The very first Beadathon, Ustream testing & Beads of Courage

I had this mad idea last January, literally dreamt it up I think because I woke up one morning with problem solving the logistics already on my mind and the idea already firmly rooted. What I was thinking of was special 24 hours of continuous bead making by a hardcore group of glass loving bead makers to create a really special collection of Act of Courage Beads for Beads of Courage UK.

I mulled it over for a while before finally floating the idea with John and Sarah Drummond of BCCA who gave me the go ahead to set the idea in motion. I was thrilled to bits that they loved the idea and when discussing the project with other bead makers for the first time it was suggested to make this event a sponsored project also and the Beadathon concept was born.

Several months of planning down the line I am thrilled to bits to be announcing the first ever Beadathon will be taking place here in my studio in Middlesex on October 13th and 14th 2012. I will be joined by several fabulous lampworkers including Laney Mead, Vanessa Hearn, Sue Reynolds, Michelle Ross, Sarah Thompson and Heather Kelly. Georgie Bristow and Samantha Capeling will be joining in from their home studios via the web. For full details of the event please visit our just giving page by clicking the Just Giving button.

We are planning to broadcast the whole event live on the web so you guys can see what we are all making and come by, say hi and leave a message of support on the chat box for us. I have spent 10 hours broadcasting live over the last three days, making sure that my WiFi can handle the distance from source to shed and things are looking good. The video below is a short clip from my last live broadcast and shows me making a little orange bead for BoC.

Live video for mobile from Ustream

There are a few things left to address, cleaning/better positioning of the diddy specs that the camera is wearing and the feedback loop on the sound recording are issues, but these are things that can be dealt with in time. Here is a snap of all of the beads that I made live on the web over the last 3 days, each one will eventually find it's way on to a string of beads of a child or teen enrolled on the BoC program here.

Lastly I want to leave you with BCCA-BoC official video so that you can see why this project has struck such a chord with me and how it makes so much positive difference to Beads of Courage families.


If you are a lampwork bead maker and have any beads that you would like to donate to BoC for Act of Courage beads please Click Here for more information. If you have any questions for me about the Beadathon project please feel free to email me at Jolene@craftpimp.co.uk

Thank You Jo xx