Cricket & Abacus is Boho Chic Eclectia created with a passion for making the planet a kinder place. We are proud to offer adornments that promote well-being for the wearer and for the world. Wear our pieces; save lives. A portion of our profits support the efforts of an NYC Non-Profit animal welfare org, the SI Feral Initiative, providing Spay/Neuter education & low-cost resources to the community. (To learn more, visit our non-profit site at www.siferal.org)

The main catalyst for C&A was what I think of as the “Goldilocks” phenomenon.  I would go gift-hunting for my mom, my sister-in-laws, my friends, and I would find the “almost-perfect” gift…so eventually I decided that I had to do something about it.  I turned to my crafting roots, and voila – Cricket & Abacus was conceived.  Now I not only get to “imaginate” personalized treasures for my own friends and family, but I get to help others bring their accessory and gift concepts to fruition.  And that just makes me happy!

Ok – so what’s with the name?  “Cricket & Abacus” was the result of a brainstorm session with my husband – I wanted as name that was fun to say, but would also reflect my ever-deepening sense that we only have so much time in this world, and we should do our best every day to make it count.  ”Cricket” has always been an allusion to conscience for me – think “Jiminy Cricket” from Walt Disney’s famed “Pinocchio.”  The abacus is a calculating tool that was in use centuries before the adoption of the written modern numeral system, and has also been used to teach counting and time-keeping to children.   For me, it is both a symbol of the passage of time, and is oddly analogous to the stringing of beads I do so much of.  Working to better the world, and my corner of it, has always been a passion for me, and I consider myself incredibly lucky to have a partner who shares that commitment.

Our Non-Profit work is something my husband and I believe in deeply, and it is incredibly rewarding; but it can also be extremely difficult, and is often emotionally draining.  I have always been a “maker” of one sort or another – poetry, music, dance – and so my love for adornment-crafting has given me both an outlet for my persistent creativity, and a way to bring happiness to others.  I’m also a notorious “thinker,” so no one that knows me is ever surprised that there’s a thesis behind the cute name.

I used to make jewelry for my mom when I was a kid…and I still give her credit for wearing every single “5-beads-on-a-string” that i gave her…and with pride, too.  C&A is, in small part, a tribute to her – – – no matter what other mother-daughter “stuff” we went through, she always encouraged me to follow my passions, stand up for what I believe in, never fear the new or unknown, and to look first to myself for strength before leaning on others.  I view each new experience like one more bead on the string of life, forming a beautiful piece of art one should be able to wear with pride.  I firmly believe that one’s choices should be made purposefully, and with conscious regard for one’s effect on those around them.