Thursday, December 29, 2011

Jewelry Around the World #2

Hello, it's that time again for another Jewelry Around the World.  This is a two fold story, so pay close attention!  You may have seen some beautiful rolled paper colored bead necklaces sold at boutiques or places like 10,000 villages.  If you don't recall seeing any, you may recognize them but not have realized they are made from paper!

When I was in N. Ireland this year, a couple came and spoke to our group.  They were presenting a bit of what their non profit organization does in Uganda.  They are called Threads of Blessing, and employ women who then make crafts to sell and help support their families.  "Threads" is in their title since the women initially started by making beautiful embroidered tapestries of depicting village life, with inspirations of what they see and do daily.  They then expanded to learning the paper bead technique. This couple brought a bunch of the necklaces with them, and I of course, had to purchase one!  


To think that these necklaces are created from the materials that they have makes me think we are all similar in how we create.  (Hint: here's the second fold of the story I mentioned was two-fold) When I was overseas, I brought a small jewelry making kit with me including my tools and some basics, but when it came time to create, I really had to get creative!  I ended up making some paper bead necklaces myself.  A very special note to this is that I became very good friends with a Ugandan girl who helped me make the beads.  If I am not near beads, I will make them!  I was familiar with the process, because as it turns out, my very first jewelry making kit was rolling paper beads.  Here's the finished product:


My wonderful grandparents thought well when buying my Christmas gift this year, and also bought me some paper beads!  They are some of the most beautiful colors I've seen in these beads so far. They come from Kenya.  The beads came in kit, so I get to be creative again, joy!, and put them together myself in a necklace.  Maybe I'll post a picture of that when it's finished.  You all deserve it.

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