Finished my charms for ovarian cancer

Will be getting them off in the mail tomorrow. I've been concentrating on getting those done. Next I need to do some atc's for a swap in one of my yahoo groups. I have been working on my giveaway stuff, but don't have it all finished yet. Here is the main item I've been working on and it still lacks the final touches. It's a faux paper mache waxed pear. I collaged book text strips onto a plastic pear, then did washes of color with glazes, and the finished it off with a coating of beeswax and added the velvet leaf to the top. Plan to add a ribbon, button, and perhaps a tag. These colors will be the theme of the giveaway then. There will be paper, fibers, and other items of these colors, including a couple of oriental themed paper tags and other surprises.

For the charms, these are for the Ties That Bind doll that will be auctioned later on to benefit research into ovarian cancer. Please click on the banner on my side bar to go see the wonderful art that is being submitted for this great cause. I was committed to make only one charm, but ended up doing 2. Teal is the color that represents ovarian cancer, like pink is for breast cancer. That color brought the ocean to my mind, as it has others. I thought then of shells and searched through my collection for ones that had damage to represent cancer. My thoughts on that were that I would show flowers to symbolize growth and healing over the damage to the shell.

The one with charm "Live" on the bottom has parts of a passage from Isaiah 41:10 "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness". Not all of the passage is there only parts of it. The flowers are a vintage earring to which I added pearls for women and also for how the pearl is formed. They are wired in place over a broken hole in the shell. The word "live" to remind us all to really live, not to wait until cancer reminds us of the value of life. Also, for the hope for a full recovered life for those with cancer.

The winged charm has at it's centerpiece a tiny shell that had small holes. I painted teal-colored flower petals around the holes and then inserted rhinestones which mean to be indicative of diamonds that are made in the earth under extreme pressure. These, as stated before are for growth and healing as are the butterfly wings. This charm started out with a wooden heart to which was glued some marbled green paper. I embossed with clear embossing powder so that it looks like drops of water. Sorry, I'm not really good at taking pictures. They look better in person than in the photos.