Weaving A Gem Of A Life » free

Win a Free Victorian Ornament

Peg Cherre — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:29:32 +0000

Congratulations to Joanne, who won the November contest. I plan to deliver her talisman at my show this weekend.

Now to the December contest. This month’s contest will be shorter than usual so that you have a chance to receive your prize by Christmas. The prize?

This little hand made Christmas ornament with its beaded cover. This is my smallest Victorian-style ornament, only about 2″ in diameter. The blue matte glass ball is adorned with glass beads. Should the glass ball break (as it did when I dropped it during the photo shoot), no problem, just slip of the cover and drape it over another ball. You can also choose to change it to another color (silver, white, red — you choose) to coordinate with your tree theme or just for a different look.

So what do you have to do to win this hand beaded ornament? Simply leave me a comment, on this or another post, telling me one great Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Eid/Solstice story from you life. Your answers are due by December 15 – only 12 days, folks, so let’s hear from you!

November Contest, Part 4

Peg Cherre — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:47:53 +0000

After I posted Part 3 of this contest, asking for your funny stories, I thought about what funny story of my own I would post. I was surprised to realize that I don’t really have a funny story about Thanksgiving. So I’m posting Part 4 – Good News.

I got the best Thanksgiving news ever – my son will be home for Christmas! Michael’s been living in North Carolina for about 7 years, and I don’t think he’s been home on Christmas itself in all that time. He usually gets some time off in the middle of winter, but we’ve celebrated Christmas as late as mid-February with him.

And this year? He’ll be home a few days before December 25, staying for a few days after. YAY!!!

He’ll be bringing my granddaughter with him. Here’s a picture of sweet, little Dixie and her dad. Ok, neither of them are little, but they’re both extremely sweet.

So what’s your good news? Tell me and you’re entered into the November contest for the free gemstone talisman

November Contest, part 3

Peg Cherre — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:43:50 +0000

Ok, so it’s only 2 days till Turkey Day. I’ve asked you to tell me someone you’re grateful is in your life & a holiday tradition. Now that we’re down to the wire, here’s final part of the contest:
tell me about a funny Thanksgiving memory. Could be ha-ha funny or weird funny. Maybe you laughed till your stomach hurt, or had to squash that laughter to avoid offending someone. Maybe it happened when you were a child or just yesterday.

Why do I want a funny story? It’s hard to be miserable when you’re laughing. A smile on your face translates to a positive mental attitude, and it’s much easier to be grateful and compassionate when you’re happy.

If you don’t have a funny memory, feel free to make one up!

Remember the purpose of the contest? To win this free gemstone talisman, so get your comments in!

Enter Margaret’s contest, too.

November Contest, Part 2

Peg Cherre — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:14:54 +0000

Ah, Turkey Day. In addition to bringing to mind all the reasons we have to be grateful, for most Americans it’s filled with traditions. As a kid, I have a few essential Thanksgiving memories: my mom getting up early to begin drying out white bread in the oven, later to be cubed, mixed with chopped onions & celery & pounds of margarine for the stuffing; watching the parade on TV; and getting the jellied cranberry sauce out of that can in one piece. These three were constants.

When I had my own family, we adopted several of my hubby’s traditions – using bags of various Pepperidge Farm bread blends (cubes and crumbs) as the base of the stuffing instead of white bread we’d dried in the oven, adding sausage to the stuffing, and cooking that turkey in a paper bag.

If you’re like I was that first year, you’re now saying, “Huh? Cook the turkey in a paper bag?!” Yep, you butter the inside of a brown paper grocery bag, slip Tom into it, fold the end over and keep it closed with clothespins. It really does keep in the juices and reduce cooking time. I’m sure its where Reynolds got the idea of their browning bags.

One Thanksgiving tradition that’s remained constant throughout my life? Getting that jellied cranberry sauce out of the can in one piece.

