Several years ago while recovering at home from an injured back, Penny Marinos rediscovered her fondness for jewelry making.

“I had always worn jewelry and I wanted to make it so that I could wear more of it,” says Marinos, who first started stringing with love beads back in the hippie era while still in high school.

During her recovery, she purchased beads from a local craft store, and in no time rekindled her love for making beaded jewelry.

Little did she know that her jewelry making skills would someday help her donate money toward finding a cure for breast cancer. She started making “breast cancer awareness bracelets,” designed with pink beads, silver accents and a pink enamel ribbon charm.

“I started making them because two people in my family had breast cancer, so I was personally affected by it,” says the Troy resident. She sells each bracelets for $15 and donates 10 percent to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Unemployed since March, Marinos says her daily routine starts with an online job search, followed by sending out resumes and sitting at her kitchen table where she cranks out her line of breast cancer awareness bracelets, along with her other jewelry pieces. Most items are inspired by her personal wardrobe and pictures in magazines.

She sells pieces from her collection under the name PennyWise Designs to customers she describes as “trendy and stylish women of all ages.”

Breast cancer awareness bracelet

Level: Intermediate

Estimated time: 30 minutes

Tools: Chain-nose pliers, wire cutters

Supplies: 6 12mm Czech pressed-glass oval-shaped pink beads, 6 8mm silver pewter beads, 13 5mm Czech round pink beads, 1 breast cancer awareness charm (pewter and enamel), 1 20mm heart-shaped silver-plated pewter toggle clasp, 12 inches of .014 Softflex beading wire (silver), 2 silver crimp tubes, 2 4mm crimp covers

Instructions

1. Attach toggle clasp to charm and lay aside.

2. Cut 12 inches of wire with wire cutters.

3. Add one crimp tube, then string the stick end of toggle clasp. Using the chain-nose pliers, crimp tightly close.

4. Now begin beading pattern as follows: 1 small round pink, 1 silver, 1 small round pink, 1 large oval pink, 1 small round pink.

5. Continue beading pattern until all beads are used up. Bracelet should end with 1 small round pink bead.

6. String on a crimp tube and heart toggle with attached charm. Using chain-nose pliers, tightly crimp tube close. Trim any excess wire and add crimp covers.

Contact: PennyWise Designs, (248) 740-8920, or visit pennywisedesignsonline.com or send a message topmarinos@wideopenwest.com.

Detroit News staffer Jocelynn Brown is a longtime Metro Detroit crafter who knits, crochets, beads and makes soft-sculpture dolls. You can reach her at (313) 222-2150.

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