Winner!

Thank You to everyone who participated and donated to this very worthy cause. The winner has been chosen! Sarah Fredrickson will soon be receiving her beautiful new necklace! Congratulations Sarah!
Blessings
Tana

Choosing the winner and saying "Good bye for now"

I have decided that once the raffle ends and the prize is sent out I am leaving the cyber world for a bit. Going to do some priority re evaluation and some restructuring of things, but I will be back. Today I will choose and announce the winner of the Grace lariat. I believe I have all the names in. It's been fun, thank you for joining me! Keep an eye out for me in the future, who knows where and when I will pop up and what I will be doing!
Blessings!
Tana

Hope For Deb Raffle~ The Prize

Here is installment number two in "Raffle" series. I decided to start with a photo of the necklace now that my internet is working. (yeah!)

In the first installment I gave you the details on how to enter to win the "Grace" lariat. In this one I will give you more information about necklace. This is a lariat style necklace so it is very long and can be worn in different ways depending on your style and what you happen to be wearing at the time. This is a one of a kind and is my very favorite piece of everything I have made so far. The chain is entirely hand made by me, link by soldered and hammered link, of sterling silver wire. The bead links are Carnelian and Chrysocolla with silver spacer beads and each one of these is hand wrapped for maximum strength with sterling silver wire. The cross is made of PMC Pro, which is a silver metal clay very similar to sterling with a slight difference in copper/silver ratio. (Sterling silver is an alloy of fine or pure silver with a small amount of copper and is stronger than fine silver) The toggle loop is hand sculpted and carved using sterling silver PMC and the leaf charm is made from a real leaf coated in fine silver PMC (precious metal clay). Along with the leaf charm hangs a beautiful faceted carnelian drop.

For those of you who know a bit about me, you know I haven't always been so clean, sober and sane :-). The road to sobriety was long and often painful for me and everyone around me. I have been given a new life, and am over two years clean and sober now. This is something I tried often, but could never do on my own. Faith is what brought me out of the darkness and saved my life. It is by the Grace of God that I am here and able to see with a new perspective and live a life better than I had ever imagined. This, and Ephesians 2:8 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God." were my inspirations for this necklace. And that is exactly how I feel. This is a very special piece to me, so it was kind of a no brainer to offer it as a raffle piece to help raise money for a woman who's strength and faith in this battle for HER new life also inspires me.

Stay tuned in for more "behind the scenes" information in the next installment! Remember the link to donate and enter and share with friends!
http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/HOPE-FOR-DEB-/35438
God Bless!
Tana

"Grace" Lariat Raffle

Well, the Internet won't cooperate but hey, that's ok. Where there's a will there is a way! I can Blog on my iPhone and I can take pictures with it so we're good.

I have agonized over the length of this post. I have been concentrating on paring it down to the most relevant facts for entering the raffle. There is so much more to be said, so much I want you all to know about the facts behind this fund raising raffle. I have decided to post in a series of shorter blog entries. Today I will give you the bare essentials.
First a bit about why I'm raffling off my favorite piece. My husband's aunt Deb was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia this November. There is so much I want to say about Deb, her amazing attitude, courage and faith through this, but that will have to come later. It has been estimated that after insurance Deb's family will be left with approximately $20,000.00 in out of pocket expenses. This is a huge unexpected expense for most anyone. To help out with this expense Deb's sisters have set up a fundraising page on YouCaring.com.

Here is how YOU can help, and enter to win this beautiful one of a kind lariat necklace. I would love to tell you all about the inspiration and story behind this as well, but again, that will come later. To enter the raffle you will click on the link to Deb's YouCaring.com page. Then follow these steps:
1) click on "give now"
2) enter the amount of your donation.
NOTICE below that you will see an option to give extra to the operating expenses of YouCaring.com as they run on donations. IF you want to donate to YouCaring, then enter the amount you wish to donate. If NOT, make certain that field says $0.00.
3) Your name will be entered one time for every $10 up to $40. ($10=1, $20=2 etc.). For every $10 donated between $50 and $90 you will get a "plus one" ($50=6, $60=7 etc.). To REALLY up your odds, every donation of $100 or more gets you DOUBLE entries! ($100=20, $110=22 etc.)
4) When you are asked for your name and email address, enter it so we can keep track of your entries and can notify you via email if you win.
YouCaring.com is a secure website that does not share or sell your information, and neither will we. The payments are also secure and are processed through PayPal. You do NOT need a PayPal account to donate, they will process your payment with your card if not.

The raffle will run until April first and the winner will be contacted and announced by April 6th.
If you have any questions on how to enter please feel free to ask here or email me at tanareneejewelry@gmail.com.

The link to donate/enter
http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/HOPE-FOR-DEB-/35438

You can follow Deb's progress at:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/debfredrickson

Thank You for taking the time to read about Deb and to enter. Please share with friends and check back for more information on Deb and her progress and the inspiration behind the necklace. Without the Internet working I'm not sure how this post will look (done from my phone) and the photos of the necklace aren't stellar. I needed to get this information out to everyone today so it is what it is.
Thank You and God Bless You!
Tana

Welcome to My Life!

Hi! Thanks for stopping in to take a little peek into my life and work, please go ahead and make yourself at home, Mi cyber casa es su cyber casa! This being my first post I may be all alone here, but that's ok, it wouldn't be my first time talking to myself and I'm sure it won't be my last.
I just wanted to take a quick moment to introduce myself and my blog.
My name is Tana and I am a primarily self taught jewelry artist, wife and mother of five charming kids from 12-22 years of age. I am a grateful recovering alcoholic/addict, and I believe that each and every experience I have had and lesson I have learned has been valuable. I spent several years in many different jobs searching for that one thing that I am just meant for. In the process of learning who I really am as a sober person, I had to find out what I enjoy and art therapy revealed a creativity I never knew I possessed and a love for making jewelry. There is so much healing in the creative process!
I have been blessed with a supportive husband and a second chance at life. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be with my family and be able to do something that I love. I believe each of us has unique God given gifts and a purpose for which to use them. I invite you to join me here as I explore and share the gifts I have been given with you.
Keep checking back, or better yet, subscribe to see pictures of my work, find out what's new or to just connect and learn along with me!

I am so happy to share my life and my work with you, and it is my hope that you find inspiration, encouragement and fellowship here.

~In Peace & Love~
Tana