I'm going to try and post this in as many places as I can, so if you're new, HI!! I'm nutty, but we have fun :-) Introduce yourself, stick around...
I have been diabetic for almost twelve years... and I faithfully wore a medical alert bracelet for, oh, four or five of them. I know they're important and why... I know I really need to wear one... but they're so BORING! **My grandparents got me a STUNNING one right after diagnosis, which is the one I wore every day for four/five years... but it got very snug... and then the clasp gave out. So they're not all boring... but most are :-)**
Anyway... one of the detectives I worked with when I was an intern had a seven-year-old daughter diagnosed with Type I diabetes while I was working there. I had begun dabbling in jewelry making, but hadn't yet made it a business. I bought one of the drug store cheapie bracelets and cut the chain off, then made some little bracelet pieces that she could attach to the tag and switch out as she wanted. Meant to make one for myself. Didn't...
Fast forward, um, a little bit... I make all kinds of jewelry... sell it to friends, and to strangers who become friends... never leave the house (even to the mailbox) unless I'm wearing something I made... pride myself in being able to teach myself new techniques...
Still hadn't made a medical alert bracelet for myself. Whoops. So, I ordered a tag with my info engraved, and fixed that oversight :-) In one evening, I made seven new bracelets for myself, and am now wearing my medical alert bracelet for the first time in a while.
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| I also added a cute little "K" to the plaque... I may get more charms to switch out with my moods. :-) The lobster-claw clasps on the ends of the chains attach to either side of the plaque. Easy-as-pie! |
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| Here are my eight (as of typing... I'm sure I'll add to my collection OFTEN!) chains... |
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| Swarovski in three shades of purple... matches my chandeliers nicely! |
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| Three shades of green... can you tell I'm in a crystal mood lately? |
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| My signature color! |
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| Red chip beads were a gift from my granny-in-law. Wanted to save them for something special!! |
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| The red and pink bracelets have these heart-shaped lobster clasps... aren't they CUTE!? |
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| Another gift from Granny, put to good use! |
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| This matches the necklace and ring I'll show you tomorrow. :-) |
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| Basic basic basic! If nothing else matches, this will!! And it sparkles, so I love it! |
If you have any condition or are on any medications that make medical alert jewelry advisable, PLEASE consider buying one of these... It's so very important!
Okay, the numbers stuff. I found a website that sells very reasonably priced tags... so, after you've let me know you're planning on this, go here and pick out the tag you like--that way you can choose engraving fonts and phrases, and I don't have to mark every tag up a bunch to compensate for people who want six lines vs. one line! I'll send you my address in an email, and you can use that as the "ship to" address. While we're waiting for your tag to arrive at my house, we can email about what colors and styles, and how many chains you want. :-) That's the fun part! Almost all of my work is custom, so you will most likely have the only bracelet like it! You're SO not constrained to any of the chains you see above!!! Browse the blog for others, most can be adapted! Send me a photo of your favorite shirt or dress--I'll make a bracelet to match! "Normal" bracelets cost $10 apiece, or $15 for two... there are very few cases that I can think of when I'd need to charge more than that, and I will let you know RIGHT up front if your request is one of them :-)
See... these are super-reasonably priced, and (I think, humbly) gorgeous! Medical alert jewelry doesn't have to be icky or expensive! Even if you don't order one of mine, if a doctor has ever told you to wear alert jewelry and you don't... please start. Please, please, please. :-)
Always,
Katie
PS: To get started on your fabulous, custom-made medical alert jewelry, shoot an email to me at AlwaysKatie@hotmail.com !!
Katie--do you have a shop on etsy? Where can I find your jewelry?
ReplyDeleteOops! Thanks, Sarah! I'll edit the post to stick my email address in :-) That's what I get for writing at 1AM!
ReplyDeleteI have an etsy shop that I disabled several months ago... I wasn't into promoting when I first started it, and never sold anything (imagine that!). Now that business is picking up, and I've gotten over my fear of self-promotion, I'm planning on opening it back up in late August or early September. I am slowly building a shophandmade shop as well, which I'm hoping to launch about the same time as my etsy (etsy will be mostly a custom queue, shophandmade more one-of-a-kind but pre-made). I have some pre-made inventory available at alwayskatie.com, too. However, most of my business--and passion!--is custom jewelry, so my email address or facebook fan page are the best ways to order most things, including these medical alert bracelets!
Thank you! :-)
Hi Katie. I was wondering if you're still willing to make the bracelets for the medic alerts? I already have the tag but my bracelet is breaking. YOu can email me @ sweetmystery6@gmail.com. Thanks!
ReplyDelete-Bethany