Memories and Thanks Blog Hop

Lori Anderson presented the idea of this blog hop as a way to honor the memory or to thank someone who means a lot to us. As she simply states, "You never know what you might mean to someone". The idea of this blog came about after the passing of another beader, Marianna Adams, who sadly I did not know, but who's daughter, Lena Adams, I recently 'met'. What a special young lady she is. Her mother would be so proud!

Rather than touch on the memory aspect I chose to focus on the thanks. There have been so many wonderful, talented beaders I've come to know over the years, many of whom I've come to call friends. One such person is Marlene Cupo of Amazing Designs by Marlene. I 'met' Marlene through a Cup of Bead Soup that I was invited to participate in. Marlene was 1 of 4 participants besides Lori Anderson and we quickly forged a friendship. We even had plans to meet in NYC when she came up north for a visit to her daughter and grandchildren. But then Hurricane Sandy hit and the meeting never took place. In my heart of hearts, I know that we will 1 day meet.

Even before this blog I had intended to make her something special as a surprise. When I ran a fundraiser for Hurricane Sandy victims recently, Marlene bid on a pair of hand knit socks that she knew I was dying for. She outbid me, but before long, those socks showed up in my mail, bid on and purchased for me by my dear friend. She said that she wanted to do something to support the relief effort and do something nice for a friend. That's just the kind of person she is.

So, when this blog hop idea came up, she immediately came to mind. I was already planning on making her something special and this provided me with the idea. Marianna's favorite color was red. I have been making lampwork glass ribbon hearts in all sorts of colors, red being one of the most popular. I attached it to a beaded spiral rope in white with red crystal accents, with one of my white swirled lampwork beads one 1 side and a vintage red elongated bicone on the other, finished off with a matching sterling heart clasp. I hope she likes it and makes her smile as I did while making it for her.

I hope you'll  join me in checking out the other amazingly talented artists to see what they've come up with and their inspirations. I had issues with posting the complete list here so please go to Lori Anderson's blog, Pretty Things, for the complete list.

Pretty Things

Hurricane Sandy Relief Effort Donation

A BIG whopping thank you to my fabulous friends who came together for this wonderful cause. Together we raised almost $1,000! ALL that money was donated to
the church of Iglesia Pentecostal de Jesucristo Cristo Viene on Mermaid Avenue in Coney Island. Mandy Bickerstaff personally delivered a check to them Wednesday night. Maggie, the wife of the reverend, has been leading the charge to feed those still reeling from the destruction multiple times a day. This money will go to support their continued meal service as well as provide money to defer the costs of rebuilding the church, which was badly damaged in the storm, so they can continue to provide such great services to the community and ensure that everyone is safe.

Copying this from Mandy Bickerstaff, who runs UWSLoves

Today we made a family and community happy. Augustine and Milagros, the reverends of the church, and the proud momma of Maggie, accepted the check for almost $1000 that was raised by the Artisanal Holiday Sale. Thank you to everyone that helped!

 ***Disclaimer: Excerpts have been taken from UWSLoves***

Hurricane Sandy Relief Effort is in Full Swing!

Almost 4 weeks since Hurricane Sandy hit (WOW!!! I can't believe how long it's been though it seems like yesterday!) & there are still so many people that are affected. Those that lost their homes have been put up in hotels, but many don't have enough money for food & supplies. My cousin, Mandy Bickerstaff, set up a grassroots fundraising group to help victims almost as soon as the storm hit and she's STILL helping them through her group, UWSLoves.

Being without power for 9 days ourselves and the gas shortage, I felt powerless to help. So, I enlisted the help of my wonderful artisan friends, who generously donated items to be auctioned off. 100% will be donated to UWSLoves to help fund the Winter Wishes project. This is a great way to buy something meaningful for a loved one for the holidays or a nice treat for yourself. Please share with friends and family!

CLICK HERE to view the Hurricane Sandy Relief Effort fundraiser album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.301970106570212&type=1

 runs through Monday night, 9PM EST, 11/26!

