New Rosaries Available

Over the past few weeks, I've finally gotten the time to put a few more rosaries together. They're up for grabs. I have no designs on who should get what, so I leave that up to the family. Currently there are two full length rosaries, and a couple of bracelet rosaries.

*All photos in this blog post taken courtesy of Teena Marie.

The first is a full length rosary using metallic fresh water pearls with white pearls.

It's a little bit of a work in progress (one side is a little bit longer than the other) but I think it turned out well. As before, the pearls from grandmother's pearl necklace are the two white pearls on the center setpiece, close to the crucifix.

The second full length rosary uses blue pearls with white pearls , and two of grandmother's pearls hanging from the center setpiece.

I am personally quite taken with this one. It's understated and really quite charming. I think this rosary really kind of captures grandma.

The rosary bracelet below uses the same blue beads, with one of grandma's pearls in the middle.
The bracelet has a clockmaker's clasp in the middle so it's easy to take on and off. I'm still working on sizing the bracelets. Some might be bigger than others and might not fit your wrist. Keep that in mind when you select a style.

The second rosary bracelet uses one of the the gold flake glass beads as the centerpiece. The bracelet uses smokey amber colored glass beads.
I have also recently completed a third rosary bracelet (not pictured). I'll try and put that bracelet up at well.

They're up for grabs, so feel free to let me know which one you are interested in. First come first serve. If you like a certain one or style and it's already taken, I'll try and procur the beads for you and make you one like it.

About the Project

When I was home for my grandmother's funeral, I was able to go through her jewelry collection and I picked out some pieces she wore that I'm currently transforming into rosaries. The following pictures are of the two necklaces I have from her collection:



The first strand is a group of fun glass beads with gold flakes in them. The second is a strand of pearls. I'm actually a little bit anxious to hear any stories related to these. If you know anything about them or any anticdotes, I'd love to hear them.

I take one or two beads from one the strands and add it to the rosary.

The two pearl beads at the centerpiece are two from the strand pictured above. I used black beads for the 10 Hail Marys, pearls, for the Glory Bes and my grandmother's pearls at the center, (one as the Our Father and the other as the first glory be). I also plan on making rosary bracelets, which are a much simpler design (not pictured right now, sorry). The above rosary has already been shipped off to my Aunt Jan. If you like this design and would like one, let me know.

I plan on making a rosary necklace or bracelet for all of her living children and grandchildren. If you're family, all you have to do is inform me if you want one or not, if you want me to make a bracelet or a full necklace, which bead type you want me to incorporate into the design (a pearl or a glass bead) and if you want a specific color scheme. If you have some beads you want incorporated into the design, feel free to e-mail me and we'll talk details. If you want me to make a rosary for one of the great-grandchildren, let me know. I had not planned on making a rosary for the great-grandchildren, but if there are enough left overs, we can talk about it. Supplies are a little bit limited, so I need to know who wants one and who doesn't.

About the Blog

My name is Tylia Gardner. I've set up this blog to chronicle a project I'm starting that I've called The Mary Goedken Rosary Project. Mary Goedken was my grandmother. She was the most amazing woman I've ever met. Through the tough times she was always there, the strength in the family, the glue that held it together. In the good times, she was a light, an inspiration.

She passed away this February. It was a heartbreaking moment for all of the family. I wanted a way to eulogize her, to honor her memory. Words just haven't seemed like enough. I guess I wanted something tangible to hold onto.

My grandmother was a very religious woman. Her faith was very much a part of her identity. I think her faith was very much what gave her and our family the strength it needed to make it through the worst of times. She always had a rosary with her. Her rosary was as much a part of her identity as was her faith.

I was given the opportunity at her passing to collect some of her jewelry and beads she owned. I chose some select strands and decided that I was going to make rosaries for myself and any members of the family that want one. It's my way of honoring her and her memory.

I've set up this blog as a way notifying family members as to the project and also as a way of keeping track of requests and other ideas family members have.

How it works:

If you're family, and you want a rosary, e-mail or submit your request in the comments. If you're family and would like to participate/help/ be a part of it, e-mail me or let me know what you'd like to do. If you want to put up content on the blog, or have thought up some other way to honor her/our family, I'd love for you to help. Whatever you want to do, I'd love to hear suggestion or well, anything. Given that our family is so darned huge, it's hard to get together and connect with everyone. I'm hoping this blog and this project will be a unifying, bonding experience.

I'll be updating this blog periodically with my progress, other interesting blog posts, etc. So stay tuned.