I'm excited to announce my 5th giveaway! This one has been made possible by the wonderful Julie MacPhee, a jewelry designer extraordinaire who owns Kate Ella Jewelry Designs on Etsy.com. I found Julie's shop last year while I was searching for a birthday present for John's mom, Margaret. I ended up buying a beautiful necklace with three silver leaves that represented her three children. Each of the leaves were imprinted with three different letters: "J" (for John), "S" (for Sara) and "L" for Laura. From then on, I was hooked on her amazing jewelry.
Julie writes, "I decided to start selling jewelry online a couple of years ago. After I had my third little one, I decided to not go back to the IT world and be a stay at home mom. I wanted to do something on the side to bring in a little extra money. It had to be creative and - most importantly - something I loved. Designing jewelry filled that criteria. I especially love making personalized jewelry because it is inspired by the most important people in someone's life. Hearing that someone connects to and loves their necklace is a great feeling!"For this giveaway, Julie has custom-designed this gorgeous "Hope" necklace (pictured below) for one lucky winner! The lowercase "t" that is printed on the disc can be replaced with a letter of your choice. Julie and I agreed that this piece was perfect for anyone who could use a drop of hope. When pain and illness threaten to knock me down, I try everything to remain hopeful and recognize the beauty in life. Let this necklace be a reminder that, however hard it might be, we must hold onto hope with both hands.
You can enter this giveaway a total of 2 times:
For entry #1:
Head on over to Facebook.com and "like" Ella Kate Jewelry Designs. Be sure to comment on this post to let me know you did this.
If you don't have Facebook, check out Julie's shop and let me know what your favorite item is! Be sure to mention it in a comment on this post.
Head on over to Facebook.com and "like" Ella Kate Jewelry Designs. Be sure to comment on this post to let me know you did this.
If you don't have Facebook, check out Julie's shop and let me know what your favorite item is! Be sure to mention it in a comment on this post.
For entry #2:
Please write a few sentences about the importance of hope in your life (or in the life of someone you care about). Then leave it as a comment on this post.
Please write a few sentences about the importance of hope in your life (or in the life of someone you care about). Then leave it as a comment on this post.
This giveaway will be up and running for 2 weeks. You can enter until 11:59pm on June 23rd and the winner will be randomly selected and announced the following day. Good luck!
Love,
Maya
Posts
(1) LIKE! thinking of ordering the one withe the child's, mom's, and dad's birthstones for my sister-in-law that just adopted! great ideas!
ReplyDelete(2) My P.T. told me this morning to accept that my cervical spine is going to fuse. I refuse to accept that! I have HOPE and he can't take that away from me! "If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or Fight Like Hell.” Lance Armstrong
You've gotta have hope. Without hope life is meaningless. Without hope life is meaning less and less. ~Author Unknown
ReplyDeleteAs you know, my sons have Friedreich's Ataxia (FA) like John's sisters. While it is a "curse" it is also a blessing in that Mary & I have met some truly incredible, inspirational people. They are all now part of my FAmily. My HOPE is that some day soon, all of my FAmily will be cured of Friedreich's Ataxia. My HOPE is that everyone living with chronic illness is blessed with relief and a cure.
Hope is knowing that people, like kites, are made to be lifted up.
-- Author Unknown
I don't just *like* this on facebook...I LOVE her work!!
ReplyDelete--Janine
Well, as you know I have one of Julie's necklaces thanks to you and it is one of my favorites. I get so many comments on it and I don't think I have another necklace that has gotten so many unsolicited comments. I am writing about hope for Sara because this is her word. She has the word hope all over her room and even a tattoo (in some Japanese or Chinese symbol). She lives by this word and it provides her with sustenance in living each day. So, I enter this for her and hope that she is selected!
ReplyDeletePosting this entry for Cathy because she's unable to...
ReplyDeleteMaya, I have "liked" her on Facebook. I LOVE this jewelry. I bought a very similar necklace elsewhere for Sophia as a gift for entering womanhood. :) Now that I know about Julie's shop, I will be sure to make it my "go to" shop for jewelry. I didn't see anything I didn't like.
