International Sanctuary - aw, shucks.

I was peeking in on Tori's blog the other day and saw that she'd helped International Sanctuary get their new website up and running. Which of course I had to check out - because I love the whole "purchase with purpose" concept that they have.

If you've been a long time reader of mine, you'll know that I had lunch with the founders of International Sanctuary a while ago whose mission is:

"iSanctuary is a new and growing non-profit organization that was formed to develop social enterprises for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation.

Currently we are training 40 rescued girls, from the ages of 13 to 18 in Mumbai India, in the skill of jewelry making. Once the girls are trained, their products are brought to the US and UK to be sold to fund their futures."Anyhow, I figured, even though I would be seeing them soon at an event I am hosting for MOPS - a mini-boutique in December, that I needed to make a little purchase in support of them. For a while I've been eyeing their "Ring of Fire" bracelet - it's kind of a signature piece for them and when I have noticed it on other women it's something I immediately recognize as an International Sanctuary piece. So I dropped one of those into my cart. Then I went over to the necklaces page and saw something that was so sweet! They have a necklace named the Liberty Necklace and is fashioned after a design that I made with Stephanie that day last December. We had such a fun time talking about clustering colors and shapes in the variety that would create a rich look... and I'd made some earrings and a necklace for her and off to our lunch we went. I knew we'd had fun together, but I'd never dreamed that they'd use my design and name it after our work-session. What an honor.
I bought one. And wore it proudly yesterday. I may need to buy a few more as gifts. At a mere $20, they are a lot of fun to pick up for thoughtful gifts this winter. (and they're cute!)