Handmade Sterling Silver Amazonite Necklace - Anabel

An asymetrical necklace of Amazonite and sterling silver. A 21mm rhombus-cut* Amazonite, accented with tiny sterling silver beads, and 8mm round Amazonite, handwrapped with Argentium sterling silver, are joined to Argentium sterling silver links. The links have been hand formed and fused closed. Sterling silver oval link chain and a sterling silver lobster clasp finishes off this necklace. The hand formed links are 14mm in diameter. The sterling silver chain is 8 inches in length. Total length of the necklace is 26 inches.

Amazonite is named after the Amazon river in Brazil. But no deposits of it have been found there. Amazonite is said to calm one's emotions and soothe nerves, and to enhance creativity and the ability to express oneself. Perhaps the strongest recommendation of its metaphysical powers is that Amazonite is said to make your married life happier.

Argentium Sterling Silver is sterling silver with less of the copper alloy. Copper is what makes sterling silver tarnish. Argentium is 92.5% pure silver with the balance a mix of germanium and copper. This makes Argentium silver harder, brighter and more highly tarnish resistant than traditional sterling silver.

*In geometry, a rhombus or rhomb is a quadrilateral whose four sides all have the same length. The rhombus is often called a diamond, after the diamonds suit in playing cards, or a lozenge, though the latter sometimes refers specifically to a rhombus with a 45° angle. Every rhombus is a parallelogram, and a rhombus with right angles is a square. (Euclid's original definition and some English dictionaries' definition of rhombus excludes squares, but most modern mathematicians prefer the inclusive definition.) The English word “rhombus” derives from the Ancient Greek ῥόμβος (rhombos), meaning “spinning top”. The plural of rhombus can be either rhombi or rhombuses. - Wikipedia

Gracie Jewellery is handmade in my smoke and pet free studio and arrives in its own storage pouch.

#N1015 $105.00

Available at Gracie Jewellery

Handmade Sterling Silver, Black Onyx and Freshwater Pearl Necklace - Layla

Beautiful freshwater coin pearls perfectly matched in size and colour are wire wrapped with argentium sterling silver. The coin pearls are 10mm in diameter with the slightly bumpy surface coin pearls are known for. They are beautifully white and luminous. Black Onyx in 4 shapes: 10mm x 14mm smooth oval, an 20mm open ring, 8mm round facetted and a 15mm facetted disc all accented with sterling silver. And there, peeking out of the ring of black onyx is a 8mm facetted rock crystal bead, do you see it? The round links are hand formed and fused closed. This necklace is finished off with 10 inches of sterling silver figure-8 chain. A sterling silver lobster clasp securely closes the necklace while 2 tiny silver beads kiss the back of your neck.

Total length of this necklace is 20½ inches.

*Argentium Sterling Silver is sterling silver with less of the copper alloy. Copper is what makes sterling silver tarnish. Argentium is 92.5% pure silver with the balance a mix of germanium and copper. This makes Argentium silver harder, brighter and more highly tarnish resistant than traditional sterling silver.

Gracie Jewellery is handmade in my smoke and pet free studio and arrives in its own storage pouch.

#N1012 $110.00

Available at Gracie Jewellery

Pink Saturday - October 30

This week for the last Pink Saturday of October - Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I offer prayers for all you who are battling this horrible disease.

May all beings everywhere plagued with sufferings of body and mind quickly be freed from their illnesses. May those frightened cease to be afraid, and may those bound be free. May the powerless find power, and may people think of befriending one another.

--The Buddha

Pennye

Michelle's mom

Oonagh

MaryJane

Anne

Norma

Nancy

Please God, bring healing.
Exodus 12:13

The Power of Faith

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

--Hebrews 11:1

Believe in Miracles

O God, Your ways are holiness;
what god is as great as God?
You are the God who works wonders.

--Psalm 77:14

Father, for the strength you have given me I thank you.
For the health you have blessed me with, I thank you.
For the women who are going through breast cancer and their families
I ask you to strengthen and to heal as you see fit.
Lord we know you want us to be in good health and to prosper.
Lord use us to do the work you have for us to do.
For we know time is getting short on this earth.
Lord be with every woman who is sick and encourage them as only you can.
I know how faithful you are.
You have shown yourself to be everything you say you are in your Holy Word.
I praise you for you made this body and you can heal this body.
In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.

Thank you Beverly from How Sweet The Sound for hosting our weekly meeting of the Pinks.

Thank you for visiting.

Handmade Sterling Silver and Moss Agate Necklace - Genevieve

The Genevieve necklace - 12mm beads of Moss Agate accented with sterling silver bead and hand wrapped with argentium sterling silver. A hand formed link that has been fused closed then hammered for texture drips with a 12mm Moss Agate. This necklace is finished off with 9 inches of sterling silver figure 8 chain. Securely closes with a sterling silver lobster clasp. Genevieve's total length is 21 inches with the Moss Agate drop adding another inch.

