size, it just seemed right they go together.



Next up - earrings. I happened to have a couple extra of the wonderful vintage glass cabs used on the side of the cuff, the colors in those cabs don't show up in great detail on my screen, so you have to trust me when I say they are beautiful.




Here they are all together



Other details - I used a light purple stiffened felt by Nicole Campanella as my base for beading. For the bracelet there is a brass cuff between the bead work and the Ultrasuede backing. The brooch is approximately 2 inches and has a finding that can be used as a pin or a pendant. The earrings are about 1 inch not including the dangle and are finished with 14k gold plated ear wires.

Each piece is backed with soft Ultrasuede in a light purple color.

My added items are pictured below. Brown vintage faceted glass cabs, purple and brown vintage glass cabs, vintage purple sequins and my added bead - a small purple/copper bugle.

BFAC, work in progress...

Oops... first - I meant to post last week when my little bag was up for auction, sorry about that - I was preoccupied with a very busy work week, and a bit of family crisis management. Thankfully, everything with the family and work seems to be back on track and I have returned to my nightly beading (HOORAY!). My little bag ended up fetching a decent price of just over $180. I was rather pleased to see that and hope the new owner loves it as much as I do!



Another round of auctions are up now, ending on Sunday - get your bids in quick if there is something there you want. With Easter and spring breaks coming up, the auctions will take a break for one week after Sunday, then will start up again on April 4, running every week until the beginning of May. There are SO many amazing items yet to come!



Other news, my son turned 33 last week (WHAT?), I know - I still can't believe it either. Spring is here... no really, it is - I have seen robins and the daffodils are starting to bloom (better check on those after waking up to temps in the 20's this morning).



What else... oh yeah - BEADING! I received my BFAC kit for the auctions next year and it is BEAUTIFUL! It is a very generous kit including size 11/0 beads in 3 different colors, size 8/0 beads in 2 colors, size 15/0 beads in 2 colors, 3mm magatama beads, Swarovski crystal bicones in 2 sizes, 4mm firepolish beads AND a strand of gorgeous fresh water pearls. Check out the photo above - that's just a small sampling of each bead included in the kit (click on the photo for a larger view). Aren't the colors wonderful? The kits this round were supplied by Out on a Whim (great choices Beki!).



The rules are that at least one of each bead in the kit be incorporated into each project. Each participant has the option of adding one bead type. We are also allowed to add cabs, sequins and findings as needed. Pictured above is what I am adding this round. Faceted foil backed vintage brown glass cabochons, small vintage glass cabs with browns and purples, purple vintage sequins and my added bead is a small bugle in a brownish purplish color. I am beading on a light/bright purple stiffened felt and will use a beautiful light purple Ultrasuede to finish the pieces. It all looks very royal to me.



I am doing something a little different this year. This time around I will have 3 parts to my project, a set of items, a group, a... I don't know what it's called so let's go with calling it a set. I am having a ball, I can't wait to get to my bead table at the end of each work day. Through out this post are small peeks at the first piece in my set. I just started on the second part. So far the only component I am running short on is the 4mm crystals. With the generous amount of beads included in the kit - I think I will have enough to finish all 3 pieces. I just might need more of those 4mm crystals though...

As always - all photos are clickable for a larger view.