Whimsical Beads Make Less Fortunate Feel Good Again

Austin, TX based artist donates beaded jewelry creations to women and children in shelters. Alicia Infanti, who markets her hand-crafted jewelry on the internet, is now sharing her work with the less fortunate.

Austin, TX

Alicia Infanti of Alicia's Joy - http://www.AliciasJoy.com has been hand

crafting beaded, dangling jewelry for seven years. While the art brings

Alicia joy, she in turn is bringing joy to others.

Says Infanti, "Austin is a very young, almost hippie-ish town, and I get

a lot of inspiration from living here." Alicia gets further inspiration

from the beach and ocean, from spring time, and from staying in touch

with fashion trends and her love of amethyst, her birthstone, and

aventurine who's soothing green she loves to mix with other stones.

Any woman can tell you that wearing something pretty makes her feel a

shade prettier than she did before adorning the bauble. Knowing this,

Alicia is now donating some of her jewelry pieces to women's and

children's shelters.

Infanti who especially likes to design and wear anklets, says she has

decided to make these donations in particular because they are "a kind

of pick me up, since I know it helps a lot to sometimes get something

you don't really need."

Located in Austin, Texas, Alicia Infanti began purchasing jewelry at

thrift shops herself and then "re-making" them to match her mood and her

wardrobe. She has taught herself and her creations move in and out of

her production line every spring and fall. All Alicia's Joy jewelry is

hand-made, individually, by the artist.

When asked how this down-to-earth, creative individual chose jewelry

making, she responded that, "well, I actually sew a lot of my clothes,

and I like to do crochet and make candles when I have time--I guess

jewelry was always my favorite thing."

Alicia not only hand-crafts jewelry that she dreams up, but also makes

custom pieces to suit her customers' needs. The most unusual? A Mrs.

Mouse for a customer she met on the internet, who has a Mrs. Mouse as

her internet business logo.

As a true new millenium stay-at-home business woman, Alicia now markets

her jewelry on the internet. Before launching her own business web

site, she surfed many other jewelry sites for inspiration. "I visited a

lot of different shopping sites and the ones that were the easiest to

get around were my favorites," says Infanti. The result?

http://www.aliciasjoy.com

Looking back on the days of the "horrible office job" Alicia says of

running her own business, "I love making things and being able to make a

living from it is the best." Corporate America's loss is the fashion

world's gain.

Now, other women can benefit as well. Alicia Infanti will be donating

her inspirational jewelry pieces to less fortunate women and children in

the Austin area.

Alicia's work has ranged from earrings and necklaces to anklets and

wedding tiaras. Her inspired pieces are now being worn and inspiring

others all over the world. Thanks to her vision, and the internet.

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