Can You Help?

There is a really amazing organization called Beads Of Courage that I want to make sure you all know about. Essentially, these wonderful people have been working since 2005 to bring little rays of sunshine in the form of beads to children coping with chronic and life threatening illness. You can read more about this non-profit organization here. They need our help!!

The support they need is simple... they need your vote! Y'all know how voting works right? All it takes is the click of a button and you can do some serious good. In August, Beads Of Courage won a $25,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh Challenge through votes! Now, they are hoping to earn $20,000 from The Jimmie Johnson Foundation and Samsung Helmet of Hope.

CLICK HERE and select BEADS OF COURAGE when you vote!

You can vote everyday and Beads Of Courage will even send you a daily reminder. Just pop over to their website and subscribe to the reminder email. Voting and this blog post is really the very least I can do for this group and would love to do more! So please go vote!! I know your help is so very greatly appreciated!!

GO VOTE!!

YEE HAW!! CHECK IT OUT!! My "Springs Into Action" necklace has been selected as a finalist in the BEAD STAR competition.

Here is what you need to do:

Click the link above.
Go to VOTE NOW!
Input your email address and vote... My piece is #19 in the "Glass" category.

If I get the most votes, you get to have a tutorial for how to make one of these for yourself!! Yep, all the winning pieces are hen published with step by step directions in the Bead Star Magazine.

Now go vote!!

3... Vote

I can not believe that there are just three days left until the start of The Fine Craft Show on Friday Night!! And I can not believe that the horrible election campaign ads are finally gonna end and all the Target Christmas commercials are about to start!!

So, you may have noticed that I don't blog about politics. But really, how could I let this Nov 4 go by without at least mentioning it? I remember growing up, there were two conversations that you never had with my Dad. 1) You never ever ask how much money he makes, he would rip your head off. 2) You never ask who he voted for, cause it isn't anyones business. It isn't that way so much now. I have done may parents taxes several times, lol... so I know how much he makes. And he is quite happy to share his political views. I think I am still very brainwashed and tend to favor the "it isn't anyones business" philosophy.

Here is where I stand... you just gotta vote. I don't wanna know who you voted for... and I am not gonna tell you who I voted for... you should just vote. And don't tell me your vote doesn't count. Votes count! When they add up that "majority" vote, you are one of the millions!! Okay, your just one, but one still makes that number bigger then it would be without you.

As for show prep news, I am working on the three P's today... Polishing, Pricing, and Packaging. Lauren has a friend here for the morning and she'll be here straight through lunch. The three P's will be the perfect thing to work on!

Orphan Works Legislation

Have you heard about this? Stop for a second and listen to this video.



This is a very scary possibility. If I make something and share a picture, suddenly anyone and everyone has the right to take it from me? Unless, I pay to say it belongs to me and has value? But wait, there is no one to pay? It sounds ludicrous, but it has already passed in the Senate!! Please, take a moment to post this video on your blog, then read this article for more information, and there is more details here.

According to this blog, there may still be time to get in touch with your House Representative. With all the "Bail Out" stuff going on, the voting has been put on the back burner for this. Go to THIS WEBSITE to contact representatives with just a couple of clicks. Look, I'll make it even easier... go here: http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11442621 And type your zip code, then fill in your address. How hard is that?

Thanks to Margot Potter, for posting this video on her blog. Now you go post it on yours.