Merry Christmas!

 Christmas has begun! I had a wonderful time celebrating with family. And I'm pleased to announce that the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway Extravaganza starts right now!

Each of the next 12 days will feature a giveaway from various artists, artisans, and crafters. There are some truly lovely shops giving away some stunning items. I really wish that all of you could win! :)

Scroll down for the first giveaways!

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Some notes about the giveaways (sorry for the wordiness but it is important):

All the giveaways will close on Jan 10th and the winners will be announced the next day.

If you haven't participated in giveaways before, here's a sample entry to show you how it works:

"My favorite item from Shealynn's Faerie Shoppe is the sapphire Evenstar necklace! I already follow Shealynn on facebook and blogger. I tweeted about this giveaway (link). Total entries: 5.
-RandomPerson123, contact: randomperson123@sampleemail.com"

Note that you only need to leave one comment per giveaway.

If you are uncomfortable doing so, you do not have to leave your email in your entry comments. However, this means that you are responsible for checking the blog on Jan 11th to see if you won. If I do not hear back from the winners by Jan 16th, new ones will be chosen!

Some people have been having difficulties leaving comments on Blogger. This is usually due to a problem with cookies. Blogger requires cookies (small bits of information) to be left on your computer in order for you to leave a comment, and some browsers block these cookies. A temporary fix for Blogger users experiencing this problem is to log out and log back in-- but be sure that the "stay logged in" button is unchecked. If you have difficulties leaving comments, please email me at shealynnsfaerieshoppe@gmail.com and I will be happy to help you!

I will not be on the computer a great deal during the 12 days of Christmas-- just enough for email and Shoppe orders. During this time I will temporarily set all comments to "automatic" and won't see and moderate each one before it is published. If you need to contact me for anything immediate, please email rather than leave a comment.

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In the Lord of the Rings (my favorite story every), Aragorn and the elf Arwen Undomiel fell in love. Arwen chose to forsake her elven immortality in order to become Aragorn's wife and queen.

I love this scene from The Fellowship of the Ring, where Frodo first sees Arwen. He had just arrived at Rivendell and was full of awe at the elves, yet Arwen made him wonder even more.

     In the middle of the table, against the woven cloths upon the wall, there was a chair under a canopy, and there sat a lady fair to look upon, and so like was she in form of womanhood to Elrond that Frodo guessed that she was one of his close kindred. Young she was and yet not so. The braids of her dark hair were touched by no frost, her white arms and clear face were flawless and smooth, and the light of stars was in her bright eyes, grey as a cloudless night; yet queenly she looked, and thought and knowledge were in her glance, as of one who has known many things that the years bring. Above her brow her head was covered with a cap of silver lace netted with small gems, glittering white; but her soft grey raiment had no ornament save a girdle of leaves wrought in silver.

     So it was that Frodo saw her whom few mortals had yet seen; Arwen, daughter of Elrond, in whom it was said that the likeness of Lúthien had come on earth again; and she was called Undómiel, for she was the Evenstar of her people.

Near Elrond sat the Lady Arwen. To his surprise Frodo saw that Aragorn stood beside her; his dark cloak was thrown back, and he seemed to be clad in elven-mail, and a star shone on his breast.

Arwen was the Evenstar, or Evening Star, of her people. (She was compared to Beren and Luthien, another mortal/elf couple whose story J.R.R. Tolkien set to a beautiful poem.) Her role in The Lord of the Rings was quite small, and her story was briefly told in the Appendices.

In the LotR movies, however, Arwen was given a much larger role. One of the movie additions was Arwen's gift of a necklace to Aragorn. This Evenstar necklace symbolized that she was giving him her love and choosing the mortal path.

Evenstar movie prop replica image from the Noble Collection

As I started making jewelry, I knew I had to do an elven-style necklace. I'm absolutely in love with the elven aethetic. But Arwen's perfectly metalsmithed necklace is far beyond both my tools and my current abilities....



My unique Evenstar design is inspired by Arwen's ethereal jewel. Each one is handcrafted from Czech glass, pearls, and intricately wrapped wire.

I've paired the necklaces with my second-most-popular design: the Enchanted Forest Earrings.

You can see lots of variations on these designs over at my photo gallery.

One of YOU lucky readers will win an entire Evenstar Jewelry Set, in your choice of colors!

I'm only giving away colors that I have in stock, but I feel that there are plenty of choices...
You also get the choice of silver plate, gold plate, or clip-on earwires! The necklace will come on a 16" chain.




So perhaps I will call it the Seaside Evenstar Set. Because as all Tolkienites know, the Elves have a special longing for the sea.
But for those not so interested in Tolkien but just interested in pretty fairytale jewelry... I'll call it the Mermaid Evenstar. :)

WAYS TO ENTER

Visit my Faerie Shoppe and leave a comment here telling me what your favorite item is! Mandatory. 1 entry.

Follow Shealynn's Faerie Shoppe on blogger, facebook, or twitter. 2 entries each.

Or on Pinterest, or DeviantArt. 1 entry each.

 Blog, tweet, facebook, email, etc. about this giveaway. 1 entry each.

HOW TO ENTER

Leave a comment on this post describing the way(s) you entered and the number of entries you have made.

FINE PRINT

The winner will be announced on January 11th. Winners will be announced on this blog, and those who have provided email or other contact means will be contacted. If the winner is not heard from within 48 hours a new one will be chosen.

The winning entry will be chosen via Random.org

Giveaways are only available in the US (so sorry to the rest of the world, but the sponsors have to pay out of pocket for shipping!)

If you are under 18, you must have a parent's permission to enter.