Bead Society Field Trip: Beads of Courage Event!

The Bead Society went to the "Beads of Courage" studio for the SoCal Flame Surfers. It was exciting! The SoCal Flame Surfers support Beads of Courage in making special glass beads that can be given to hospitalized children.  Bead Society member, David Keith was our host. 

Beads of Courage (BoC) is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to improving the quality of life for children and teens coping with serious illness, their families, and the clinicians who care for them through their Arts-in-Medicine Programs. BoC has established collaborative partnerships in caring with hundreds of hospitals nationally and internationally and worked with several community organizations to make healing happen through the use of beads as a historical art form.

After our safety orientation, we were guided in making simple beads by Steve and David. We could add more glass to an initial bead, add dots, or do something else equally creative. We were willing to donate our beads to Beads of Courage, the non profit that David's group works with. After working with making beads, we had a pleasant potluck lunch with David's quiche and interesting conrads.

Here are some pictures from the two days we went to the Studio. 

Here are some videos of making glass beads. ​
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Some pics on So Cal Flame Surfers Facebook page show us hard at work!  The pictures of beads donated even include our little contributions (on the far left). No, the ice cream cones are beyond our skill set! 
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We all felt that we learned a lot about making glass beads. David does this twice a month, so let us know if you are interested. ​