At First Sight Braille Jewelry

I honestly thought I was going to end up with all of those hearts hanging from my Christmas tree the next December, but with help from Anita, my writer friend from Starbuck’s, an article about my jewelry in Family Circle, and newspapers here and there, as well as selling them from the back seat of my car, and I actually had a business. (Again, the Internet and social media sure would’ve been handy, then!)

It was on that trip to Shanghai that I also hatched the idea for the alphabet bracelet, when I spied a diamond-shaped bead - a little larger than a braille cell - lying on a table where people were stringing jewelry. It was plain, but had an edge of granulation as a frame. Naturally, I imagined braille on it, so when I got back home, I worked with my husband (who specifically teaches typography) and together, we came up with our own bead design (rather than using what I’d seen in the factory, or “borrowing” someone else’s design) and sent the plans for the bracelet to a new company, based here in the States.

As our sons grew, so did my little braille jewelry business that a lot of people thought I was crazy for pursuing. Our older son was learning more and more braille, as were my husband and I, and so many people loved the idea of a wearable, fashionable braille cheat-sheet!

Nearly 18 years later, our older son is about to graduate from the same university where my husband teaches and head to grad-school. And hopefully, thousands of people who wanted to learn braille have been able to do so more easily and with more fun, because of my little biz ...

Lots of other people now make braille jewelry, so like it or not, I’m a sort of mum to all of them. The ideas, though, and the little boy who inspired me will always be mine.

Thanks for stopping by!