Reading Eagle Newspaper, Business Section, Page D8, January 9, 2006

PEACEMAKER
Artist promotes goodwill through designs and charity
Lancaster County’s Holly B. Gage, owner of When Peace Talks Jewelry, incorporates harmony into her work and donates a percentage of her sales to nonprofits.
By Michelle E. Arevalo Reading Eagle correspondent

From ancient amulets and religious medallions to birthstones and mood rings, jewelry often has had a special meaning. Artist Holly B. Gage, owner of When Peace Talks Jewelry, Bowmansville, Lancaster County, understands this connection.
Her work promotes peace through her designs and charitable donations.
“There’s a spiritual element to making things and a connection made when someone wears something handmade,” Gage said. “My work is more than just a pretty piece of jewelry. It has meaning behind it.”

When Peace Talks has a mission that is about more than a product. Gage donates a percentage of her sales to the international Adopt-A-Minefield program, which was founded in 1999 and works to clear the globe of land mines.
“The organization also helps mine victims get prosthetic limbs, and restores areas by building roads and schools,” Gage said. “I’m thrilled to be involved and at actually being able to help.”

Gage also works with other charities to help them raise money for peaceful causes.
“There are three ways I work with nonprofits to help them out: a fundraising event where I sell my work in a space they’ve set aside for me, and they get 20 percent of sales; I can give them space on my Web site, so sales from that [portion of the] site earn them 10 percent of sales; or a 50-50 arrangement in which they buy the pieces from me outright and keep all the sales,” she said.

Gage said her desire to have her work contribute to making positive changes started a few years ago when she and her husband, Chris, were publishing Parents’ Source, a monthly regional parenting magazine they founded in 1994.
“I had written a series of articles on peace-related issues — such as nonbullying, anger management and domestic violence — and I realized those ideas only could be taken so far under the theme of parenting,” she said. “At the same time, I was growing and my children were getting older, so I wanted to get back to my artistic roots, and saw a need to help develop more peace.”

The Gages sold the magazine last year. Holly, who has been creating jewelry for more than 20 years and teaching jewelry making since 2004, began When Peace Talks out of her home, two miles over the Berks-Lancaster county line.
“Through the magazine, I had worked with many local [non-profit] agencies and knew they had little staff, resources or money, and I wanted to help,” she said. “I researched the symbols extensively and wanted to include those only with no negative connotations or political associations. So I felt I couldn’t include the popular ’60s peace symbol, because it will always be associated with those times.”

Instead she chose a triad of dots inside a ring that symbolizes peace: the past, present and future encircled by eternity. “It also represents the preservation and respect of art, science and religion within different races and cultures,” Gage said.

Gage creates other types of jewelry as well, but has made When Peace Talks separate from her other business, Gage Designs, to preserve its socially conscious mission.
“I feel that peace starts with the self, then moves to the family, the community and then the world,” Gage said. “It’s a way of passing it on to the next generation.”

When Peace Talks Jewelry
Address: P.O. Box 614, Bowmansville
Phone: 717-445-5755
Hours: By appointment
Information: Necklaces, bracelets and earrings designed by jewelry artist Holly Gage, featuring seven different symbols of peace. The medallion, which is available in sterling silver or pewter. Gage donates a percentage of [web sales that are purchased from the "Fundraising Opportunities" portion of her site] to the international Adopt-A-Minefield program, which clears land mines and aids mine victims.
Where to find: In addition to jewelry shows and home parties, When Peace Talks Jewelry is sold at retail stores, including Earth Rhythms in West Reading, Sisters’ Gallery in Adamstown and the Lancaster Museum of Art.
Prices: From $25 to $99.
Web site: www.WhenPeace Talks.com

Contact correspondent Michelle E. Arevalo at 610-371-5049 or business@readingeagle.com.

16"necklace, 87 mm x 34 mm hand sculpted Fine Silver focal, (5) 4 mm white cubic zirconia, freshwater pearls, hand sculpted clasp
There is a marvelous symmetry and structure to pods and their natural design. They start as vibrant flowers and then the beautiful flowers die, which is sad. The pods dry and most people don't think twice about them, but within the pods are seeds and the potential for new life and a renewal. It's amazing how the life cycle works.

