LMAJ Giveaway....

by MaryAnn Carroll

This is a little clip from Izzy's post on August 3rd.....

This first patina was done with saw dust (which I had plenty of with our deck build) and vinegar. I mixed in enough vinegar to moisten the saw dust and put the concoction in a plastic container. I then buried the earrings in the saw dust, covered the container and let it sit for a few days. It looks a bit like cork, doesn't it? Notice the tiny black specks? I LOVE this patina. (One of these might, just maybe, could be in an upcoming giveaway...)

Well....Izzy was NOT kidding.....

The gorgeous set of earrings below can be yours by answering the question at the end of this post....

 If you don't want to wait to see if you might be the lucky winner...or even if you do want to join in the giveaway fun and possibly own two pairs, check out Izzy's shop Under A Copper Sky for similar earrings and/or other matching jewelry.  I can assure you.... what you get from Izzy will be a quality buy...  I know...  I own a fabulous necklace that I'm in love with!!!!

So, you are wondering what the question is....  I know you are ;o)

Not without a little sharing first....

Persistence....

I DEFINITELY was born with my share of it....

When things don't come easy to me, I usually find some sort of challenge in it.  I want to improve....  I want to learn.....  I want to make it better....  I want it to be the best ...

Izzy inspired me to package up some jewelry that I made a few years ago. I wrote about that in last week's post.

Since I have a personal connection with the domestic violence organization near me, I thought that maybe I could do something to show my appreciation for all that I received from the various services that they offer.  Many people think of organizations like this as "shelters" for women that are in abusive situations.  It's true that shelters are a part of these organizations, but so much more is offered beyond that.  Many women involved with organizations like Vera House never see the inside of a shelter because it never got to that point.  I was so fortunate to have a wonderful contact person there that I still stay connected with and decided that I wanted to give back in a different way as well.  I thought, "maybe I can make some purple ribbons from the enamels that I purchased from Barbara Lewis and create earrings."  They can sell them in their office and keep the money from each sale. I don't always have the money to donate, but I could do something like this in its place.

So..... Did I mention I've got a little of the impulse bug too?   I grabbed my wire, cut, hammered and put it under the torch, dipped it in the enamel, put in under the torch, dipped, torched, dipped again....until I felt I was done...

Here are a few of the first ones that I finished....  I know....

not good.....

maybe I will try again, wrap some wire around the centers and add some ear wire.....

still not working......

I give up....

I'll go to the local chain store and buy some purple colored wire.... 

Maybe that will be the answer...

Nope..... too cheesy....

I think I'll give it some time....

or maybe.....

I'll email Barbara and ask for her advice... DUH!

Why didn't I think about that in the first place?

Thanks Barbara!!!  The color choice fox glove was perfect!

Then, another brilliant thought popped in my head....

Yes.....I was on a roll......

...I have a sheet of copper in my studio.... 

maybe that will be more "ribbon-like" and I can avoid destroying my 51 year old elbows and ears hammering.....

 

A little wide, but much better.....

I think I'll cut that width in half..... 

Maybe then it will work with a matching ceramic bead.....

And there you have it.....

PERSISTENCE.....

I'm still going to work on perfecting this process more.....but I'm well on my way.....

Now, for the question that you have been waiting for to win these beauties...

"What do you do when at first you fail at something that you really have your heart set on doing?"

In addition to answering the question above, if you want to be entered more than once, share this post on facebook, twitter, yahoo groups, your blog, etc. and come back EACH time and tell us that you did.  Your answer to the question will count once each time you let us know where you posted.  Please include a link to that post.  If you add all of those places in one comment, then that will only count one time.  The more times you enter.....

.....well....

.....you know the rest....

So, be persistent and perhaps those fab earrings by Izzy will be yours.

As always....

~Thanks for reading~

MaryAnn