One of my sweetie’s weirdest traditions? An essential leftover lunch included a stuffing sandwich with on doughy white bread. With mayonnaise WHAT?! That’s a bread sandwich! Putting bread between two slices of bread! Yep, I agree, it’s totally wrong, but my comments never budge the practice. Nor could his insistence make me try it.

Remember the prize this month? It’s a healing gemstone talisman. Made with moss agate, amethyst, amber, peridot, and my coppery wishes for peace.

So as part 2 of the November contest, what’s one of your Thanksgiving traditions? Tell me sweet or odd, long-standing or newly-formed. If you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, use another food-centric holiday of your choice. (You can still respond to the first part, if you prefer.)

November Contest

Peg Cherre — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:50:35 +0000

Although here in the northeast our gardens are pretty much done in October, traditionally November is a time of celebration for the past growing season. Thanksgiving is the culmination of this, and includes gratitude for many things beyond just sufficient food.

My November contest is in that spirit of gratefulness and abundance.

I made a talisman specifically for this month’s prize.

Copper is said to bring relief from some joint ailments. I just love its rich, warm color. I’ve stamped it with the word shanti, which means peace. That’s part of what I think of with gratitude, and what I wish for. Inner peace, peaceful thoughts and feelings toward others, and peace in my community and the world.

I chose an assortment of gemstones for their healing properties. With Thanksgiving generally a time of abundance, I included moss agate, amber, and peridot. These three gemstones are said to bring abundance to their owners. Because of the word I chose for the copper, I wanted to repeat the message of peace and happiness, so I selected amethyst, peridot, and repeated the amber. Peridot is also helpful in inspiring compassion, an essential element for both internal and external peacefulness.

I’m sometimes asked what one does with a talisman. Here are a few options: carry it in your pocket (my personal favorite) or purse, hang it from your bedpost, put it on a leather thong and wear it around your neck, pin it to your waistband. The point is to keep the talisman near you as much as possible.

So how can you win this lovely talisman? I’ll be posting several entries asking for your response related to the November theme. All you need to do is comment on one or more of them.

For this week, the question is this — tell me about a person that graces your life, that makes you grateful for his or her presence, that brings a smile to your lips. I’ll tell you about mine in a few days.

September Contest Winner

Peg Cherre — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:32:48 +0000

Yeah, it’s taken me forever to post this. Sorry. Getting ready for 2 shows back to back, one of which requires me to clean my house thoroughly, has kept me really busy. Anyway…

Congratulations to Joyce, the winner of the September contest for the starry earrings! Check out her blog – Joyce takes some amazing photographs!

And if you haven’t yet entered the October contest for my new handmade bracelet with porcupine quills, red jasper, and sterling silver, what are you waiting for? Leave me a comment for your chance to win free jewelry!

October Contest-Free Bracelet

Peg Cherre — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 20:56:49 +0000

It’s fall. Although the grass is still green, browns, reds, and ochres predominate here in the hills of western New York. I decided that the prize for my free handmade jewelry contest this month should somehow reflect the autumnal season. In fact, this bracelet is a new design of mine.

I’ve had a few different designs of porcupine quill necklaces and porcupine quill earrings for several years now, but bracelets present particular problems when working with quills. Quills are fragile; they bend, crack, and break easily, so need to be strengthened by being threaded onto sterling wire. Regular beading wire doesn’t provide enough stability, and stretchy cord is simply unacceptable. Trust me, I’ve tried them all. I couldn’t come up with a bracelet design that both supported the quills and pleased me. Until now.

This bracelet is made from porcupine quills, red jasper, and sterling silver, including a sterling silver handmade clasp.

I’m often asked how I prepare porcupine quills for my handmade jewelry. It’s a lengthy process. After the quills are removed from the porcupine, they need to be cleaned in warm, soapy water, sterilized with a bleach solution, and then laid in the sun to dry. Both ends must be cut off to remove the barbs, and then it’s trimmed to length. Tedious and time consuming.

