
You never know where a compliment will go. One day a woman near Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, admired another woman’s handmade beaded earrings. Not long after, the two had formed a workshop and launched a successful cottage industry among the artisans of the local Tzutujil Maya community. Glass seed beads, Czech fire-polished glass crystals, and, in the necklace, a lapis stone cabochon evoke the colors of the Guatemalan highlands.