A Jewelry Story: Lose Weight, Save Money, and Travel to Spain

by Helene Turnbull
(Toronto ON Canada)

Let me set the stage:

I make artisan jewellery. And my sister wants to take a trip to Spain but can't afford it. And both of us want to lose weight.

Because I make artisan jewellery Marg thought that a special bracelet, worn while shopping and on our mall crawls, would remind her of her goal ~ that trip to Spain.

I thought I'd try something new to me: memory wire. And I decided to make a cuff bracelet: with memory wire. The beads are wooden beads wrapped with embroidery floss and spiral wire beads and some glass beads, too.

I struggled and pulled and added beads to so many bracelet shapes. My hands hurt because memory wire definitely has a mind of its own.

I finally gave up and threw the bracelet with disgust onto my workbench.

A couple of days later I saw it sitting there and liked what I saw. And that became Marg's Spanish Bracelet.

The bracelet makes a statement; it's large enough that Marg can't ignore it. This artisan's bracelet is a constant reminder to Marg when the urge to spend money raises its head.

When we do our grocery shopping those extras don't jump into the basket. The Bracelet is doing its job. And we are losing weight. When there is money left over after the shop we put it into our craft show fund and we don't go over budget there.

And that money she has saved goes into her Spanish Trip bank account.

Artisan Jewellery: it helps you lose weight and save the money needed to travel to Spain.