Beads of Courage

If you attended Mayday Underground last weekend, you may have noticed a little sign next to my dishes of beads for sale that read "For every bead you buy, I will donate one bead to the Beads of Courage program." Beads are not something I have tended to make in large quantities as production items, but I find them to be fun, whimsical, and cheering both to make and to use. I found out about the Beads of Courage program several years ago, and have been waiting for the right way to include them as a part of Fine Specimen. I think I've found it!

Beads of Courage is a non-profit organization focused around giving heart and hope to children dealing with cancer and other illnesses. In their words, it is "a resilience-based intervention designed to support and strengthen children and families coping with serious illness. Through the program children tell their story using colorful beads as meaningful symbols of courage that commemorate milestones they have achieved along their unique treatment path."

You can read a summary of how the program works here.

So! I sold ten beads at Mayday Underground, and here are my ten best remaining cupcake beads, which I have selected to send to the program. I figure most kids like cupcakes, so I hope they make somebody happy!

My next craft show will be the first weekend in June, (Saturday the 1st and Sunday the 2nd) at Fairport Canal Days in Fairport, NY. I will be at the Emerging Artists' tent. Come find me and buy a bead or two!

Mayday Underground 2013

The first craft fair of the season happened this past Saturday - Mayday Underground - at the Village Gate in Rochester. Good turnout, great vendors, and lots of wonderful things to see.

Here's my booth, all the way in the back corner!

It wasn't actually that much of an issue though, I still got some traffic.

Feather ornaments! And amphora vessels in the distance. This window frame display was a little difficult to transport, but I like the way it looked.

And some turtle pendants to round things out. Someone said they looked like a fleet of baby turtles they saw in a documentary, trying to reach the ocean before a seagull ate them. I like it.

Happy springtime everybody!

Online Presence: Kapow!

At long last, an online presence for Fine Specimen has been established. Check out these awesome new pages, and perhaps give 'em a follow! Keep up with my newest work and up to date with information about craft shows I will be participating in this season.

Fine Specimen on Facebook

@Fine_Specimen on Twitter 

FineSpecimen on Instagram 

Beginning of SuperPrep Week #1

As of today, I have exactly one month left to stock up and prepare for my next craft show, Mayday Underground. While waiting for a fresh tank of oxygen to arrive, I've been doing a lot of office work and organizing, and a little Instagramming....

Some of the things I have been working on this week, before my oxygen ran out, include small vessels, and easter eggs with feathers inside at the request of my aunt. I thought they turned out kinda cool!

IFC 2013

Glass birds by Vittorio Costantini

This past weekend I attended the International Flameworking Conference in Salem, New Jersey. I stayed with one of my Alfred friends, a former classmate and glassblowing partner. Some of the highlights were watching Vittorio Costantini, Eunseuh Choi, and Micah Evans demo their techniques, seeing a couple familiar faces, and watching two bald eagles fly overhead.

And! Paul Stankard complemented my implosion flower pendant that I was wearing and I totally geeked out. He asked if it was soft glass, I told him it was boro, and he thought it showed a level of delicacy not often seen in borosilicate implosion work. Thanks Paul!! I'm flattered! :)

Steve working in his studio

A bald eagle's nest! We saw three nests and two bald eagles.

Artist Eunseuh Choi's demo

A sampling of my goodies from the conference vendors.