In the summer of 2002 I found this Rebel bottle cap on a Brooklyn street. Smashed and with fancy scalloped edges I drilled a hole in it to make this crafty necklace for my twin on her birthday. I chose to use the clear beads from of one of my favorite antique Czech glass necklaces for the main design. While stringing I realized that I had one less clear bead than I needed for it's symmetry. I fretted not even a moment and reached for an amber bead to complete the strand.

Two years later, while uninsured, I was brain storming for ways to raise money to pay my medical bills upon my second breast cancer diagnoses. It occurred to me that I could start making jewelry. I decided to start with the Rebel necklaces as they are spontaneously crafty and rebelliously stand outside of the traditional "awareness" box. In order to bring meaning to my mission I designed the beading to represent the 2004 statistic "one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer"- having eight beads and one being a different color. I went to my sister's to share the idea and to borrow the original necklace as a prototype. It was then that I realized that the beads on the original necklace, that I had made two years prior, already represented the statistic. Today, the story of the jewelry moves forward as the evolution and strength of

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