Robot beads raising funds for Beads of Courage UK

Something new from me in 2023, you can now buy my special robot beads exclusively on my new website and help me raise some money for Beads of Courage UK. £5 from the sale of every robot bead will be gifted to BoC UK to help support this amzaing program. UK shipping is £3.50 first class signed for and £7 for international airmail tracked service.

Jolene xx

Sunny side-up - fried egg mini tutorial

 A quick and fun bead to make that is  perfect for Beads of Courage 

 

Happy Melting, Jolene xx

Simple chocolate truffle tutorial for Beads of Courage

  Chocolate truffle bead tutorial for Beads of Courage.  

These chocolate truffle beads are quite simple to make and  can be decorated any way you like. Below are a few "recipes" and decorating suggestions.To make these little chocolates, start by making a round bead in your favourite chocolate brown glass colour and flatten one side so they will stand up. I have flattened mine on a wavy pattern brass texture plate but if you don't have anything like that then just flatten the base on any suitable surface.

Effetre chocoalte brown 444 with a swirl of white glass. I have used commercial stringer here rather than pulled my own.

Effetre chocolate brown 444 dipped in "sugar frit" Kuglar's Lead Crystal Clear (K100) in a fine #00 grind.

 

CiM Ghee for a caramel looking truffle with Effetre chocolate brown stringer waves.

Effetre chocolate brown 444 with chocolate brown stringer waves.

Find our how to support BoCUK with bead donations in the new Beads of Courage UK Bead Artists Facebook Group.

Happy melting, Jolene x

 

 

 

365 Penguins Fan Art lampwork bead tutorial for Beads of Courage

These super cute beads were inspired by a book that I read with my children in January 2015 called 365 Penguins. It was written by Jean-Luc Fromental and illustrated by Joëlle Jolivet. Joëlle has very kindly given me permission to write a not for profit fan art tutorial to show how I make them so that others may also create them for Beads of Courage donations. With Christmas just around the corner I thought that now would be a great time to share.

Step 1: Wind a tube of black glass on to your mandrel.

Step 2: Use a roller or a hand held graphite marver to shape your tube into a bullet shape.

 

I'm using a CG bead roller BR9 small chunky oval  here.

Step 4: Press your bead between 2 heat proof surfaces to form a tab shape.

Step 5: Draw a rectangle using chunky white stringer.

Step 6: Fill in your rectangle shape with swipes of white glass.

Step 7: Heat the whole bead and press it again.

Step 7: Add 2 swipes of black glass to form the wings and a large dot to form the beak.

Step8: Heat your bead and it press flat again.

Step 9: Add 2 large dots of orange or blue glass.

Step 10: Spot heat the tips of the wings and rake the soft glass with a dental pick to create points. Repeat this process to shape the beak.

Step 11: Heat the feet and press your whole bead flat again. Spot heat one foot and use a dental pick to rake twice to create 3 "toes". Repeat this process for the other foot. Add two black dots of glass for the eyes.

Step 12: Add a large dot of white on top of  each black eye dot, then layer on a second dot of black. 

Heat and press for a final time. Heat the whole bead through well and then garage in your kiln.

 

Happy Penguin making, Jo  xx

500 isolation bead challenge for Beads of Courage beads 64 to 91

A few more sweet little beads that I will post off soon to Beads of Courage UK to lift the spirits of some very brave kids.

Have a lovely day, Jolene xx

500 isolation bead challenge for Beads of Courage beads 53 to 63

This is my first update in a couple of weeks because I downed my lampworking tools and started sewing cotton face masks for family, friends and neighbours. If anyone is interested in sewing their own this is a great tutorial to follow...

How to sew a re-useable face mask

Stay safe everyone, Jolene x

500 isolation bead challenge for Beads of Courage beads 34 to 52

Blog post number 2 about my personal challenge to create 500 special little beads for Beads of Courage UK and Ireland during this strange time of social distancing and staying at home.

For more information about Beads of Courage in the UK click here....

More cute beads coming soon :-D

Jolene x

500 isolation bead challenge for Beads of Courage beads 1 to 33

In this crazy time of social distancing and closed schools I have set myself a personal challenge to create 500 special little beads for Beads of Courage UK and Ireland.

