I started this year with a very big project: hand-making 800 necklaces!
But their purpose is even bigger.
Over the coming year, these necklaces will be sent to women across Ohio who experience a stillbirth.
From designing the necklace way back in 2019, to making thousands by hand since 2020, being a part of this project has been one of my greatest honors as a jewelry artist.
Here's the full story:
Back in 2018, I was approached at a local arts festival by two women who were getting ready to propose a statewide research project called SOARS or the Study of Associated Risks of Stillbirths. The study gathers information about what is happening around stillbirths, in hopes of finding patterns and ways to reduce them. The women asked if I would be interested in creating a gift to send along with the study, something that acknowledged the loss and thanked women for their participation.
I firmly believe that jewelry can carry deep meaning. It’s something we use to honor milestones and celebrate special occasions. Symbolism we wear and carry with us throughout our days.
So, of course I was thrilled to work on such an impactful project!
Over the next year, while they continued getting their proposal in order, we worked through a few design options. Ultimately landing on …
The Connection Charm
It’s made of two interlocking circles, one large and one small, each hammered with a texture as individual as a fingerprint.
- - It is designed to honor and celebrate the unique and endless connection the women that receive them share with the baby they’ve lost. - -
The SOARS study officially started here in Ohio in 2020. And I have had the true honor of making these necklaces along the way.
To date, I have made a total of 4,465 necklaces!
The necklaces start as a big bundle of wire. I coil it and cut it into small and large rings. I solder each small ring closed and hammer it. Then each small ring is paired with a large and those also get soldered closed and hammered. I work through them in large groups of 75 at a time. Finally, I polish them, hang them on their chains, and bag them up so they are ready to be handed off to the research team.
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Fun Fact: To achieve the hammer texture, I hammer each little ring at least 7 times and each large ring at least 21 times. 28 hammer strikes minimum per necklace. Well over 125,000 hammer strikes over the years!
The weight of where these necklaces are headed is not lost on me. It is bittersweet throughout the process. Feeling accomplished for making them, celebrating my progress along the way, but also knowing the loss they honor.
I’ve carried a hope with me throughout the years for these necklaces:
I hope they find their new homes gently.
I hope some of them may find each other
And that I might cross paths with some again.
And mostly, I hope they bring comfort.
When I dropped off this year’s batch in early March, the teammate I met with shared that they had just heard from “another mother about how meaningful the necklace was to her.” That feedback truly means the world to me.
I often say that my jewelry comes from my hands and my heart. And this project has been an incredible example of that. From the connections I’ve built with the team over the years, to the connections I feel with each woman who will receive one. I may never meet them, but I have held space for each of them in my heart, and have poured love into each of their necklaces. It’s truly been an honor of a lifetime.
If you’d like to visit The Connection Charm, you’ll find it here.
(And for more information about the SOARS Project, visit their page here.)
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