People who come to the Kirkland Wednesday Market praise her hard work, her talent and her beautiful jewelry. But what is more amazing is the effort she has made to be where she is today.

Like many single moms, Kirkland resident Nicole Allen works hard, loves her kids and never stops. But she also struggles with fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndrome and non-epileptic seizure disorder.

Allen learned she was sick back in 2009; she said her “whole life changed.”

“It all happened (in) one day,” Allen said. “I went to work up at Alderwood, and I wasn’t feeling very well. So I went and sat down in our dining room and the next thing I knew, I woke up to paramedics. … I had a seizure.”

Allen’s world has been turned upside down ever since.

“Being alone was not an option,“ said Allen. “I wasn’t able to drive, I couldn’t be alone. A lot of things (are) taken away from you: your independence, your self-being, your personal life; you have to have someone with you at all time. “

Allen has never gone back to work. Things that never were an issue before suddenly became a priority for the family. The food bank operated by Hopelink was her family’s good friend, she said.

“It was very, very tough for a while,” Allen said. “We brought our basket; we went through the food line. That was food that I couldn’t afford. “

In addition, Allen’s astronomical medical bills were hard on her family.  While 80 percent of her bills are covered by the state, it is a struggle to manage the rest.

Unable to work outside the home, Allen found she “was going crazy sitting at home.” Seeking to sustain her family and retain a sense of self-worth, she decided to start her own jewelry business – Carrisma Collections.

Allen’s bracelets, long and short earrings, and necklaces are made of the most sparkly jewelry making beads, crystals. And they can all be customized to customer’s preferences, she said.

“I can make them smaller or bigger as you like,” Allen said to a customer while placing a necklace on her daughter, to show how it looks under the sun. “See, under the sun you can really see the color.”

Before her illness, Allen would rise at 6 a.m., send her two children off to school, herself off to work, pick up her kids from the Boys and Girls Club and then come home. She often worked over 40 hours a week – although overtime pay was “a good thing” for a single mom.

These days, Allen needs more hours of rest to preserve energy for her “day,” which starts in front of piles and piles of sparkly crystals. Assembling and stringing beads is sometimes all she does the entire day.

“It’s kind of crazy, sometimes I make a bracelet, and if I don’t like it, I will take it all apart and put it together in a different way, so many times that my hands go numb, “ Allen said.

Allen’s passion for jewelry-making has finally given her some financial security. But she hasn’t forgotten that there are still people out there who need a helping hand.

“We are not well-off ourselves by all means,” Allen said with conviction. “ But in going through what I went through, I can understand what others families go through.”

Now, a portion of Allen’s sales goes to Hopelink, breast cancer research and the Boys & Girls Club’s silent auction. She envisions having a jewelry charity party where people could buy a piece of jewelry and choose where the money would go.

In a thank you note she wrote to Hopelink, she said: “I don’t have a whole lot to donate at this time, but it is a little bit. I will be making a donation every few months, and I hope that it will help a family that needs it.”

Kris Betkler of Hopelink said in an email that they have had a number of former clients come back to volunteer, but few give back the way Allen is doing now.

“What Nicole is doing is fairly unique,” she wrote.

Allen said her family’s life has never been so “balanced.” Looking back, she even finds some good has come out of her sickness.

“I am finally able to look after my kids. I am actually able to do their homework with them, sit down and spend that quality time with them which before I wasn’t able to have,” she said.

Taylor, 11, and his sister Shay, 12, both feel they finally have their mother back in their lives.

“Since she had the seizure, it hasn’t been a good thing, but it kind of has,” Taylor said. “After she didn’t work, I was closer to her even more, and she is home more.”

Allen added: “Everything I make, I put a piece of me into it. If everybody could just give a little bit, it could make a huge difference. It impacts people. “

For information about Carrisma Creations visit www. carrismacollections@yahoo.com.

(CHIEH-HSIN (JESSIE) LIN is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.)