Woman crafts silver, flowered wares

Sunday, August 20, 2006 She has donated some of her earnings to tsunami and hurricane victims. By SEAN BARRON VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT AUSTINTOWN — It's no mystery that many people would probably approach having their fingerprints taken with a sense of nervousness or trepidation. If Alisa Perren is doing the job, however, it's likely to create quite a different impression. Rather than being stored in a police station, such prints are permanently stored in silver. They are an important component for Perren's Precious Prints, one of two main lines of custom-made jewelry designs she's created over the past few years. "A lot of local jewelry stores sell mass-produced jewelry," the Austintown woman said. "I like the look of hand-crafted jewelry." Perren enjoyed making items for family and friends, so sensing a natural fit, her husband, Todd, and her sister-in-law talked her into selling some of her wares. In fall 2003, she took a nickname co-workers gave her, added to it and came up with Weezie Lu Handcrafted Jewelry, the custom-jewelry design company she operates from her Countryside Drive home. To embed someone's prints in silver for charms, Perren explained, she starts with water and a starchy compound to form clay. Next, the person's fingerprint is placed in the clay before it goes into a small kiln that's heated to between 1,400 and 1,700 degrees, a process that causes the substance and water to dissipate, leaving behind pure silver. She then adds an antiquing solution called liver of sulfur that darkens the marks' indentations, causing them to be more noticeable. To gather prints, Perren continued, buyers come to her residence to have them taken, or she sends the clay mold to them by mail. The finished products usually become keepsakes and fitting tributes to remember customers' parents, grandparents, friends and other loved ones, living or deceased, Perren noted. The charms often carry loved ones' names, dates of birth and an inscription, she added. Other jewelry For those who prefer a unique piece with flowers as its central theme, there's Natural Blooms, another of Perren's lines in which hairpieces, sachets, brooches and necklaces have real flowers from Thailand added to them. Perren said she found on the Internet a man from that country whose specialty is using polyresin to coat and preserve miniature flowers in full bloom. The material protects the flowers from fading and helps them maintain their beauty and appeal. She buys the products from him before sanding them and making them part of the jewelry, Perren explained. "I don't like artificial flowers or plants. I saw what the man in Thailand did online," she said. Perren adds the rose or orchid blooms to suede, ribbons and other materials. She also enjoys adding her touch to both lines of products to ensure each is one of a kind, and her adornments are available at boutiques in California, New Jersey, Florida and Canada. For a while after the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami devastated much of Indonesia and other areas, Perren was donating a portion of her business's proceeds to tsunami relief efforts; now she's giving part of her earnings to help Hurricane Katrina victims. When she's not stringing jewelry or firing clay in a kiln, Perren is working part time as a physical therapy aide at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Center of Youngstown on state Route 46. In 1996, Perren received her associate's degree of allied health from Kent State University's East Liverpool campus. She also hosts a show the first weekend of November at which people come to her home to buy items for Christmas. Perren said that she wants to stay in her field and expand her jewelry business. "I always want to stay working in physical therapy, but also want to grow more in collaboration with more boutiques to sell wholesale and get my designs out there," she said For more information, go to www.weezielu.com.