Beautiful beads that help others: Kazuri

This winter I have been making a lot of jewelry using beautiful hand made Kazuri beads. I love the story behind Kazuri beads and other people do too. It is a gift worth giving, because the gift gives back.

Kazuri Beads was created and began its long and successful journey as a help center for the needy women who had no other source of income. In 1988 Kazuri became a factory and expanded hugely with over 120 women and men. Here women are trained and apply their skills to produce these unique and beautiful beads and jewelry. The beads are made with clay from the Mt Kenya area thus giving them authenticity to their craft. Kazuri is a member of the Fair Trade Act.

My Kazuri bracelets feature sterling silver Bali beads and Swarovski crystals, and each one is unique. These can be ordered by emailing me at yjshea@comcast.net. Each bracelet is $65.00. I am also busy listing more Kazuri necklaces and bracelets on my Etsy site. I have sold some as teachers gifts, and people really love getting something with such a nice story.

My newest wire-wrapped cabochons. $65.00 each.

Wrapped Cabochons

Yesterday I took a class and learned how to make sterling wrapped cabochons. The pink one was my class project, and today I made the dichroic one. Super class, great teacher, and thanks to my fellow student for the lovely blue dichroic piece.