52 little things week 30

This week I have mostly been making Beep Beep Robot beads to raise funds for Beads of Courage UK but this special pink cutie is my week 30 BoC bead, a pretty bot with flowers in her hair.

The 2013 Summer Beadathon starts tomorrow! Squeeeee can't wait! there will be 24 solid hours of glass bead making on two torches to make courage beads for the program here in the UK. if you would like to support by donating to our fund raising page please click the grey link above.

 This year is is also possible to donate to our Just Giving page by text by texting

BCCA99 
Followed by 
£2 or £3 or £5 or £10
to
70070

Have a super weekend
Jolene x

Hot Glass for Cool Kids...new e-book for Beads of Courage

It's here, hot off of the press, a brilliant brand new e-book featuring 20 cool tutorials that are just perfect for Beads of Courage. I am so proud to have been involved in this project with my Beep Beep Robot tutorial. There is so much info and creativity in this e-book that it's 106 pages long and at just $20 that is a steal! Pop along to http://www.sodalimetimes.com for your copy, instant download and all the money raised in sales goes directly to Beads of Courage in the US. Go on! You know you want to! :-D

Jolene x

Mini Mo' July 2013 - Multi Blue and Multi Green

I have wanted to put together some Mini Mo's using Reichenbach Multicolor Dark for some time but have held back because it looks a bit meh... to me in the form of twisties and shards. But the real magic happens when you use the components to make your beads and then this glass really comes alive. My first collection is called Multi Blue and uses Reichenbach Deep Black, Iris blue and also CiM Cornflower.

This first focal has a core of Effetre baby blue with a touch of fine silver mesh then an encasing layer of Effetre 006. I have used some of the Multi blue twistie cane to make petals and you can see the Multi Dark has struck to a deep magenta colour.

The second set of beads that I want to show you have touches of the twistie both under and over encasement, there is a lovely bright reaction line between the Multi Dark and deep black in this twistie combinatio.

My third bead is a lovely free form focal showing how the shards pick up variations in colour, they can strike to purples, blues and magenta when you use them. I've used the shards over a base of Reichenbach Ocean and finished the bead with a Multi Blue Cross murrini on each side.

My second colourway is called Multi Green and used Reichenbach Deep Black, Iris Green and also Effetre Petrol Green.

This first focal has a core of effetre light garss green under 006 and had been decorated with some of the multi green twistie for vines and leaves and some multi green cross murrini too with some rubino petal cane blossoms.

My second pic show the colour variation that you can get with Multi Dark shards much more clearly. I've used them over bases of CiM Dirty Martini and CiM Mojito

This last set is an absolute corker, CiM Mojito, lashings of Multi Green twistie and a final layer of clear glass over the top to give the bright organic patterns a real depth of colour.

It is now possible to join the Mini Mo' Club via Etsy for 3, 6, 9 or 12 month long subscriptions. Please check out my shop link for more info.
Frit N Chips lampwork supplies.

Have a lovely week, Jolene x

Sponsor or adopt a Beep Beep for BoC

Good morning, this is a pretty exciting and busy week! I need to spring clean the studio and make sure we have plenty of gas, snacks and drinks in for next weekend...less than a week to go until some fabulous ladies will be gathering here for our 24 hour lampwork beadathon for Beads of Courage. We will be making Act of Courage beads for the kids on the program and having some fun and larks along the way too.

I first started making these little robots as part of my 52 little things project. To count down the days I am making these sweet little robot beads which are available to adopt or sponsor to raise some funds for BoC - BCCA.

And the best bit, you get to give your little robot it's name.

Please visit my Facebook Album for all the info and find out how you can get involved xx

Have a wonderful weekend, Jolene xx

52 little things week 29

Here is this weeks special bead for Beads of Courage, this one is made with some delicious new colours from CiM, Nutmeg and Hazelnut Mousse.

The 2013 Summer Beadathon is nearly here! Just 8 days til we get started with our 24 bead making marathon on the 26th/27th July.

All the beads we make over that 24 hour session and all the cash we raise will be given to a small charity called Be Child Cancer Aware who fund, train hospitals and support the Beads of Courage program here in the UK.

This year is is also possible to donate to our Just Giving page by text by texting

BCCA99 
Followed by 
£2 or £3 or £5 or £10
to
70070

Wishing you a wonderful weekend in this glorious sunshine
Jolene x

Roses are Red photo gallery

And all sorts of other wonderful colours too. Have a wonderful weekens, Jolene x

Plot 36 - a little lottie update

I brought the camera down to the lottie yesterday and took some snaps of how things are coming along so far.

To the left are some of my asparagus plants, in total there are16 plants in a double row and all are growing well now. The bed still needs building up further as the roots of these plants are under about 5 inches of soil, they eventually need to be under at least 8 inches. These are all between 1 and 2 ft high and looking all frilly and fern-ish and whippy so I shored them up with short lengths of bamboo.

Above is one of my little courgette plants which is just starting to grow it's first fruits. I also have a couple of cucumber plants growing too, the flowers and leaves look similar but in comparison the cucumber plants petals are tiny.

Top right is a snap of my brassica bed, there is a mixture of purple sprouting broccoli, savoy cabbages and a few kohl rabi in there. I've netted the whole area to keep the pigeons off, they are a bit of a pest on the lottie. To the right are a couple of my little gem lettuce.

This is my main crop potato bed, there are quite a few little white flowers showing. I've been feeding these 20 plants  with Comfrey tea and have high hopes for them seeing as my Charlottes came out so well. I'm keeping my eye out for blight as summer goes on.

Last couple of pictures to show you now, on the right my runners are starting to put out these vivid red flowers. In the pic below you can see that I have planted up the early potato bed with rainbow chard and peas. Not ideal as far as perfect crop rotation goes but the peas seem to be coming along nicely.



Have a lovely sunny weekend, Jolene xx

52 little things week 28

This week I have been revisiting an idea from  week 2, fish bowl beads. This one is all sparkly and blue and I do so hope it brings a big smile to the face of a brave kid.

This year I have been making a special bead each week for BCCA - Beads of Courage. Beads of Courage in the UK is an arts in medicine program the helps children find their voice to speak about their personal journey through Cancer treatment.

Each treatment, be it Chemo, a blood transfusion, physio, has a signifying bead and with each treatment the child is given the corresponding bead for their string. Some kids end up with several strings, hundreds of beads, and their beads speak volumes. Special one of a kind beads like this fish bowl are made by glass artists like myself and donated to the program as Act of Courage beads. These extra special handmade beads are given to children as markers for exceptional experiences to reward and acknowledge their bravery and strength.

If you would like to know more about Beads of Courage here in the UK please visit the BCCA Facebook page or pop over to Just Giving where I currently have a page open for fundraising.

Have a great week, Jolene xx

52 little things week 27

This little cutie is called Lillybeth and she is my week 27 Act of Courage bead for Beads of Courage UK.

At the end of this month a group of fab bead making lass's are meeting at mine to spend 24 hours making beads to donate to BCCA for Beads of Courage....we may well broadcast the whole thing live on the web too so watch this space for more info.

To visit our Just Giving page please click
http://www.justgiving.com/2013Beadathon

Have a great day

Jolene xx