Happy Halloween and Some OOAK Halloween Jewelry

Happy Halloween!

Ok I'm a day early, but I have something exciting for you! Last time I showed you the jewelry set I designed for the Lady Gaga Creative Call for Oddities Event. When I was designing that set, I decided to do a similar one for my Jewelry for Charity Program. 

It's not exactly the same, but very close. So, for those of you who like Halloween and themed jewelry, this is for you...

I had a lot of fun designing for that challenge, even though I hate Halloween LOL. More importantly though, the reason for making this set a Jewelry for Charity set is because I want to call attention to and actively support Lady Gaga's charity, Born This Way Foundation. That's where the donation from the sale will be going :)

Bullying is out of control. BTWF is a movement for change and I think it's AWESOME! Individuality should be celebrated and we should create a world more accepting and tolerant of differences, so I commend her and her Mom, Cynthia Germanotta, for what they're creating and wish them much success.

You can read more about the charity set here. And I hope you'll visit www.BornThisWayFoundation.org and support their work.

Have a fun and safe Halloween!

June 2011 Jewelry for Charity Set "The Spirit and Strength of Who Dat Nation"

Hey ladies!

It's been a little crazy over here and I haven't been posting so let's catch up! I finally finished the June Charity Set and got it up on the website a wee bit late...the perfectionist in me had to have EXACTLY the parts I wanted so I was at the mercy of the post office...lol.

This month was exciting for me because, for the first time, someone took me up on my standing invitation to suggest a charitable cause!! My friend, Nicole from Candles 4 Cures who lives in Louisiana told me how much people down there are STILL suffering and asked if I would do something for the Katrina victims because they do still need help. Excellent idea! Since she lives down there and knows what charity helps their communities the most, I also asked her to choose the charity that the donation would go to. She selected The Brees Dream Foundation... Drew Brees's charity.

I remember the celebration, cheering, happiness and, most of all, the feelings of hope and inspiration that seemed to flow through New Orleans after the Saints won the Super Bowl. I'm a Patriots fan as you all know, but I've never been happier about another team winning than I was that day. And I truly feel that win imparted a sense of strength and revived the spirit of those who were so horribly affected by Katrina.

My goal when designing this jewelry was to try to capture that and materialize it. So of course the jewelry had to be in the black and gold of the Saints' Who Dat Nation... Here's to you New Orleans... we have not forgotten you!!

You can read more about the jewelry set on it's web page... http://www.designs-by-debi.com/jewelry-for-charity-piece-june-2011.html. Enjoy!!

Many thanks to Nicole for the suggestion! And the invitation is still open... I do a charity Piece every month :)

♥ Debi

"Sending Healing Aloha" ~ April 2011 Jewelry for Charity Piece

Hi!

Well, better late than never, I finally got the April Jewelry for Charity Piece up on the website today! It's a beautiful OOAK Hibiscus Lampwork Necklace... yup, necklace this time... first time I do a necklace for a charity piece. AND I did it in gold... another first (I don't tend to do very many designs in gold.... I prefer silver and copper).

I made this piece to raise money for Friends of Keri to help a high school friend of mine who slipped and fell into a pool last summer breaking her neck and leaving her paralyzed from the chest down with only limited use of her shoulders and arms. All the money raised by Friends of Keri goes directly to Keri and her family (husband Kevin, son Kyle and daughter Paige) to help with the extraordinary medical bills and the cost of conversions they've needed to make to their home. You can read more about the necklace and Keri on the April 2011 Jewelry for Charity Piece page on the website.

~ Debi

P.S. Don't forget... next Facebook fan giveaway is at 200 fans... just 17 more to go at last count :)

March Jewelry for Charity Piece

This is the Jewelry for Charity Piece for March. It's a OOAK bracelet in gorgeous, summery shades of orange, pink and white. I used polymer clay beads with flowers and dragonflies made by Bonnie Simonet and some orange and white swirled ones made by me. The Swarovski bicones are red topaz AB2x and they're perfect...they even shimmer with pink accenting the pink flowers in the beads (very tough trying to catch that in pix though).

The week of March 21-27 is a Week of Solidarity with People Struggling Against Racism and Discrimination and March 21st is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. I chose the orange color scheme because the ribbon color for Racial Tolerance is orange.

I wanted to select a charity committed to ending racism so I chose The King Center. Established in 1968 by Coretta Scott King, it's the official, living memorial dedicated to the advancement of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., leader of America’s greatest nonviolent movement for justice, equality and peace. I hope we can one day achieve his dream of the Beloved Community, practice tolerance, appreciate each other's differences and live in peace.

I personally don't believe in race. I believe there is only ONE race...the HUMAN race...and within that race exists a diversity of cultures, languages, religions and other differences that should be celebrated and respected. I believe that we can end racism one person at a time...or maybe one family at a time, because racism is learned. Some thoughts to ponder...

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate and, if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."
~ Nelson Mandela

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."
~ Mahatma Gandhi

♥ Debi