Moss Agate is a form of agate which includes minerals of a green colour embedded in chalcedony, forming filaments and other patterns suggestive of moss.

Argentium Sterling Silver is sterling silver with less of the copper alloy. Copper is what makes sterling silver tarnish. Argentium is 92.5% pure silver with the balance a mix of germanium and copper. This makes Argentium silver harder, brighter and more highly tarnish resistant than traditional sterling silver.

Gracie Jewellery is handmade in my smoke and pet free studio and arrives in its own storage pouch.

#N9161 $50.00
Available at Gracie Jewellery

Handmade Sterling Silver Rhodolite Garnet Pendant-Raegan

A cluster of Rhodolite Garnets that have be hand wrapped in sterling silver hang from a Argentium Sterling Silver ring. The ring was hand formed, fused closed, tumbled for strength and then hammered for texture. The chain is sterling silver with oval links and closes securely with a sterling silver lobster clasp. Two sterling silver beads kiss the back of your neck.

Rhodolite Garnet - facetted- 3mm x5mm - 4mm x7mm; 4mm diam
Argentium Sterling Silver Ring - 17 mm diam
Chain length - 16 inches (20 cm)

Total length including pendant - 20 inches (26 cm)

*Argentium Sterling Silver is sterling silver with less of the copper alloy. Copper is what makes sterling silver tarnish. Argentium is 92.5% pure silver with the balance a mix of germanium and copper. This makes Argentium silver harder, brighter and more highly tarnish resistant than traditional sterling silver.

Gracie Jewellery is handmade in my smoke and pet free studio and arrives in its own storage pouch.

#N1034 $55.00

Available at Gracie Jewellery

Handmade Sterling Silver Smokey Quartz Necklace - Isabella

Isabella is a plethora of Smokey Quartz! This necklace started with links in Argentium Sterling Silver. The links were hand formed, fused closed then tumbled for strength and shine. Then using hand made sterling silver jumprings, they were joined together to make a chain. Various sizes of smokey quartz were hand wrapped with sterling silver and attached to the links. Double strands of sterling silver oval link chain finishes the back of this necklace. A sterling silver lobster clasp keeps this necklace securely closed.

Smokey Quartz - 12mm, 8mm, 6mm diam
Total length - 22 inches; almost 24 inches with the hanging smokey quartz
Sterling Silver chain at the back - 5 inches both sides.

*Argentium Sterling Silver is sterling silver with less of the copper alloy. Copper is what makes sterling silver tarnish. Argentium is 92.5% pure silver with the balance a mix of germanium and copper. This makes Argentium silver harder, brighter and more highly tarnish resistant than traditional sterling silver.

Gracie Jewellery is handmade in my smoke and pet free studio and arrives in its own storage pouch.

#N1014 $115.00
Available at Gracie Jewellery

Handmade Sterling Silver Sodalite Nugget Necklace - Petra

Beautiful nuggets of Sodalite showing lovely striations of blue, black and white. 3mm sterling silver beads bookend each nugget. I've handwrapped each bead with Argentium sterling silver wire. A hammered Argentium sterling silver link hangs to one side adding a decorative touch. A sterling silver figure 8 link chain finishes this necklace. Securely closes with a sterling silver lobster clasp.

Sodalite nuggets - 12mmx18mm

Hammered link - 18 mm

Chain section - 6 inches each side

Total length - 20 inches

Sodalite promotes intuitive knowledge, clears the mind and promotes understanding of ideas and concepts. Strengthens communication and rational thinking.

Gracie Jewellery is handmade in my smoke and pet free studio and arrives in its own storage pouch.

#N9140 $55.00

Available at Gracie Jewellery

Purchase Directly From Gracie Jewellery

Good News!! Well I think it is.

Gracie Jewellery can now be purchased direct from this site! How exciting is that?

Just go the the top of this page

Click on Necklaces

or click on Earrings

Have a browse. If there is something you would like to purchase, click on the "Buy Now" button. This will take you directly to PayPal.

There isn't a shipping charge when you purchase direct from this site!

Bracelets are coming soon!

New pieces will be added daily, so please drop by often.

Pink Saturday - October 23

If you know someone who has breast cancer, please leave me a comment with their name (first name will do). On Pink Saturday October 30th, I will do a blog-roll of all the names so we can do a prayer circle. Strength in numbers, women helping women.







Thank you Beverly from How Sweet the Sound for hosting Pink Saturdays.

Thanks for visiting.

Pink Saturday - October 16

As you know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.

