Spiral Creations Brings Island Atmosphere to Occoquan

When Kathy Alden moved into the old space and started , her renovations transformed the shop into a spot of eternal summer.

Alden pointed to the vibrant blue and yellow paint on the wall.

“The colors you see here are my water, my sun, and my sand,” she said. Originally from Bermuda, Alden has been in Northern Virginia since 1980.

The bright walls set off the handmade jewelry and art on display in the store. Some of the jewelry is created by Kathy and her husband Tom, while the rest of the wares are created by various artists, many of them local.

Before starting Spiral Creations this summer, Alden was a partner in in Occoquan for a year with Suzanne Monaghan and Maria Sinnott.

“We were at the point where we needed to expand,” she said. “I was looking for space and I was looking to diversify.”

Alden has been beading since the mid-1980s, when she picked up a beading book at Price Club (the old name for Costco).

“I started picking up beads and teaching myself,” she said. “I’m mostly self taught. They’re so tactile. They’re so pretty. You end up collecting. And then you have to sell.”

For Alden, starting her own shop after years of beading was a logical step. Before Lil Bit of Posh, she worked from home, doing craft fairs.

“And that gets old,” she said. But she wasn’t ready to move to a traditional office setting. “I’m not a corporate chick. I like to chart my own course.”

Her customers can share in that individuality as well by purchasing one of Alden's custom designs.

“I did a wedding recently - a custom design for a bride and her maid of honor,” she said. “The bride was getting married on a cruise. She wanted a piece that reflected that.”

Alden created a necklace of strands of oceanic blues and greens for the occasion.

Alden’s favorite piece was a necklace she called the Aphrodite.

“It was pearls and crystals and it had a nugget centerpiece from Greece. And it just looked sort of Aegean. I only name a few of my pieces, and that one was my favorite,” she said.  

Alden also does repair work, restringing, and redesigning.

“Someone has something they’ve inherited, and it has good components, but it’s not their style,” she said. “I call it Grandma’s Jewelry Box.”

Alden takes the components and makes something new for the customer to wear.

She also collaborates with Tom, who creates jewelry and accessories out of wire. He forms aluminum, copper, or silver wire into links and then joins the links together in various designs. He also creates free-formed wire designs.

“He’ll make a structure and I’ll add beads to it,” she said.

With all the hours Alden has spent renovating, stocking, and organizing her shop, she’s barely had a minute to work on her own jewelry.

“I am itching to get working again,” she said.

For more information on Spiral Creations, visit their Facebook page.