Sarah Graham Metalsmithing

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Total Immersion

This past Sunday we held our second annual fund raising event for Namaste
Direct, a non-profit organization that provides micro loans, mentorship and
business and vocational training to women entrepreneurs in Central America.
At Namaste's annual fundraiser, tickets to the event are bid on by Namaste
supporters, and the winners get to spend an afternoon in our studio seeing
the jewelry making process from start to finish. We began at 11am with
cocktails and an introduction to the studio and our jewelry design
philosophy. Guests saw samples from our newest collection and learned about
what we do to overcome the various challenges that always occur with a new
design. I demonstrated the wax carving process by making a link for our
newest bracelet design. Then everyone made their way to the kiln and donned
sunglasses in preparation to watch the casting process.
After knocking out the cast pieces from the flask, the group watched
Rose and Kristen as they attached the links into a bracelet using a laser
welder. Everyone took a turn at the welder by trying to melt the eye of a
president on various coins with the laser beam!
We then sat down to an elegant Central American themed lunch, expertly
prepared by Onie Burge of Alchemy Catering. Lastly, everyone had a chance to
enjoy, try on and purchase our jewelry, and 20% of the sales were donated to
Namaste Direct. All in all we raised over $6000 for the organization, which
will help over 100 women start businesses, and everyone left informed,
inspired and well adorned!
To reserve your spot at next year's event contact Sarah@sarahgraham.com, and
to learn more about Namaste Direct, go to www.namaste-direct.org.