Broken china becomes jewelry for women's shelter fundraiser

— Even though broken-china jewelry sounds like an anomaly, many women in Faulkner County and beyond are buying these bits of finery and wearing them with a sense of pride and style.

Since the project got off the ground in 2007 as a fundraiser for the Women's Shelter of Central Arkansas, these unique pieces of jewelry have brought in more than $11,000.

Each of these pendants, handmade by volunteers, is made of a broken piece of china. A card attached to each piece of jewelry has printed, "As with the lives of battered women, broken dreams and shattered lives can be transformed."

The Broken China Jewelry project was undertaken by the Women's Shelter at first just tofund an art-therapy class, but it has grown beyond that purpose. The money has been used to pay for a new roof for the domicile and a couple of out-buildings.

A prime mover in this jewelry enterprise is Linda Fullerton, a former schoolteacher who is dedicated to the aims of the facility and now the jewelry project.

"Keeping up with the demand is difficult - but what a problem that is," she said. "The jewelry sells very quickly, all you have to do is have it out where somebody can see it.

"Since the first of this year, the sales have just gone nuts," Fullerton added.

"Our sales force has been nothing but Godguided," Fullerton said. "And we don't have trouble finding people to sell it. Many women who make purchases are themselves anxious to be salespeople because of the beauty of the product and the purposes for which the jewelry is made," she said.

Fullerton said a group of women who directed a mission fair in a Little Rock church sold $790 worth of jewelry pieces in one night.

Two Little Rock women who are members with Fullerton in Delta Kappa Gamma, an educators' organization, have been instrumental in selling the jewelry, she said.

"One woman has sold them off her neck several times," Fullerton said.

The jewelry also is being sold by women who live in Greenbrier, Maumelle and Memphis, Fullerton added.

Fullerton became enamored with the work of the shelter when she became aware of the enigma of the abuse of women and statistics, which show that one in three women will be beaten, raped or mutilated in their lifetime; that one in six women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime (college age women are four times more likely to be assaulted); and that children who grow up in domestic violence homes are six times more likely to commit suicide.

"It is clear to me now that the Broken China Jewelry project is where God wants me to be at this time in my life," said the soft-spoken but dynamic woman who began her tour of duty at the shelter teaching knitting classes, serving as a baby sitter and handling other small jobs before getting involved in the Broken China Jewelry project.

She said that Beth Goodrich, executive director of the shelter, taught her the finer points of jewelry making. "She finally asked me if I would be willing to take the lead with the project. I agreed readily since I've hadthe women's shelter pulling at my heart for some time," Fullerton said.

Later, Fullerton became a member of Grace United Methodist Church's mission committee. The church member recalled that she had the task of putting together an arm of that committee called "Family to Family." Its aims, she said, seemed to coincide with needs of the women in the shelter. "I felt like it was something we could do at church," she said, and some women on that committee make jewelry for the project.

The manufacture of the necklaces is akin to the making of stained glass, Fullerton explained. The process begins with china plates, most of which are donated or obtained at flea markets. She uses a pincher-like a pair of pliers to break them. Since the plates break unevenly,the pieces are of various shapes and sizes. There is no uniformity in the process and this is part of their charm.

She attaches copper foil around the edges with a soldering iron and polishes the pieces. She also affixes a small loop through which a chain may be attached.

Fullerton said she knows of no other project that has the significance and nobility of Broken China Jewelry, which she believes is a one-of-a-kind art form.

For information about purchasing the jewelry, call the Women's Shelter of Central Arkansas at (501) 329-7405.

The Women's Shelter offers support groups, emergency shelter, educational presentations and safety planning and other services, plus a 24-hour crisis hotline: 1-866-358-2265 or 501-329-CALL.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 69, 75 on 06/11/2009

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