500 Necklaces for Hungry Kids: March 2014

Monday, March 31, 2014

Doing it for the kids!

More necklaces, pushing us toward our goal of 500 necklaces. With every necklace that I make, and especially when I'm not feeling like making more, I remember one thing. I don't have to wonder where my next meal is coming from. There are so many kids out there, distracted in school about just this subject, where their next meal is coming from. This is why we are doing this. They deserve more, and this is our way to help.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

We're on a wonderful journey!

I think we all would love to make a difference in the world. We can't all save the world, but we can make a difference, because even a small gesture can make the world of difference to someone in need. The beading world is a wonderful world to be a part of, and I'm thrilled to say I've been a part of it for almost 30 years. There are some amazing and interesting people in it, and we are all very different, but as a whole, a very generous and giving group.

The project is a take off of Chris Thompson's very successful “1,000 Bowls to Feed the Hungry” project. Chris is an amazing person, and we're so glad that he gave us the inspiration to do this. We are making 500 necklaces,and we will distribute them to the galleries that will be selling them for us in July. They will be sold as an event during Sacramento’s very well attended “Second Saturday Art Walk”. Thousands of people come out and visit multiple galleries in Downtown Sacramento to be a part of the amazing art scene that is alive and well here in Sacramento.

There will be at least 10 different people making the jewelry, but the primary body of work will be created by Gretchen Schueller. The price points on the necklaces will be reasonable, to assure we make them affordable for everyone. As of today, the price points for the necklaces will be $25, $50 and $100 each. Several bead distributors are donating supplies so that we can keep costs down. The net profits will be donated to the Sacramento Emergency Food Link's "Snack Pack" program. They are a wonderful organization that helps feed school children that are on free or subsidized lunches at school, and often do not get to eat over the weekends. They serve two schools currently, who have 90% or more of their students on free or subsidized lunches. They will use our money to branch out and serve a third school.

Since we are making a hefty amount of jewelry, we will need a hefty amount of beads, findings, etc. to help us achieve our goal. The more we get donated, the more profit goes to our charity. If you know of anyone or any company that you think would be good for us to ask for a donation, please let us know. We have a couple of sponsors in place, and will talk about them in later posts. You will notice that some of the pictures have the name of the glass beadmaker that donated one of their amazing beads to the project. We love their work, and we love how amazing they make our necklaces look!

Any donations of beads, findings, or money are welcome. Right now we are not accepting donations of finished jewelry, but we welcome any leftover beads or unwanted beads. We have already had one other bead shop/gallery say that when we get this going, they will match our 500 necklaces in their community as well. We hope this will inspire other communities to do similar projects. If you want to do some good, start at home.

Joy Munshower lampwork bead

Sharon Peters lampwork Focal bead

Becky Meckier lampwork bead

More pictures tomorrow! Come back by to see!

Monday, March 24, 2014

Welcome to the new blog!

Since we last saw you all, we made a few changes. First, we have changed the challenge to 500 necklaces rather than 1,000. This was done for a variety of reasons, but most of all it's an attempt to keep the quality of the necklaces high. I would rather see us sell 500 awesome necklaces than 1,000 that were just ok. We have a lot of new necklaces to show you, so let's get this show on the road!

I am lucky enough to have some wonderful women around me. These friends came together from different parts of the US to help out with the project. Over the course of five days, these amazing ladies made over 100 necklaces for the project! HOLY COW, that's a lot of jewelry making in less than one week! I cannot thank them enough for their generosity and show of support. Susan, Jane, Patsy, and Joella, along with my Mom, Kristine Buchanan, you ladies are really the best!
(I'm only posting 30 pictures tonight, you'll have to check back in the next day or so for more new fun pictures!)

Gorgeous Toni Lutman Lampwork focal bead!