About Us

Bali. A place I couldn't conceive of visiting. In 1995 my mother, daughter and I went on two cruises on Holland America Line with it's predominantly Indonesian crew. When I came home I mentioned to a friend that I had to see the country these young men came from. She knew a woman who took groups to Bali through a local university. There was room for a non-student in the upcoming group, so this person who was never going to need a passport, didn't much like to fly, and liked heat and humidity even less, found herself in a group of 18 strangers (another stretch) on the way to Bali. When we arrived I was "home." and I knew my life would be forever changed. I'm now on my second passport, I've logged more than half a million air-miles, and I can tolerate - but still don't like heat and humidity.

In 1998 I returned with my husband for another three week visit. My daughter makes jewelry and asked me to find her some Balinese silver beads. While I never began making jewelry myself, my fascination with Balinese beads began. I have been to Bali an average of one a year for a total of about 1-1/2 years since. After experimenting with beads for a couple years on eBay, I got serious about the business in 2001, retiring after 33 years with the local health department.

My own interest in Bali is in the culture, religion, and local healers. I take tours to Bali, working with Bali’s premier guide. See our tour page for more information. 

Over the years we have also developed relationships with several artisans, including our wood carving family, members of community of silversmiths, our bone carver, and some of our baskets makers, among others. Meet some of them on our artisans page. 

We have visited Flores, Kalimantan, Lombok, and Java. Each island has one or more distinct cultures and many wonderful people. 

We are now proud members of the Fair Trade Federation and Green America. We work closely with our artisans; we pay fair prices for the products; we work with our artisans if there are safety or health issues; we work with both men and women artisans; and we give back to the community to organizations who work with women’s and children’s health and education issues.