Giveaway: Wearable art from Alaska.

photo 1(1)My friend Linda B. has a sideline making beaded items, mostly jewelry. She doesn’t just string beads in straight rows, however.

Linda has been known to bead-weave around seashells, interesting rocks, copper plumbing parts and  aluminum flashing she picked up for a song at the Habitat ReStore.

She also likes to pound metal. Boy, does she. I was her roommate when I returned to Alaska, and sometimes I’d go to sleep hearing the tink-tink-tink of one of her hammers pressing shapes out of flat metal and then, sometimes, texturizing their surfaces.

It was like “The Shoemaker and the Elves,” if the shoemaker had made boots out of aluminum or copper.

Recently I helped her set up for a crafts show and decided to be the “lucky money,” i.e., the first sale of the day. Rather than get one of the bigger beaded pieces I opted for two lovely pairs of earrings, which I figured would have more mass appeal — and would also make good last-minute holiday gifts.

Thus I’m giving away two prizes this week.

The earrings in the photo above are a cobalt blue with gold embellishments. To me they look like a pair of planet Earths.

The other pair is kind of a sea-green but can also appear more turquoise, depending on the light. photo 2

Both have small beads top and bottom and silver wire that won’t turn your ear green or make you break out in a rash. That is, unless you’re allergic to silver and/or a werewolf.

If there’s a jewelry hound on your holiday list, consider your shopping for that person done. You also get bragging rights for having bought something completely unique (she never makes the same earrings twice) and for supporting a local economy vs. a big-box store.

Extra frugal points for winning the gift instead of paying for it. But you can’t win if you don’t enter, so:

If you do any (or all!) of these things, please leave separate, additional comments to get credit for each entry.

The deadline is 7 p.m. PST Tuesday, Dec. 17. If I don’t hear back from the winners by 7 p.m. PST Wednesday, Dec. 18, I’ll pull new names. The first one to respond gets his or her pick of the two. I’m using Priority Mail, so you should get the earrings before Dec. 24.

Note: Due to the high cost of international shipping, a winner who lives outside the United States will be given a choice of gift cards in lieu of the earrings.

Thanks to Alison Willis for the iPhone photography. Clearly, she rocks.

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120 thoughts on “Giveaway: Wearable art from Alaska.”

  1. Just beautiful! I love both pairs. Did I miss a link for online shopping or does Linda not sell online? I would love to win a pair anyway!

    Reply
    • At this point she doesn’t sell online, but only through local shops and at a few shows per year. If you were interested I could put you in touch with her.

      Reply
      • I’m interested in her contact information, definitely. I’m a bead earring hound.

        Which is not the same as a bead-earring werewolf, so I’m fine with silver. Thanks!

        Reply
  2. Like to support local economies. Last year after your post on the “smoke ring” I had my daughters purchase a hat for me. Lot’s of dithering about what article I would want. It’s a keeper, I love to tell people what it is made of Muskox wool and the women who create them.

    I am also a fan on FB.

    Reply
  3. My DD1 would LOVE either of these and either would accentuate her hazel eyes.

    Does your friend have a web site (in case I do not win)?

    Reply
  4. Would love to win either of these for DD2 who is returning from a semester on the “left coast”…a bit battered…but wiser. Linda B. sounds like a cool gal and I’m betting/hoping she gets some biz from this mention…

    Reply

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