a.ell design & atelier, Kapaa, Kauai, Hawaii

Colleen Daly Block has been collecting shells and beach glass for years, roaming the shores of the Big Island of Hawai’i and Kaua’i. One year she created jewelry with her found treasures and gave them as Christmas presents. From there requests were made, and a business was born.

Peace of Kaua’i jewelry started in 2010. Colleen and her husband Joshua collect and snorkel for shells, and Colleen, who is self-taught, designs and create earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces, which have been a huge hit at the atelier for months now. “Angie’s shop is one of my best sellers,” Colleen said.

Angelique and Colleen recently collaborated to create an exclusive line for the shop, called the “Heavy Metals” Collection. Angelique asked Colleen about the possibility of using Tahitian pearls with sterling silver to create an “edgy” line of jewelry. “I had never thought of Tahitian pearls as edgy before,” Colleen said, but quickly understood and brought the vision to fruition. The Heavy Metals Collection consists of earrings and interlocked bangles made of thick gauge sterling silver and Tahitian pearls.

10% of all Peace of Kaua’i proceeds are donated to the Kaua’i YWCA Sexual Assault Treatment Program. Colleen has worked as a sex assault therapist at the YWCA on Kaua’i since 2009, working with offenders, victims and their family members. Her shell searching on beaches is a way to relieve the stress of her job. ”It’s definitely an outlet for self-care,” she said. “I focus on that and let everything else go.”