No one does beads quite like Susan Alexandra, the eponymous accessory line of candy-colored earrings and handbags strung with the kind of acrylic orbs you made friendship bracelets with as a kid.

To many, beading work might be a way to pass the time. But to Angela Gonzalez, beading is medicine. "I've really been going through, I would say, this beading and healing journey," said Gonzalez, an ...