New Woodland Necklaces + Charity Raffle

   Today's post for #30DaysWild is a little different. I did go out hunting for lady birds (I failed), but that's not what I want to talk about today.

   I said a little while ago that I had been working on a small project for my shop. Those of you who are familiar with it will know that there's not really been anything new added for...well, a very long time. I've been working on my art exhibit for the WWT centre in Slimbridge which starts on the 18th July (yikes!) for the past year and a half and I've been really spreading out the work so that I could make as much as possible without feeling stressed by it - I think I've managed quite well and am just about finished, and it's only now that the nerves have started to set in.

   Anyway, while I've spread the work to reduce the stress, it has taken my mind away from my shop. I've filled in orders right away, of course, but I was left with no time and, admittedly, little desire to make anything new for my shop while my exhibit was still in the works.

   And so, now I'm finished and ready to display, I made some new pieces for my shop.

   But I called it a project, didn't I? Well, it's not as simple as 'new products'. There's also some charity involved in the form of a raffle.

   Many of you already know that my mother suffers severely from multiple sclerosis. Unfortunately there's nothing that can be done beyond management of her symptoms, and even if a cure was discovered tomorrow it would be far too late for her. But while there are a great number of people out there that suffer from it, it's not a well-known disease and, as a result, not as much research is put into it as there could be.

   There's a charity that helped my mum to come to terms with it by offering help and support where they could, as well as working towards a cure. They even counselled me once, but I was about 10 and didn't really understand the disease, but, in hindsight, I really appreciate the effort they made to make sure that my sister (8 at the time), father and I were able to come to terms with it, too.

   The Multiple Sclerosis Society is a charity that is subsequently very close to my heart, and I've wanted to try to raise some money for them for a while but never knew how. All that ever came to mind was a sponsored marathon or something but as fit as I am, I'd never be able to do that. Swinging kettlebells and roundhouse kicks aren't the same as running. But I finally had an idea while working on the last of my exhibit pieces, one that had been under my nose all this time: my jewellery. But just selling my jewellery and giving a % to the charity was neither good enough 'nor grand enough in terms of drawing attention to the charity and the disease. So I decided to go further. And you can consider this a formal announcement.

   I have made 10 new animal jar necklaces, all woodland-themed, and 4-6 of each. 2-4 of each necklace will be listed individually as ordinary necklaces in my shop, but the remaining 2 of each animal jar have been brought together into 2 10-piece bundles. One will be for sale at £200 (£245 if purchased individually) and can be purchased as either a bundle of necklaces or as a set of miniature ornaments. But, most importantly, the second bundle is going to be the main prize for a raffle.

   Raffle tickets will cost £2.50 each and will be purchasable through both my Etsy shop and a paypal button on this blog, and are open to purchase world wide. One grand prize winner will receive the full 10-piece bundle including a badger, fox, owl and toadstool and will have the choice of keeping them as ornamental jars or as having sterling silver chains attached to them so that they become 10 necklaces, while two runner-ups will each receive a fox necklace on a sterling silver chain.

   The raffle will raise money for The Multiple Sclerosis Society and tickets will go on sale on Wednesday July 1st, which is when the other bundle and individual necklaces will be listed for sale in my Etsy shop. The raffle will end on the 31st of July, the winners picked at random and announced on August 3rd, and contacted either via Etsy or by the email address used in Paypal.

   There will be a blog post to announce when the tickets are available, as well as offering the Paypal purchase button so tickets can be purchased outside of Etsy if desired.

   So, if anyone is interested in purchasing raffle tickets, keep your eyes open, but if anyone would like to help spread the word of the raffle once it's live, please get in touch. I really want this to work out, so any help I can get will be amazing - and I'll return the favour if ever you host something you'd like to get far, too. Brownie promise. I was never a Brownie, I went to Rainbows, but I keep my promises all the same.