Pangea-Collection.com Blog – Artisan Jewellery

New Ugandan Artisan Jewelry Collection now posted on the Pangea Collection website.

Ugandan Collection

This Collection represents the bead and jewelry craft work of a group of over 20 women in various parts of Uganda. The women in the group are widows, single mothers or students.

For these women the unique handcrafted jewelry that they create as a part of this group is the primary or sole source of income. It provides them with a means to attain medical treatment and educate their children.

There are two different jewelry styles in the Collection, recycled paper bead jewelry and wood seed jewelry.

The recycled paper beads are made from old waste paper especially magazines and other paper of similar texture. To create the beads, the magazines are cut into appropriate widths and lengths depending on the intended finished bead size. The paper pieces are rolled onto a needle in order to maintain a simple hole. As the paper is rolled onto the needle it is glued to make a tightly rolled bead. The beads are dipped in varnish and hung to dry in the sun to provide a pretty polished finish. It takes three days to create the beads from beginning to finished bead. A typical jewelry artisan can assemble 20 necklaces in a day.