Tag, You're it!

   My lovely sister, Margot, working on the tags. We have had some technical difficulties making the stamps work. I have learned that it is a game of luck when ordering such a detailed stamp and hoping that design will look the way you want it. With that being said, the creation of these tags marks a huge turning point for us! The tags, which are cut from a brown paper, have the logo in white on one side and the link to the blog on the other. Along with our catch phrase "One Duty. One Life. One Bead." Each bead will come with it's own handmade tag. Now that the tags are finished we are ready to send out bracelets and beads to our representatives around the country! Keep an eye out for more on this later..

Too Many Circle's for ONE Night

Blurry Picture of Beads and Posters

Another late night! (as demonstrated by the blurry quality of this picture...)
      For those of you who don't know me, I am a junior in college, and this semester I am actually studying abroad in England at the University of East Anglia. AND I LEAVE TOMORROW. Yes, it was all exciting when I signed up and was accepted, only now it seems like almost the bad timing! To tell you the truth, it has not even really sunk in that I am leaving for England in less than 24 hours, because I have had so much to do.  Cutting leather, tying knots and gluing paper takes a lot longer than I had anticipated. Of course this is all good and exciting stress, but stress nonetheless :) 
      Anyway, this is a poor quality cell phone upload I took after working all day on kits for my amazing representatives. Each kit includes 15 bracelets, 10 necklaces, 3 beads, extra leather, about 30 posters, tons of ribbon, and tags. The representatives will be in charge of selling and spreading the word about our project at their own schools. I am so excited to see how everything turns out. Keep an eye out for a page about the representatives in the near future! OH, also made it to the bank today and opened my very own business checking account! So now people are able to make check's out to "One Bead Project" when purchasing a bead or making a donation. I decided against uploading a picture of the checking account as it would definitely not be a good idea, so you'll have to trust my word on its existence!
    Ok, it's about time I look into my own luggage!

158

Pictures for you of the first 158 beads from Kenya. 

This set will be sold at $20 a bracelet as it is the original collection. 

 I'll let the pictures do the talking on this post...

Beads with black leather in background

So many beads! 

Close up 

Beads on leather 

Detail of the Bead

BEADS ARE HERE!

Most exciting package in so long. Express delivered and repackaged at some point from Kenya. 

 (more to come)

Not Your Average Poster

 Instead of normal rectangular/square posters. I decided to play off of the circular shape of the logo and bead and make these ornament looking things. They will hang in groups of 3 or 4 at all different sizes. On the front is the logo and on the back is our slogan "One Duty. One Life. One Bead" with the blog/email address. Because the project has an artsy aspect to it I wanted the posters to reflect that as an almost installation piece. I am actually uploading these cell phone pictures from the Staples Copy and Print center where I am currently waiting for more of the "ONE" logos to be printed. Yesterday I was able to find a place that sells circular cardboard in bulk in all different sizes! Dream Come True. It was the best find as using a razor blade is both not fun and time consuming. 

**In the pictures above and below the ribbon is blue and silver, but I ultimately decided to replace the silver with black.**

It's almost 3 a.m here in Ohio...

...and after 3 Craft Shops, 10 spools of ribbon, over 100 circles of cardboard, 148 beads, 3 hours of cutting leather, 1/2 hours of measuring, AND 1.5 hours of learning to tie knots....I am sitting at my kitchen table with 44 completed bracelets. :-)

Our First Donation

 This envelope deserves it's own spot on the blog don't you think? At the end of my presentation, Kees handed me this envelope with money collected from the students. Before handing it over to my mom, who is an accountant and is currently helping me with all of the banking, I decided to snap some pictures. It is an unbelievable feeling to know that we are already helping people. And that seems like a feeling I want to remember.