My Favorite Strawberry Necklace - Giveaway!

The evening before our wedding, my husband surprised me with a diamond necklace as a wedding gift. I put it on immediately and practically did not take it off again for years. It was nice to have a piece of jewelry that matched everything I wore! I didn't have to worry about it clashing or being not very stylish. (A diamond necklace is timeless, right?) As far as jewelry goes, I still tend to prefer something small, that is a gentle accent, and that necklace worked beautifully for quite some time.

When my oldest daughter was about 6 months old, I met Leila Carras at Mom's Group at our church. She always wore beautiful and interesting jewelry and I soon discovered that she was a glass artist. As much as I appreciated and admired her beads, I knew myself to be boring in the jewelry department. Why bother purchasing beautiful beads if they would only decorate my jewelry box? What was the point of that?

Later that year, she gifted me my first bead made by her. As thankful as I was for the gift, I almost felt guilty. I knew myself and my consistently mundane jewelry wearing tendencies. I felt a little overwhelmed. What am I going to do with this beautiful bead?!?

When my second daughter was born, I found it difficult to avoid losing my diamond from my necklace. You see, she loved to grab my necklace and yank. After frantically searching for the diamond several times and then replacing the broken chain, I gave up. Placing my sentimentally valuable diamond in my jewelry box, I decided I would wear it only for special occasions.

A new problem arose: I was used to wearing a necklace. It felt weird to not wear one at all. Thankfully, I had this great friend who made these amazing beads. I began to wear her beads on black cord. (The black cord was not as attractive as a gold or silver chain, but it held up much better to my yanking daughter.)

This picture does not do these beads justice!

I started my bead collection and the rest, I would say, is now history. I have now been collecting Leila's beads for about 4 years. Each piece I have is precious to me in its own way. You see, each bead is handmade and unique. Even though some are similar, none are exactly the same.

Currently, my favorite bead to wear is this little tiny strawberry. (Could it be because I receive so many compliments while wearing it? No. It couldn't have anything to do with that. I am certainly not that vain.) I love how small it is. As I said before, while some people prefer large, bulky jewelry, I feel much more comfortable wearing something small. So this is what I am giving away!

The giveaway:

The lucky winner of this giveaway will receive a Little Tiny Strawberry Necklace, which includes the locally handmade small strawberry bead on a 16" sterling silver chain.

To enter the giveaway:

1. Follow/subscribe to this blog. (Why follow? Here is a great article about why.)

AND

2. Leave a comment below sharing which of her beads is your favorite (check out her etsy page or facebook if you don't already have a favorite) or what you would like to see her make.

One extra entry in the giveaway for each of the following:

1. Share about this giveaway on your facebook. (Um, if we aren't friends on facebook, you will probably need to leave me a comment letting me know that you did this.)

2. Share about this giveaway on your blog. (Again, letting me know certainly would not hurt.)

3. Enter the giveaway on Adventures Of Raising A Baby In The City by going here. (Giveaway was extended until the end of this week.)

Enter this giveaway until Friday, March 25, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. The winner will be randomly selected and then announced on Monday, March 28, 2011!