Janée Pitt never leaves home without earrings. She started designing her own in 2019 after she cut off her hair and wanted accessories that made her feel pretty.

When the ones she created grabbed attention, she started a business – and then decided to use Tassel Bermuda to “give back”.

In July she approached Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre with the idea of creating earrings to highlight Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

A collection of limited-edition designs are now on offer, with each intended to symbolise “hope, strength and unity”.

“I really like to be involved with charities and raising money for different initiatives and things like that so with Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October I just thought, let's make it unique.

“Everyone's going to have pink ribbons on, but let's do something a little different and try to raise some funds for a good cause.”

She came up with four designs, with input from Bermuda Cancer and Health.

Teardrop Hoops, Ribbon Dangles, Know Your Lemons Studs and Glitter Ribbons are available at tassel-bermuda.com and Touché, a boutique on Reid Street. The charity will receive 15 per cent of all proceeds.

“They’re really cute,” Janée said. “I sent them the designs and they gave creative input. They have a programme called Know Your Lemons and the head of marketing at Bermuda Cancer and Health mentioned that they would love to see an earring that represented that. They were very helpful.”

Always artistic, Janée decided to combine that talent with her love of earrings a few years ago.

“That's always been my favourite accessory. And it really [took over] when I went natural with my hair and had to cut [the permed bit] off.

“Earrings were the only thing that kind of made me feel pretty and beautiful and girlie – I kind of missed that aspect.

“So instead of buying earrings all the time I decided to just start making them. And that's how Tassel was born.”

She launched in 2019 but “really honed in on [her] craft” during the pandemic. “I decided to take the big plunge and make it an official business.”

With a bit of research she worked out that polymer clay was the best material for what she wanted to do.

“It's kind of similar to Play-Doh. You create the design that you want on a slab. There are different techniques – sometimes I paint them. It's all different art forms that I use to create the pieces, and different mediums.

“I started to wear them around and people were like, ‘Oh, I love your earrings.’ So I started to sell them. I tend to make things based on how I'm feeling; what inspires me.

“I try not to lean into the trend of what’s popular, I just stay true to who I am as a designer. It's kind of therapeutic for me to be able to create.”

Tassel now has more than 100 earring designs in its archives. By the time her hair had grown out Janée was well along her path of entrepreneurship.

And then, this summer, she set her sights on cancer.

“When you [decide to go natural] you cut all the permed bits off but then your hair kind of shrinks up.

“My hair was really short, like a boy cut. And I just was not feeling like I normally do. And I feel, with breast cancer, it kind of resonates with that.

“They're going through something traumatic – I know cutting your hair is not the same, but they do go through hair loss and they want to feel beautiful and pretty.

“So instead of using the typical ribbon that you place on your chest, I thought what a cool idea it would be to represent, to say that you're a part of the awareness and wearing earrings that are a good cause.”

Even better, the colourful earrings are “a conversational piece”, she added.

“I never leave home without earrings and neither does my mom – she's probably my best customer. When [we] walk around people [notice them] and if they're breast cancer-related, it just starts a conversation for other things.”

Cancer in other forms has hit various members of her family. Her parents, who are “passionate” about cancer research, are supportive of her efforts as are her customers.

“I'm seeing a lot of traffic going to my website, I'm having a lot of people commenting. I haven't seen much traction yet because I just launched them, but I'm sure it'll be something that's impactful for Bermuda and raise funds for Bermuda Cancer and Health – which was the goal overall.”

The time it takes to make the earrings varies according to the design.

“I might have scrap pieces of clay from other designs that I've created and so I would chuck all those pieces together and make it into a whole new slab. That might take me 20 minutes, but then there are designs where I'm hand-painting them or cutting up little bits of clay to make tiny flowers.

“It just kind of depends on what the design is. But that's what I love about it, I can do something different every single time. I can draw inspiration from everything.

“You bake them in an oven and then you have to sand them down, wash them off. And then if I want them to have a coating on them, I can put resin on them. If I don't want them to have a shiny finish I just leave them as is.”

She comes up with the designs and makes the earrings all on her own however “a team of family and friends” have helped her sell her jewellery at vendor markets during the Christmas period and at Harbour Nights in the summer.

“My mom, my aunt, my dad – they all help me. But the creative side is all me,” Janée said.

For more information visit www.tassel-bermuda.com and www.cancer.bm