Last year Pamper Me Senseless hosted nearly 700 women!

After my recent rant about the giant, cancer,I decided ranting just wasn’t enough. I’ve decided to take some action to help the Cancer Society of Waterloo Region and be a vendor at the Pamper Me Senseless Gala a popular annual fundraiser in it’s 5th year held at Bingemans.  I don’t do many shows, this cause is important and it sounds like a lot of fun too.  As the name implies, it will be a day of fun, relaxation and a celebration of everything feminine, as friends make memories together over shopping, lunch, a fashion show and the antics of a witty and wise keynote speaker. With a silent and live auction to outbid your neighbour on and gift bags stocked by local businesses and well known cosmetic companies for all in attendance (valued at $100) and firefighters to help with the affair it’s sure to be a fabulous day and for a fabulous cause, research for women’s cancers.

Sunday November 13th 2011

Doors Open 9:30 till 4:00

Bingemans Conference Center, Kitchener

Tickets $75, includes full day and lunch

Call now for tickets:

Phone: (519) 886-8888

  or email Wendy Thaler  wen1955@hotmail.com

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While most of us are just settling into this Fall weather, our merriest of seasons is just around the corner! To help get you ready Sway Silver and Hula Hoop Children’s Photography have teamed up to create a package of precious keepsakes any Mother, Grandmother or Dad would love!

• Sterling Silver necklace with photo pendant
• Sterling Silver bracelet with photo pendant
• Silver plated Photo Key Ring

Our early bird booking special ends October 31st. Catch all the details and book at the Hula Hoop Photography web site.

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Fine Silver Fingerprint Pebble

There is likely not a single person in North America that can claim not to have felt the effects of cancer. It is sad but true. In the past 18 months alone 6 people I have known have died of cancer around the age of 40. Several others I know of the same age are fighting against this gripping disease. I AM THE SAME AGE. It is more than concerning and as a Mom of young boys it is really scary. Others still, some younger and some older than I, are receiving treatments hopeful for recovery or living out their last days – saying their goodbyes to spouses, children, parents and friends.

The art that I make is personal. Each piece of jewellery is crafted with a memory in mind and when I started to transfer my love of making jewellery into personalized pieces using fingerprints, I had no idea what impact it would have on people.  I have a hand in celebrating the lives of people; mostly the lives of children and the sentiments of Mothers.  I capture young fingerprints full of playful vigor, hope, and innocence and potential. Some just barely show the whorls of their unique print some so new that they show up as merely a precious tiny dimple in the silver. I capture the adult fingerprints of those fresh in love and promising their commitment. Others impressions are of friends that will be moving a distance and want a part to feel close always. In the range of reasons to capture a memory in silver, I did not expect that I would also be asked to celebrate young lives that are ending. I did not expect that I’d be making silver pieces that are providing comfort to people in their last days with the fingerprints of the ones they love so they can take it with them to eternity. It is an honour to fill these requests and it breaks my heart every time this kind of request comes. It often brings me to tears.

While there are lots of jewellery forms to place a fingerprint on, a pendant or charm for example, I have been asked more often lately if I can put fingerprints on a stone shape. I wondered, “why a stone?” I researched it and found that the action of rubbing a stone is naturally calming and in some traditions it is used in healing and relaxation. The silver stones that I have made are the size and smooth shape of beach pebbles the kind just right for skipping on the surface of water. Just like the ones that I frequently find in my boys’ pockets on wash day. (Or in the bottom of the dryer if I miss them.)  A timeless nature hewn shape, made to fit comfortably in the palm of one’s hand. It is a special token someone can rub their fingers over to feel the unique impressions of the ones that love him while he or she is in treatment.  It can be turned over to read the cherished names in a moment of reflection. A stone is a form that is warming comfort, and fits in a pocket.  A stone is a token that can go discretely with him.

*******

While I like the idea of comfort and calm and peace, the anger that I have at the loss of so many of my young classmates due to cancer makes me think of another use for a stone that I’ve read about – a weapon.  Every person that I know that is faced with cancer is putting up a tenacious fight. The medical teams, families and friends involved are rallying to support each one in their care. They fight for their lives and they fight for a cure. These days we think of other much more modern weaponry as means of destruction,  however, if you read 1 Samuel 17:40 it was not a gun or bomb that young David used to strike down Goliath in the Old Testament Bible account.  It was a smooth stone from a brook that David had put in his shepherd’s bag ready to use with his slingshot. While faced with fear and uncertainty and feeling small and helpless in the face of what seems like a giant disease, I pray, that these silver stones  I make not only provide comfort and peace to each person who holds one, but also gives courage, strength and FIGHT!!!!! After all, it was a simple stone that took down the giant.

Fine Silver Fingerprint Pebble

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