Two Opportunities To Help Cancer Patients, Survivors, And Families

Many of you don't know this about me, but in a past life I worked in healthcare.  I have a Master's in Public Health with an emphasis in Behavioral Sciences and Health Education.  This blog is primarily about my jewelry musings, but sometimes health and jewelry can mingle.


I have been volunteering my time in getting grants for The Gallery School of Pottstown, a non-profit community art school.  One such grant was recently accepted into the "online voting" phase and I could use your help, even if you don't live in the area.


Let me tell you a little bit about the program:

The Gallery School of Pottstown in partnership with The Pottstown Memorial Regional Cancer Center- a Fox Chase Cancer Partner- has been selected as a candidate for the 2012 LIVESTRONG® Community Impact Project. The project brings proven cancer support programs to communities across the United States and finalists will be determined through an online voting campaign. Applicants with the top votes per region will receive a financial award of support to replicate and implement a sustainable program dedicated to supporting families fighting cancer. Finalists will also receive tools and resources from the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

To support the Gallery School of Pottstown, click here and vote by no later than 6:00 pm EDT, Friday, March 23, 2012. 

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I am also involved on the Living Beyond Breast Cancer Organization signature event, Yoga on the Steps.  This will be my third year fundraising and participating with over a thousand other yogis all for the same cause.  The culmination of events is when we all do yoga on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum on May 20, 2012.

Part of my team fundraising is making jewelry to sell where 75% of the profits will go to the  LBBC Organization.

I have created two versions of the "Give a Hoot for Hooters" bracelets and they are for sale for $35.00 in my etsy shoppe.

And the winner is....

Thanks to all who voted for my "Keys to My Heart" necklace in the Beadaholique contest.  With your help, I won the contest with 320 votes.  I will get $100 gift certificate to their store and some publicity in their newsletter.  I am very excited!


And without further ado...the winner of the necklace is kitblu.  I will email her directly...so if you are kitblu....check your email....


And thanks again for all your support!!!

Giveaway: Keys To My Heart Necklace

Hi everyone.

I entered a necklace in a design contest and I could really use your help.  If you are connected to Facebook all you have to do is go here and like this photo.  I am in the running to win $100 gift certificate and some publicity.  I plan on using the money to help defer costs of a breast cancer fundraising bracelet that I'm making to help the Living Beyond Breast Cancer Organization.  PLEASE HELP ME OUT!!!


Leave a comment on my blog that you "liked" the photo and be sure to leave your email address.  I will choose one winner at random to win this necklace!






Thanks for your support.
Carrie

Scrabble Tile Necklaces

It’s only February and I am gearing up for the summer already.  Each year I teach a jewelry making class at a local day camp in West Chester.  I came across an easy project that can be done in allotted time period of 30 minutes.  I will prepare the scrabble tile pendants before the class and the girls (ages 7-13) will do the beading work that goes along with the project.

I thought I would share this easy project with all my readers.  

To Make the Pendants:

1)    Pick some mixed media art that you would like to use in your project.  The images I picked were geared towards tween girls, but you can even find pretty images that adult woman could wear.  I found my art in Designs By Linda Nee’s etsy shoppe.  I purchased the art and she emailed me the file.  I then had the images printed on photo paper at Target, although you could print the images at home on an inkjet.

2)   Beadaholique is an online store that sells these epoxy stickers that are specifically designed for scrabble tile pendants and will fit over your art.  So order some of these to make your project easy peasy!  They also sell the small glue on pendant bails that you will need to purchase.  Adhesives you will need are Mod Podge to glue the art onto the scrabble tile and some E6000 to glue your small pendant bail onto the scrabble tile.

3)   Once you have all these purchased materials and a scrabble tile, the process is simple. 

a.     You will take your artwork (which should already be sized to fit the scrabble tile-if you buy scrabble-tile-specific art) and lay it flat. 

b.     Then you will take the epoxy sticker and cut it out keeping on the backing and the protective covering. 

c.     Remove the sticker backing and carefully place it over the top of your art.  Gently push on the sticker to remove any air pockets and then remove the front protective covering.

d.    Take an exacto knife or scissors and cut any excess sticker from around your art.

e.     Take your scrabble tile and apply Mod Podge adhesive to the side without the letter.  Also add some adhesive to the back of your epoxy art.  Apply the sticker with art to your scrabble tile and remove any excess glue.  Let dry for 30 minutes.

f.     Now you are ready to apply the small bail to your pendant.  Take some of the E6000 adhesive and, using a toothpick, apply to the letter side of the scrabble tile.  Add your bail to the glue and let dry for 30 minutes.

g.    Now you can use coordinating beads to finish off your project or use a simple ball chain if you are not an experienced beader.

There is a great video at Beadaholique’s website if you run into problems.  The instructional video is listed under “Mixed Media” and titled “How to Make a Scrabble Tile Pendant Using Epoxy Stickers.”

