7000 Bracelets of Hope

Hope,

the feeling that what you want can be had,

that something you look forward to with great desire.

You place trust in it,

and it is connected to faith and love.

And when hope does spring eternal

it brings with it the anticipation of new beginnings.

7000 diseases are classified as rare, affecting 250 million people, most of which are children. So one community of millions was started in hope there would be more value in one large group. In January 2010 they started a grass roots organization called The Global Genes Project to unify, support, and build awareness.

So The Global Genes Project volunteer team is collecting bracelets with a denim/blue jean theme for their campaign, "7000 Bracelets of hope." These bracelets will be collected and distributed as a show of support to families with children of rare disease or disorder.

I chose to do this project for many reasons, but mostly because I too am a face of a rare disorder. Earlier this year I was diagnosed with a localized scleroderma and have also battled with Restless Legs Syndrome for years. RLS is a sleep disorder and at times extremely difficult to live with. I am very fortunate to have it mostly under control right now, except for the occasional flare-ups.

I knew I wanted to put just a touch of color in my bracelet, but stay very much in keeping with the blue jean theme. So just on Wednesday of this week at my metals class, I made a torch-enameled flower that I sawed out of 20 Ga copper sheet. I chose a flower shape because flowers remind me of Spring and Spring brings with it the hope of renewal.

I also wanted to do something asymmetrical as there are always two sides of disease.

The ebb and flow.

I had just the right length of viking knit that was left from another project - bonus!

And added some flower dangles and blue daggers as leaves.

If you look closely on the left, after the blue daggers you'll see three floating silver twisted rings.

They represent Hope, Love, and Faith,

and the Holy Trinity.

This is also a blog hop and there are many other artists/jewelry designers and crafters participating.

You can go here to see what everyone else has made - see ya there!

I wish you a weekend of hope fulfilled!

Love, Kim

XO