Imagine, if you will, working for seven hours on a single project — a bracelet, perhaps — and then going on to sell it for $35. How many bracelets would it take to raise $13,330?

The math is simple. Divide 13,330 by 35, and you get 381 bracelets. Multiply 381 by seven, representing the hours invested in each piece of jewelry, and you get a whopping 2,667 hours.

This figure isn’t quite correct, however. According to Marilyn DiPalma — and by extension her husband, Mike, her partner at Blissful Beadwork Art Design and co-organizer of the Paw Prints On My Heart bracelets fundraiser — “I can’t give you an exact number of bracelets sold because we raised the price after two years.”

No matter how it’s calculated, it’s a formidable investment of time and resources, all to benefit their four-legged friends. All of the proceeds from the sale of the bead-woven bracelets are donated to the Humane Society of Sedona.

“We don’t skimp on genuine gemstones and high-quality Japanese seed beads,” DiPalma said. “And we use Fireline, which is the strongest type of fishing line that we can use with seed beads. It’s quite expensive in the quantities we use. We buy our beads wholesale and we don’t even figure in the amount of materials used in the bracelets. It’s our hobby and has become a passion, and the cost doesn’t matter to us so long as we can help the animals and the shelter.”

To read the full story, see the Friday, April 3, edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.