Kalmbach Bead Soup

Who doesn't love bead soup?? Imagine my excitement when this envelope showed up in my mailbox! I was thrilled to be one of the ones selected to take part in the Kalmbach Bead Soup Challenge. Thank you so much for extending the deadline for those of us affected by the hurricane. I was just finishing up my design when my area of the country was hit by Hurricane Sandy. I lost power for 9 days and didn't get my internet back on for another couple of days but am very thankful that we are all safe and did not sustain any property damage. Getting back to normal has taken some time, so I apologize for the delay in writing this post.

I'd like to especially thank the Boston Bead Company for my particular bead soup donation. It was in a color scheme that I don't often work in often, but really lovely, so enjoyed the process even more. I tried many different designs and finally settled on the necklace I've shared. I decided to make it into an asymmetrical design, using the focal as a design element. I surrounded it with 2 of my ruffled lampwork disk beads, which I thought added a bit of whimsy. I also incorporated another pink swirled lampwork bead and a coordinating boro bead on the opposing side. For the focal, I used one of my large boro rounds, a fun indigo boro disk, and then the lovely pearlized rose colored bead and blue/pink rondelle from the soup. The rondelles were my favorite. I may need to contact Boston Bead Company to get some more. I thought the midnight blue faceted rounds were equally wonderful, as were all the soup ingredients actually.

And so, I present to you, my Kalmbach Bead Soup necklace! Thank you all once again! Can't wait to see what the other participants made with their soup!

Help for Hurricane Sandy Victims

Living in Queens, NY and on Long Island for 33 years, I've lived through and experienced many hurricanes in my lifetime, but none that impacted as many and created the devastation that Hurricane Sandy did. We prepared and got the necessary supplies for several days in preparation for the storm. Got tons of advice from my wonderful Facebook friends too.

Our lights went out around 6PM Monday night, October 29th and they did not come back on until Tues night of the following week. Unlike so many others, fortunately, we did not sustain any property damage. As luck would have it, I had driven home from my mother's house in Queens to vote. Hubby and I were debating if we would return to Queens due to the gas shortage and long lines. As I was returning home from the post office, I got a call that power had been restored. My joy was overshadowed by the images I finally got to see online of the devastation so many others had endured. We lost the contents of our refrigerator and freezer, but many lost their homes and loved ones.

It was just as I signed onto facebook that I saw my son had shared a link from his cousin, Mandy Bickerstaff. We've known her since she was a little girl, but had lost touch. She's now living in NYC. Along with several of her friends, they took it upon themselves to do something! They're providing hot meals, sandwiches, clothing and supplies to those hit the hardest by the storm. They're doing all this is her small apartment in NYC. Her story is so inspirational. I knew I wanted to help in some way, but with the gas shortage and distance between us, I didn't know what to do. Mandy started a blog about their work, UWSLoves. Took me a few days to figure it out. UWS=Upper West Side....lol! She also has a facebook fan page, also called UWSLoves, which I hope you'll check out.

I decided to donate 100% of my bead sales to this wonderful cause. I wanted my money to go to the people directly rather than a big corporation, for obvious reasons and I knew that Mandy would make sure of that. I tallied up my sales total and was surprised and happy to see it add up to $136, which I'll be sending to UWSLoves. This is a very significant number in the Jewish religion. 18 stands for Chai, which is life. So, 136 is double Chai. Serendipity, or as we say in Yiddish, bashert!

I hope you'll find it in your hearts to give as well. Or if anyone has links to anyone in the food services industr, that might be willing to donate any food items that are sorely needed, please contact Mandy. Last week Serene Green, a farm from out east on Long Island donated 300 pounds of produce and through another connection the produce was driven into NYC via Hampton Jitney, who donated their services . She and her friends made some yummy looking dishes to feed those without power. It's so hard to see the images of the destruction! And sadly, there are still many without power that need our help.