For more information about Beads of Courage in the UK click here....

More pic soon :-D

Jolene x

Minions in Dungarees, free tutorial challenge for Beads of Courage

Make a minion challenge for Beads of Courage

I was making some Minion beads for Beads of Courage the other day based on Heather Sellers fabulous make a Minion Challenge

I made one of them kinda oval just for fun and he looked like he was missing his dungarees so I decided to dress him and thought it would be nice to follow in Heather's footsteps and throw out a Minion making challenge for Beads of Courage too. 

So I challenge you all to make a minion and send it in :-D

UK Bead Donations:
Beads of Courage, Inc.
 c/o Diane Watt
 14, Radlow Crescent
 Marston Green
 Birmingham,  B37 7LZ

US Bead Donations:
3230 N. Dodge Blvd. Suite J
Attn:  Bead Donations
Tucson, AZ  85716

Canadian Bead Donations:
PO Box 71142
Silver Springs RPO
Calgary, Alberta  T3B 5K2

Firstly you will need to make some thick yellow stringer 2mm approx, some thick blue stringer 2mm approx and black stringer 1mm approx.

Wrap a wide footprint of blue glass on to your mandrel - I use the smallest cavity on CG Bead roller BR-46 large chunky oval to shape these oval minions. If you are hand shaping then aim to create a footprint that will be between 1/3 to half the length of your final bead.

Using a roller or by hand shaping with a graphite paddle, shape the wraps to form one half of an oval bead. If the flat end of your half oval has a pucker, gently heat and roll the bead against the side of your mandrel to remove the pucker to  minimise the chance of trapping a large air bubble in the middle of your bead when you add the yellow glass.

Add some wraps of yellow glass next to the blue taking care not to trap any air bubbles between the two colors.

Hand shape the yellow glass with your paddle to from the second half of your oval base bead or if using a roller, gently heat and press your bead into the roller cavity. Turn the mandrel a little between each press until you have created a balanced and smooth two-tone oval that will rotate freely in the roller cavity. If you have too much glass you can remove small quantities with a pair of long nose tweezers.

Wrap a line of thick yellow stringer around the blue half of your bead leaving a thin strip of blue at the centre which will create the straps of your Minion's dungarees. next wrap a thin line of black stringer around the yellow half of the bead near the bead hole.This will form the band for his goggles.

Melt your stringers in flat and then press your bead with some mashers, between two graphite paddles or with a parallel press. Don't worry about removing any chill marks at this stage as they will be removed during the next stages as you add further detail.

Take your blue stringer and create the "bib" part of your Minion's clothes by placing two swipes side-by-side that join up the dungaree braces to to the trousers. Repeat this for the back side also. Decide which face is going to be the front of your minion and place a small black dot where you would like the Minions mouth to be.

Melt all of the raised decoration in flush on both faces of the bead by warming the raised areas through and pressing them down gently with your graphite paddle. Once everything is flush partially mask your black dot with an offset dot of yellow to create the Minion's smile.

Melt the yellow dot in flat and then place a large grey dot from a full sized rod in the centre of the headband.

Flatten the grey dot but leaving it a little raised and then top the grey dot with white glass. Flatten the white dot also, leaving it slightly raised so that the dots are stacked up.

Top the white dot with a large blob of clear glass and let the clear glass round off to form a lens shape in the flame.

Choose your minions eye colour and place a small dot over the clear lens to create the iris. Next pick up your black stringer again and add a tiny dot to the eye to for the pupil. You can chose to add some more final last details at this point if you like, such as buttons and further details on the goggles. Warm your bead through and pop it in the kiln to anneal.

Minion beads are very well loved and treasured by Beads of Courage kiddos so it would be great if you wanted to give making them a whirl!

Have a lovely evening, Jo x
 
PS. This tutorial is written for bead makers with prior experience in mind. Please take all safety precautions when working with a very hot flame including proper eye protection and please do work in an adequately ventilated work space.

This tutorial is fan art and is not to be used for profit. It has no connection with the creators of Minions.

