A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure to meet Peyton. Peyton is an 11 year old girl who loves baseball (wants to be the first female pitcher in the MLB), loves working with her hands, and is fighting Ewings Sarcoma. I met Peyton through Make a Wish Foundation of Minnesota whose mission is "to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy for children battling life threatening medical conditions". This year at the MAW Wish Ball they will have a live auction selling the works of local artists whose donated piece is helped designed or created by a Make A Wish child. Me and Peyton were paired together for our love of gemstones. For Peyton's wish she decided to go to Australia to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef and to mine for gemstones in Australia's rich opal mines and she leaves this week. How cool is that?! Peyton and her mother met me at my studio in NE Minneapolis where we talked shop, took some aggression out on metal, and of course looked at beautiful, sparkly things. Peyton was a natural at goldsmithing and even soldered her first piece! She liked hammering the metal best. Together we made a pair of my sterling silver "Bell" earrings with rhodolite garnet briolette gems. The earrings were donated to Make a Wish and will be auctioned off at the Wish Ball as Wish Art May 21st at the St. Paul RiverCenter to raise money for the foundation. It was such an amazing experience and so fun to share my passion with Peyton and watch her thrive.Here are some photos of our time together! For more information about Make a Wish Foundation or how you can get involved or to buy tickets to the Wish Ball go to their website.