I like to use red jasper in my handmade jewelry designs. In addition to providing a nice, rich, warm color, red jasper is a great healing gemstone. It helps improve self-worth and enhances body image. It protects against negativity and promotes beauty, grace, and healing. Red jasper is also helpful in understanding and improving family relationships.

So how can you win this handmade bracelet? I’ve decided to repeat last month’s challenge. Simply leave me a comment on any one of my blog posts this month (entries must be received by midnight on Friday, October 30) to be entered into an end-of-month drawing. I’ll notify the winner on Halloween.

If you love the concept of quill jewelry, check out my necklaces and earrings. Unfortunately I haven’t had time to put them on my website, so you’ll have to come to one of my shows or contact me for pictures.

I can’t announce the September winner yet; I’m waiting to hear back from her. (Check your email to see if you’ve gotten a message from me.)

August Contest – Perseids

Peg Cherre — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:59:49 +0000

I am fascinated by the night sky. I’m also consistently amazed at how little I understand about it, but that’s another topic.

I live far from the madding crowd, so the sky offers itself to me easily. Every August we have a meteor shower called Perseids, so named because it appears to originate in the constellation Perseus. If I knew what that constellation looked like or where in the sky it was located, it’d finding those meteors easier, but my yard offers a limited view of the sky before trees & hills block my view, so I simply pay attention to the sky I can see.

Anyway, a few years ago we had a stellar event of a lifetime. The Perseids shower was remarkably active, and it was during a new moon (e.g. no moon), so the sky was dark enough to see them all. It was easy to see several shooting stars every minute for hours on end.

Perseids earrings

This remarkable Perseids shower inspired jewelry in me. And since this is August and that’s when the Perseids occur, this month’s contest winner will get a free pair of my Perseids earrings. They’re sterling silver with little stars of manmade hematite (the gray ones) and cat’s eye (the white ones).

So how do you enter?

Simply leave me a comment about your life this summer. Talk about whether the weather has impacted on your enjoyment of this season, or the best summer moon you ever saw, or whether you’re taking a vacation or a staycation, or just about anything that tickles your fancy. I’ll put the names into a hat, and draw the winner on August 22. You won’t have your lovely earrings in time for this year’s Perseids peak (August 12), but they’ll be fun and starry in your ears year round.

If you can’t wait for the contest and MUST have the earrings, with or without their coordinating necklace, in time for the Perseids this year, contact me to purchase them.

July Contest

Peg Cherre — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:00:05 +0000

Although it’s not quite July yet, I’m announcing and starting the July contest.

Leave a comment of suggestions for Caitlin about transitioning Gavin to the new security blanket, and you’ll be entered into the contest. Each suggestion will get you one entry, so leave as many as you’d like. In order to be as timely as possible for Caitlin, entries are due early this time – by July 12.

Mug rugs

Since the comments are about my weaving, not my jewelry, this month’s prize is weaving. You’ll win a set of four cotton mug rugs, in forest green & off white. I wove these mug rugs on my little rigid heddle loom, which I take to shows to demonstrate weaving.

Winner of the June contest? Jean from Bangalore, India. Congratulations, Jean!

June Contest – Free Gemstone Earrings!

Peg Cherre — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:34:27 +0000

I’ve promised you another easy contest this month, and I’m true to my word. Here’s all you have to do.

Leopardskin Jasper & Sterling Silver Handmade Earrings

Leave me a comment that includes the web addresses of blogs that you really like. Just for leaving me a blog address, your name will be entered into the contest.

Here’s the really good news – you can enter as many times as you wish. You’ll get your name entered AGAIN for every blog address I like well enough to link to!

What could be easier?!

And what’s this month’s prize? A free pair of handmade earrings. These beauties are little leopardskin jasper hearts. Of course they’re dangling from sterling silver earwires. I made the head pins, with an extra special twist of wire down the length the earring. Total length from top of earwire to bottom of heart is 1½ inches. In my next entry I’ll tell you about the healing properties of the gemstone leopardskin jasper.

Entries are due by June 26th.

Start sending in your favorite blog sites!