Dad time results in a bracelet business, and lots of callouses, for an Ursuline 8th grader

An Ursuline eighth grader hopes she has the Hot Gift for the holidays. Based on more than 300 advance orders, she may be right.

Addie Blaskovitz-Hurst has created a company – with some guidance here and there from her financial adviser dad – that sells bracelets made of bone, gemstones, horn, copper, and woods through her Healthy, Blessed & Beautiful website.

“I’ve been making bracelets as far back as I can remember,” says the 13-year-old Blaskovitz-Hurst, explaining that it’s something she and her dad Dace have done together. “We had made so many that I decided to sell them. That was in August, and now we have a couple of hundred made and more than 300 made.

She’s selling them for $25 each, with seven for $100. She’s making her best efforts to accommodate customer requests for color and specific properties that some believe offer therapeutic benefits.

For example, her bead materials include picture jasper (deep connection to the earth); goldstone (higher states of consciousness); tiger eye (powerful and motivating energy; bold stone (associated with success); bamboo coral (powerful life energy); and for this audience opalite (known as the merchant stone, therefore helping to achieve business success).

Blascovitz-Hurst (and her coach and marketer dad) hand tie the bracelets. During a recent interview, she showed off callouses to prove it, saying she needed to get a lot done in a hurry so the priest could bless them.

“Handmade art is not designed to be everyday durable,” she says in explaining why she’s offering a discounted rate for multiple bracelets. Addie’s tagline tells her story: “I hope you find the beauty in my
art – and in your life.”