Beading helped woman heal after loss
A Brantford woman credits beading with helping her heal.
Now she is hoping to share her work with others.
Brianne Cavan-Heard, owner of Cavan’s Creations, has been accepted into the TikTok Accelerator for Indigenous Creators program.
She is one of 40 people to be selected for the program offered by the National Screen Institute. She’s hoping the program will help her share her passion for bead work with the rest of the world.
“I started beading during the pandemic after my daughter was stillborn,” Cavan-Heard said. “It was a way of helping me heal during my grievance.
“For me, beading is medicine. That’s how I got started and I’ve fallen in love with it.”
Cavan-Heard then discovered TikTok and learned there was a whole new online world for her to explore. She now creates and sells home-crafted beaded jewelry and apparel through her online store at www.cavanscreations.myshopify.com/.
Her new venture has also taken her back to her childhood. A Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River, Wolf Clan, Cavan-Heard grew up in Brantford.
“Growing up, I was always doing crafts, making string or beaded bracelets, cross-stitching and working with clay,” Cavan-Heard said.
In her teens, Cavan-Heard, who grew up in Brantford, started woodworking and graduated from the cabinetmaking program offered by Georgian College in Barrie. She started an apprenticeship but then the recession hit and she was laid off.
Cavan-Heard went back to school for carpentry and plumbing and again started an apprenticeship. But there wasn’t enough work for her to get the hours she needed.
After launching Cavan’s Creations, she learned about the TikTok Accelerator for Indigenous Creators Program.
“They were accepting applications in the summer and I applied,” Cavan-Heard said. “But then I forgot about it until I received notification that I had been accepted.”
The TikTok accelerator program is an online training program gives Indigenous creators the skills they need to increase their profile on TikTok and build a successful digital career.
Training sessions cover topics such as navigating TikTok, technical training, career building and digital awareness. The National Screen Institute – Canada has been supporting content creators from across Canada by providing film, television and digital training since 1986. This is the second year of the Indigenous accelerator program.
Cavan-Heard believes the accelerator program will help her increase her profile and introduce the healing powers of beading to a wider audience.
“I know how much beading has helped me heal and I want to be able to share it with more people,” she said. “It’s something everyone can enjoy.”
Cavan-Heard can be found on TikTok at @briski89xo .
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