Blogtoberfest day 1 - My new studio and International bead challenge day

So it is that time of year again, Blogtoberfest! I love this once a year project, it really helps me focus on my much loved but oft  neglected blog and gets me catching up on sharing glassy news and tutorials.
If you would like to take up the challenge to blog daily through October check out this linky...
shellsinthebush.blogspot.com.au/p/blog-page.html

So my big big news is that I moved out of my (dark, damp and spider filled) garage studio at the start of August and into a fabulous studio space in the Manor Farm heritage site at the top of Ruislip High St. My new beautiful, airy, light filled space is just a dream come true!

It has finally given me the space I need to be able to offer lampwork bead making tuition and host special events like the one we held on the 20th of September for International Bead Challenge day. Marlene Minhas, Heather Kelly and I spent the day showing some super special kiddos from the Beads of Courage program and their families how lampwork beads are made. We also made String of Strength bracelets with the kids which are a fabulous way for kids to be able to support other kids on the BoC program. The way String of Strength bracelets work is that each child and their siblings can each make two identical bracelets, one to keep and one to gift to another child on the program along with a short message of support. It's a very lovely thing.

Here are the beads we made on the day which have already been sent on to Be Child Cancer Aware along with the String of Strength bracelets. Hopefully they will bring strength and encouragement to some very brave kids :-D

That's it from me today, back to tomorrow with a Mini Mo' catch up post for September.
Jolene xx

A handful of hearts for Beads of Courage...

I found out yesterday that Courage beads are in very short supply in both the UK and in the US too so I spent a few hours in the studio making hearts to donate to Be Child Cancer Aware for the Beads of Courage program.

I made some big ones, some tiny ones, highly decorated ones and simple bright ones too. Beads of Courage need all kinds of handmade lampwork beads to become Courage beads as ideally the child who receives one would have a selection to choose from available at the hospital where they are receiving treatment and would be able to pick the one that speaks to them the most at that time. The program covers a wide age range, all the way through from birth to late teens and early adulthood.

There are a few rules to follow - no sharp bead holes, beads to be cleaned of all bead release, no delicate sticking out decoration, no metallic reduction on the surface of the beads (silvered ivory is allowed though) and all silver glass to be encased. Other than that anything goes!

If anyone reading has been thinking of making a lampwork bead donation to BoC then now would be the perfect time as there is an urgent need. Here are the  details of where your bead donations should be sent.

UK Donations
Beads of Courage, Inc.
c/o Sarah Drummond
2, Park Close
Wickford
Essex SS12 9EH

US Donations
Beads of Courage, Inc.
Attn: Bead Donations
3230 N. Dodge Blvd. Suite J
Tucson, AZ 85716

Thank you for reading, have a super weekend, Jolene xx 

My latest Beads of Courage Beads

Following on from the 52 little things project last year where I made a special bead each week for Beads of Courage, this year I am going to be having a studio afternoon each month instead

My first offerings are these sweet Fun Guys with googly eyes and chubby cheeks!

I got a chance to nip into the studio for February's BoC play afternoon yesterday and made these very cute Monkey Shines! beads. The tutorial for these is by Sharon Peters and can be found in the Hot Glass for Cool Kids e-book written by Diane Woodall last year.

They were so so so much fun to make!

If you make lampwork beads and have some that you'd like to donate to Beads of Courage then the addresses need to know are:

UK
Be Child Cancer Aware
Beads of Courage
2, Park Close
Wickford
Essex
SS12 9EH

USA, Japan, New Zealand:
Beads of Courage
3230 N. Dodge Blvd.,
Suite J Tucson,
AZ 85719

United States
Canada: Beads of Courage
Attn: Bead Donations
3119 35th Ave SW
Calgary,
Alberta
T3E 0Z8
Canada

Have a great day, Jolene xx

52 little things week 50 and 51

It is such a sweet and sad feeling that this very special project for me is drawing to the end. My week 50 and 51 beads are now finished and will soon be in the post to Be Child Cancer Aware to be gifted to children on the Beads of Courage program here in the UK.

It has been both a pleasure and a privilege to be able to give something of myself to the Beads of Courage kids and families this year. It is humbling to see and read how these glassy gifts that we give empower and uplift. They mean so much more to the kids who receive them than just a bead. They bring hope and smiles and comfort.

If you would like to find out more about the program please visit

http://www.bechildcanceraware.org/beads-of-courage


or check out the BCCA Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/bechildcanceraware

Have a super day, Jolene xx