Love is Patient, Love is Kind

Love is patient and kind; It is not jealous or conceited or proud;
Love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable;
Love does not keep a record of wrongs;
Love is not happy with evil, but rejoices in the truth.

Love never gives up; and its faith, hope and patience never fail.
Love is eternal.

~1 Corinthians 13

This verse is usually associated with  a  marriage or committed relationship.  I also think of this when it comes to friendships- true, genuine friendships- and how hard it is to find people who fit this definition of love.  When you find someone like this you need to hold on for dear life!

I have a friend I will call Anne*.  She has 5 children.  She's had a pretty crappy past year- youngest child- her 2 year old son- had a stroke and heart surgery, she lost some friendships that she thought were near and dear to her- only to find out that these friendships weren't genuine and only self-centered.  Nonetheless, the loss of these friendships are still difficult  and painful.  You go through a grieving process and wonder what the hell YOU did.  But when someone is a narcissist, YOU didn't do anything wrong...you were just part of the game.  The narcissist doesn't even consciously realize that they are the root of all evil!  That is probably the worst part of it- you will never get an apology; they don't even realize that they cause so much pain and aren't capable of caring.

Well Anne and I have become friends and I am so blessed to have had the chance to know her.  When I meet new people I can usually tell within a small bit of time if I will be friends with the person.  I knew pretty quickly that we could be friends- and not just because of our common ground with being burned by the same person.  We are both genuine people who can share without judgement, we can be happy for each other when milestones and good things happy, we don't expect anything from each other- just genuine compassion for the human spirit.

I saw this pendant at a shop that I frequently purchase beads from and I thought of Anne.  She loves spirals.  I wanted to make her something that would put a smile on her face.  I don't expect anything in return- just her friendship.  I wanted to thank her for being part of my life.

So, thank you, Anne for being in my circle of friends and sharing this life journey with me.  I am blessed beyond measure!

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent.  Anne will know who she is!

Fun Wrap Bracelet

I always love playing around with new techniques and ideas.  I recently came across a video on how to make wrap bracelets and I thought, "What the heck?  I can do that..."  So I tried and I was successful!  I changed up the design a little bit by using a ceramic button as a closure, but I think that this makes the bracelet a little more trendy!

I wound up using blue glass beads and rectangular shaped green jade beads...it was super easy and really cute.  Take a look at my finished product:

I didn't do to badly for my first try at this technique.  I hope you like my bracelet as much as I do!  I would love to hear what you think!

A Tribute To My Oma

In life, I believe that we encounter many people, all of whom we meet by no coincidence, but because God knows that we can learn something valuable from them. No matter what kind of influence they may have had on our lives, they still leave us a better person in the end. Evelyn Grace Schaffer is one of those people for me; My Oma! Oma, isn’t it is amazing how one word can mean so much. 

Grace, although her middle name, means ‘good will’ and 'blessings.' She has raised a family and has lived through many of the good and bad changing times of our world, therefore has unconditional love for almost everyone she comes in contact with. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her say a bad word about anyone. She has always taught me to be a good person and to respect others.   She is a good Christian in every sense of the word and a model for me to help others!

Many of my favorite childhood memories involve food in some way.  The smell of dinner fresh from the oven; the flavor of delicious home-baked goods; the joy that fills a happy kitchen.  These visceral patterns were imprinted in my mind at an early age and are still with me today.  At the center of these memories is my Oma.  Her food was just not made with love, it was love.  I remember gathering around her table on many holidays eating together as a family; her always serving the men first.  She also taught me how to make pies.  When she would have leftover dough we would make “milk pies” in little tins.  I think that part of my love for cooking comes from my Oma.  I like to put thought and love into my meals and that was learned from her.

Oma is such a hard worker and I remember helping her clean.  During my high school years I would WANT to spend my weekends with her.  I would call her and she would pick me up.  I would help her clean and then we would return to her house for a sleepover.  I would spend all weekend with her and enjoy every moment of it.  We would buy pizza crusts and make our own pizzas.  She always seemed to have little sugary boxes of cereal on hand and would let me drink coffee in the mornings.  I didn’t mind her snoring either!  I just wanted to spend time with her.  On one instance, Oma, Auntie, and I went ‘cruising’ down Main Street in Northampton and they had their babushkas on trying to embarrass me.  No such luck!  Not many high school kids did what I did, but I am grateful that we had these times together. 

Now that I've grown up, for the most part, I can reflect on the knowledge my Oma imparted to me. She encouraged me to do the right things in life. To have a family and to raise them well. She didn't just tell me these things, she showed me by example.

I like to think I inherited some of my best qualities from my Oma: my humor and to not take things to seriously, my work ethic, and most importantly my love of food and family.

Oma, I love you with all of my heart and I hope that when I am 90 years old I have the amount of Grace and love that you do!  Happy 90th Birthday!