I don't like to be a nag but.....





If you know someone who is battling this awful disease, please leave me a comment with their name (first name will do). On Pink Saturday October 30th, I will do a blog-roll of all the names so we can do a prayer circle. Strength in numbers, women helping women.



Outsmart Breast Cancer
Nine steps that make a difference — from eating the right vegetables (not all are equal) to taking the correct supplements.

Here's the good news about breast cancer: No matter what age you are now, or what generation you belong to, it's not too early, or too late, to take steps to avoid the disease. And recent research has given you more ways — and more effective ones — to do just that.

1. Watch Out for Weight Creep

If you could still fit into your high school prom dress (with Spanx, if necessary), you're in good shape in more ways than one. Women who have gained between 21 and 30 pounds since age 18 have a 40 percent increased risk of breast cancer compared with those who have put on five or fewer pounds, an American Cancer Society (ACS) study found for non-HRT users. Interestingly, this was true even if the low-gainers weren't at a perfect weight when they were young. That's because a rise in overall body fat is tied to an increase in circulating insulin and estrogen levels — both of which are linked to breast cancer risk. No way your prom dress would fit today? "Taking off just 5 to 10 percent of your body weight can make a difference," says the ACS's Colleen Doyle, M.S., R.D. If you weigh 160, that's only eight to 16 pounds.




2. Embrace Cauliflower

You wouldn't think that the benefits of fruits and veggies would be in question, but.... While experts agree that eating loads of produce is good for your overall health, when it comes to specific protection against breast cancer, evidence has been shakier. Recent research, however, does seem to show that adopting a pattern of eating that includes lots of fruits and vegetables is beneficial. When Colorado State University scientists took a second look at the famed Singapore study — the research that initially pointed to the pluses of an Asian-style diet — they found that even among Chinese women, those who ate a more "vegetable-fruit-soy" diet had a lower risk of breast cancer than women whose plates contained less of these. The vegetables that seemed to do the most good: the cabbage family — cabbage itself, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and kale.

3. Back Away from the Bar

No one's advocating a return to Prohibition, but the reality is that the more alcohol you consume, the greater your odds of getting breast cancer — possibly because it raises estrogen levels. "I tell my patients that doesn't mean you can't enjoy a glass of wine at a party, but you do need to consider that your risk increases with every drink you have," says cancer prevention and detection specialist Therese Bevers, M.D., of the MD Anderson Cancer Center. The consensus among health groups: Limit consumption to one drink or less per day.

4. Swallow a Super Supplement

In a Canadian study involving more than 6,000 women, those who reported taking a daily dose of vitamin D were 24 percent less likely to develop breast cancer. The science is not definitive, but evidence is growing that women with adequate vitamin D blood levels have a lower risk of breast cancer than those whose levels are below normal — a surprising number of us, it turns out. Doctors can now do a simple blood test to check D levels, which may be particularly important if you're a breast cancer survivor or are at high risk. Government guidelines call for 200 to 600 IUs of D daily (depending on age), but many experts advise 1,000 IUs or more — and are urging that the guideline be revised. If you're deficient, ask your doctor about supplements, suggests oncologist Marisa Weiss, M.D., founder of Breastcancer.org.

As for other supplements, the evidence isn't as clear. At a recent meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, Puerto Rican scientists presented study findings that linked daily multivitamin and calcium supplement intake to reduced odds of breast cancer. But this research hasn't been published yet, and other studies have had mixed results — some found a benefit, some didn't. It's therefore too early to say that you should be taking these.

5. Avoid Excess Hormones

Most women are aware that hormone therapy has been linked to a higher risk of breast cancer. But studies have also found that birth control pills raise your chances slightly, at least while you're actually on the Pill (the risk starts to go down when you stop taking it; after 10 years, it's the same as it would be if you'd never been on the Pill). Even low-dose versions may be problematic. "No one really knows the long-term impact of being on the low-dose Pill nonstop for decades," says Dr. Weiss. The best strategy: Talk to your doctor about whether the Pill is right for you, weighing its risks against its benefits (including a significantly lower chance of getting ovarian cancer).



6. Race for the Prevention...

Being physically active, it turns out, could be the single best thing you can do to protect your health. For a start, regular aerobic activity — 30 minutes a day, five days a week — helps control your weight. But it also acts directly on body chemistry to lower levels of circulating insulin and estrogen. Even if you haven't been active before, you can still reap the benefits. A new Canadian study found that formerly sedentary postmenopausal women who did three hours of aerobic exercise per week were able to lower their hormone levels significantly — thereby cutting their risk.

