A ray of hope? Found in jewellery.

Have you heard of crystal healing? It is a form of alternative healing by balancing your aura with a quartz crystal or your birthstone. That is how my friend, Mee Yuen, creates her jewellery; with thoughts of replenishing, revitalizing and realigning the energy of the wearer by studying the individual chakras.

You think that is horcus porcus? Imagine that you are seeking a solution to matters that are beyond your control... The thought of being able to "take an action" could well be your source of consolation and the desired ray of hope that you have been yearning for.

How else can jewellery provides someone a ray of hope? Try incorporating Kazuri beads that are fired from clay and hand painted in bright colours of greens and greys, browns and ochres, reds, yellows and blues. Kazuri in Swahili means "small and beautiful". These are beads handmade by women from villages around Nairobi in Kenya. The women are mainly single mothers widowed or abandoned by their men and desperately in need of a livelihood by creating and selling these beads.

Making jewellery can also become a meaningful and exciting experience, especially if you are able to create your own glass beads. The Cunningham Foundation have sponsored trips for beadmaking instructors to Ethiopia to teach women and students how to make their own glass beads. They are then taught to use them to create limited edition, beautiful bracelets to support Project Mercy.

Request from HOPE Bracelet Project for beading supplies has inspired lampwork beadist, Kim Miles, to post a challenge. Bead makers can pledge to make 100 small bracelet beads for the HOPE Bracelet Project, and send them in before May 1st, 2008. More details about it can be read at The Kim Miles Challenge - 2008.

Now imagine that you are someone who have been overcomed by a health condition that you are aware of but you are not conscious enough to provide coherent information about the medical attention you need. Wearing a piece of Medical ID jewellery could well be the ray of hope you have for survival.

Handmade jewellery. What's right for you?

I am an optimist. I believe that things happen for a reason and no matter how bad an incident may look to me right now, one day I can look back and say, "I am glad that it happened to me".

So, what has that attitude got to do with my handmade "Swirl in Whirl" jewellery? I like to cut my wires into measurements of 3s, 6s, 9s, 8s, 13s, etc, that sound optimistic in my Asian culture. And, of course, the same applies to the configuration of my creation. Yes, life's a swirl and I am glad I can see lucky twirls in my whirl when I am wearing my Swirl in Whirl.

In that respect, I like adding elements, like principles of Feng Shui, that will bring luck to me or the wearer. If you think that is an old fashion concept, superstitious and silly, than, it is most likely that you have not heard about the research carried out by Dr Richard Wiseman about luck factors. Form his research, he has concluded that, "Lucky people, without even knowing it, think and behave in ways that create good fortune in their lives".

I like exploring other ways to create my jewellery. I also enjoy working with new material and I am happiest when I am able to make use of stuff that would otherwise be discarded.

If you are interested in creating your own handmade jewellery, it would be best that you study how others are making them and adopt a style that you appreciate. You definitely do not want to buy expensive beading tools to realise that it is not something that you would like to pursue after all.

I will be sharing with you ideas that I have come across in my search for new ideas and inspirations.