This year the esteemed judges were jewerlry artist and author Valerie Hector, glass and fiber artist Gail Crosman Moore, and designer and author Margie Deeb. We're so grateful for their time and expertise in selecting this year's winners. It was a challenging task to choose from among so many wonderful works of art, but clearly several pieces stood out as particularly outstanding in their craft, design and application of the materials. Congratulations to the winners on your achievement!

Focal Centerpieces:
Dakota Grasshopper
Butterfly Wings
Secret Places
Botanical Silver Components Collection:
Pod Charm
Domed Floral Bead Caps
Floral S-Link
Funky Spiral

I am very pleased to inform you The Peace Pendant from Gage Designs has been named a 2005 Narcissus Award Finalist by New Age Retailer magazine, the premier trade magazine serving the New Age and body/mind/spirit marketplace.

Press Releases

Socially Conscious Jewelry: Look Good,
Do Good, and Feel Good!
Help Adopt-A-Minefield® Clear Deadly Landmines with the Purchase of When Peace Talks© Jewelry

Whoever thought a jewelry purchase would have so much impact? With their announcement of a new partnership, When Peace Talks© Jewelry, and Adopt-A-Minefield® are empowering consumers to help clear war-torn areas of deadly landmines.

When you purchase any item from the special When Peace Talks© Jewelry/Adopt-A-Minefield® Store located at http://www.whenpeacetalks.com/fund/aam.html, Gage Designs, manufacturers of this unique jewelry line, will donate 10% of your jewelry purchase to support Adopt-A-Minefield®. What better partnership

than Gage Designs and Adopt-A-Minefield® to offer socially conscious purchasers the opportunity to do even greater good with a portion of the sale of each item going towards the clearance of minefields in countries around the world and assistance to survivors of landmine accidents.

Adopt-A-Minefield® is a campaign of the United Nations Association of the USA, which engages individuals, community groups, and businesses in the United Nations effort to resolve the global landmine crisis. The campaign helps save lives by raising funds for mine clearance and survivor assistance and by raising awareness about the landmine problem. Every dollar raised for mine action is forwarded to the United Nations and their partners in the field for mine clearance and survivor assistance. A school re-opens, a crop is harvested, a family returns home – all because a minefield was cleared.

When Peace Talks© Jewelry was developed as a personal expression of hope and peace for all people around the world. “We discovered that those with whom we have shared this symbol were uplifted and further motivated by its deep meaning and now people have the ability to make a profound statement, not only when they wear their When Peace Talks© Jewelry, but also in the mere act of buying When Peace Talks© Jewelry. We see the immediacy of spreading the ideals of peace and love, and using our jewelry to support peaceful efforts like those of Adopt-A-Minefield®. This is our way of spreading the positive message of peace in our homes, neighborhoods, schools, and around the world,” says owners Chris and Holly Gage.

If peace could talk, what would it sound like? Its voice would be rich with meaning, speaking a universal language that transcends the borders and boundaries of countries and nationalities, bringing together different faiths and races. When peace talks, it speaks of love, equality, the preservation of and respect for art, science, and religion within different cultures, and world unity passed on to future generations. This is the calming message Chris and Holly Gage would like to spread around the globe.
Each piece in the When Peace Talks© Jewelry line incorporates a concentric representation of peace and love symbols from around the world emblazoned on the front, and comes with an artist’s information statement that fully details the layers of symbolism. Available are Fine Pewter and Sterling Silver Pendants, Sterling Silver Earrings, and Sterling Silver Bracelets. To make a purchase and automatically donate a portion of the sale at no extra cost to you, go to the When Peace Talks© Jewelry/Adopt-A-Minefield store online at http://www.whenpeacetalks.com/fund/aam.html.

For more information contact, Holly Gage at Gage Designs, 717-445-5755, P. O. Box 614, Bowmansville, PA 17507e-mail: hgage1@ptd.net • http://www.WhenPeaceTalks.com