7. ...And Keep on Going

Surviving and thriving after diagnosis may also depend on stepping up the pace. In a review of six studies involving 12,000 breast cancer patients, researchers found that regular exercise could reduce disease recurrence by 24 percent, breast cancer deaths by 34 percent, and overall deaths by 41 percent.



8. Don't Dis (or miss) Mammos

When a government-sponsored task force announced last year that it didn't think there was enough evidence to subject women in their 40s to regular mammograms — and that women in their 50s could be screened every other year — women were understandably confused. Lost in the uproar, however, was the fact that this isn't a new debate; experts have been arguing about the best starting age for years. Also, these were just recommendations. So far, other groups, including the American Cancer Society, haven't changed their guidelines. And neither have most doctors, who continue to advise women to have a mammogram every one to two years in their 40s, then yearly starting at 50. "I think the task force overemphasized the downsides of screening women in their 40s — false positives that need to be further investigated — and didn't give enough weight to the potential benefit of finding cancer early," says Dr. Bevers. And in case you need convincing about the importance of keeping those mammogram appointments: A major 2009 study reported that three-quarters of breast cancer deaths occurred among women who did not undergo regular screening.

9. Assert Your Individuality

Public health guidelines focus on the population as a whole, but to protect your health, you need to get specific. You may need a stepped-up screening schedule if, for example, you've ever had a breast biopsy (even if benign). Likewise, if you are at increased risk due to family history, you may need more frequent exams or screening with MRI. Make sure, too, that your doctor knows your family history (father's as well as mother's). "One of the biggest advances in the past decade has been the ability to do a more personalized risk assessment," says Dr. Bevers. In a world where breast cancer prevention for high-risk women can include everything from taking antiestrogen drugs like tamoxifen to prophylactic mastectomy, "one size fits all" no longer makes sense.

Last fall, a group of researchers from California and Texas, writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, made the all-important point that discovering how to prevent greater numbers of cancers trumps any advances in treatment. Organized medicine, they wrote, should put more energy (and research money) into learning how to prevent the disease. Just as with treatment, we need to figure out how to personalize prevention. And since an occasional glass of wine doesn't seem to hurt, we could all toast to that.

Number of cases that could be prevented with diet, exercise, and weight control: 38%

Thank you Good Housekeeping Magazine. Read more here.


Thank you to Beverly of How Sweet the Sound for hosting our Pink Saturdays and encouraging all of us to fight the good fight!



Thank you for visiting.

Ads that make you talk about them!

Once in a while an advertisement comes along that gets all the girls at work talking.

Oh yeah, this one has us talking!

Handmade Sterling Silver Black Onyx Earrings-Brianna

Black Onyx cubes look like miniature dice handwrapped in sterling silver. The earwires are handmade from Argentium Sterling Silver.

Total length-slightly longer than 1½" (41mm)
Black Onyx dangle- 1" (25mm)

*Argentium Sterling Silver is sterling silver with less of the copper alloy. Copper is what makes sterling silver tarnish. Argentium is 92.5% pure silver with the balance a mix of germanium and copper. This makes Argentium silver harder, brighter and more highly tarnish resistant than traditional sterling silver.

All Gracie Jewellery is handmade in my smoke and pet free studio. Each piece is shipped in its own storage pouch. Please read my shipping information before ordering.

#E1014 $35.00
Free Shipping

Carpet One Pink Ribbon Welcome Mats

For all my Pink Saturday friends who asked where you can purchase Carpet One Pink Ribbon Welcome Mats in support of breast cancer research, click here for the store locator link.

Pink Saturday - October 9th

Every year the month of October brings all sorts of household items in Pink. We've all seen the pink toasters, waffle ovens, light bulb packaging....



Since 2004 Carpet One Floor and Home has been supporting breast cancer research and awareness.



Every October Carpet One introduces Welcome Mats with the Pink Ribbon Symbol.



They run a contest where every day people can send in a design. Several of the designs are chosen and made into Welcome Mats. All of Carpet One Floor & Home’s welcome mats are stain-and-water resistant and machine-washable.



25% of each welcome mat sale helps The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® (BCRF), and the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) find a cure for breast cancer.
The mats are available year round at Carpet One Floor & Home stores for approximately $24.99US/$34.99CDN.



To date, the sale of Carpet One's pink ribbon welcome mats have raised more than $800,000 in the U.S and Canada.



C'mon and be your own Breast friend. Make that appointment for your mammogram.

If you know someone who is learning about breast cancer in the up-close and personal way, please leave me a comment with their name. On Pink Saturday October 30th, I will do a blog-roll of all the names so we can do a prayer circle. Strength in numbers, women helping women.

Every week our Pink Saturday hostess Beverly of How Sweet the Sound brings us all together to share our Pink. Thank you Beverly.



Thanks for visiting. Happy Thanksgiving Canada!