Hope: My first thought was turned to having hope that chronic disease won't become the focus of my life as it can easily do. I thought of the panic I experienced yesterday that the remission I am in now may be short lived and how I desperately "hope" that isn't the case. But then I thought about how wonderful it would be to have a reminder around my neck each day for "hope" that my children are safe as they venture out into life without me. I thought about the "hope" I feel that my husband will feel success at work each day and make it home safely on bicycle each day. I thought about the "hope" I feel for my older sister whose husband was laid off of two jobs since December and lives in an area with high unemployment. There are many things that a little charm could help remind me of during the day. Thanks for sharing this beautiful gift with us.
I liked them on there Facebook page, but LOVE their sweet designs! :)
ReplyDeleteI sure could use some hope right now. I just had 21 X-rays taken of my entire body thanks to my ankylosing spondylitis. Hope is like sunshine. It warms you up and leaves a pleasant glow.
First of all, I love this blog. My first time reading and I can really relate. I have spent an hour reading your past posts so far!!
ReplyDelete(1) I 'Liked' the page on facebook! I think I am in love with all of the necklaces, but I still think my favorite is the 'hope' necklace because I also live with a type of juvenile arthritis since I was 14. Coming in second would be the 'Personalized starfish initial necklace with swiss blue quartz and pearl', because I love love love the beach! There is just something about it that refreshes and renews!
(2) Hope to me means that life may not be easy today, but each day is new and full of God's mercies. Hope means that I KNOW whatever I may face, I WILL have the strength to get through it.... Not on my own, but through my faith, through my family, and through my friends.
"we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, HOPE. And HOPE does NOT disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:3-5
~April
I liked Ella Kate on facebook! She does incredible work.
ReplyDeleteHope is the only thing that keeps me putting one foot in front of the other. With chronic illness, the future is so unclear and the present is often disappointing. Like the anonymous quote says, "when the world says, 'give up,' hope whispers 'one more time!'"
ReplyDeleteI do and did "like" the Ella Kate jewelry!
ReplyDeleteI was reading in 1 Peter the other day with my Bible study group. The section we were reading was entitled "Praise to God for a Living Hope."
ReplyDeleteIt begins,
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."
Below this passage in the footnotes it talks more about hope saying,
"(This letter)...may be called a letter of hope in the midst of suffering. In the Bible, hope is not wishful thinking but a firm conviction, much like faith that is directed toward the future."
This explanation is so powerful for me...hope = "faith that is directed toward the future." Wow! Just wanted to share this with all those who are searching for hope :0)
I liked Kate Ella on Facebook. And I checked out her awesome Etsy store....now,onto HOPE. Well it is kind of a big deal for me, because it is what keeps me going. You see, when you hurt a lot, without hope you get lost. Our minds and souls are so amazing though, because my body could be in the worst condition possible without death knocking on the door, but our minds turn our thoughts to the future, the possiblities of laughter and smiles. Hope blinds the pain like the sun on a summer day...it overcomes the hurt, and it makes things manageable, and sometimes it makes things flat out good. So I may be hurting, but I am hopeful.
ReplyDeleteHi Maya,
ReplyDeleteThanks for hostessing this awesome contest. My entries:
(1) I liked the page on Facebook. When looking through her site, I loved so many of the items! I especially liked the ones with a swallow or other birds, and the lotus ones.
(2) Hope. It has been the word that has led my entire life, without it I would be dead right now. That sounds strong I am sure, but it is honest. In the past year and a half alone, I have been diagnosed with severe RA and Fibromyalgia, lost my career, friends, and life as I knew it. Then last month my husband, the love of my life, gave me the biggest surprise yet, he announced he wanted a divorce and planned to attempt to get custody of my beautiful daughter, my sole reason for being. So I now exist entirely on hope. There is nothing else, right now. But I hold onto hope, that maybe someday there will be more than this empty existence. So yes, hope must be strong, for when it's strong enough, it will keep you alive.
Love and Light,
Melissa
Who won the necklace?!? I haven't seen anything, but I have missed it... thanks
ReplyDeleteApril