More than you know about the beads within

The Heart Behind Every Piece

When you wear Bead Dangle Design jewelry, you're wearing more than beautiful beads and artisan craftsmanship. You're wearing a legacy of love, creativity, and resilience that spans generations.

My Mother, Rita

My mother, Rita, loved all beads. She created jewelry because she couldn't afford to buy it, and she made her own clothes with the same resourceful spirit. She crafted earrings and necklaces using seed beads, crystals, and pearls, creating beauty from necessity.

Mom was allergic and very sensitive to metals, so she taught me to only use stainless steel - a lesson that became the foundation of every piece Bead Dangle Design creates today. Her sensitivity to metals wasn't just a limitation; it was a gift that ensures every customer could wear my jewelry comfortably and safely.

A Life of Strength

Rita suffered from aneurysms in her brain that caused her to be in a wheelchair for a fair portion of her life, from her 60s until she passed at age 79. Despite these challenges, her love of beads and creativity never dimmed.

What I Kept

After her passing, my father asked what I wanted from her belongings. The only things I asked for were three treasures: the ring my father gave her, a statue of the Blessed Mother and Jesus, and all her boxes of beads.

I wore her ring as my wedding ring for years until my husband gave me a new diamond ring for Christmas four years ago. Now I wear her ring on my right hand, keeping her close every day.

The statue watches over my home. And the beads - those six big boxes of beads - became my life's work.

The Dream

Those boxes sat in my dining room for months. I couldn't bring myself to open them - the weight of loss was too heavy.

One day, I finally opened them and started looking through her collection. Not long after, I had a dream. When I woke, I scratched down on a piece of paper a simple drawing: a circle and a bar.

I found the circles - toggles, and the bar she had saved. From that dream, I created my first necklace using her beads. That dream became the foundation of Bead Dangle Design's signature interchangeable system.

I've since evolved the design, replacing the bar with an O-ring that works even better. But the heart of that original vision - born from grief, love, and a dream - remains in every piece.

A Heaven-Sent Friend

When I started making jewelry, I was unsure about the wrapping of beads with stainless steel. My girlfriend Donna - a heaven-sent friend - taught me specifically how to do that. I combined my mother's techniques with Donna's expertise, creating something entirely new.

Every piece Bead Dangle Design creates carries both legacies: Rita's foundation and Donna's guidance. Two women, two teachers, one beautiful tradition.

The Tradition: One Bead, Every Piece

When I first started making pendants, I used many of my mother's beads in each piece. But then fear crept in - what if I ran out? What if this precious collection was gone before I was ready?

So I made a decision: I would incorporate exactly one of her beads into every single pendant I create.

Your pendant contains one random seed bead or pearl from Rita's collection - the very materials she loved working with most. In the beginning, I tried to match them to each design. These days, I don't. I let the bead be what it is.

That's the one. That's Rita's bead. That's the legacy within.

More Than You Know

When you wear Bead Dangle Design jewelry, you're wearing a piece that connects past and future, mother and daughter, teacher and student, loss and creation. You're wearing wearable art that carries Rita's spirit, Donna's wisdom, and my love for them both.

That one seed bead, crystal, or pearl that might not match perfectly? That's not a mistake. That's the heart of the piece.

That's what makes each piece truly one-of-a-kind. That's the legacy within the beads.

So when you choose Bead Dangle Design, know that you're not just buying jewelry. You're becoming part of a story - a story of a mother who created beauty despite hardship, a friend who shared her knowledge with generosity, and a daughter who honors both with every bead she wraps.

This tradition will continue as long as those six boxes of beads remain.

Thank you for letting me share this with you.

- Laura DelVecchio