It all started in a hair salon. Wait, what? Let me explain...

I've been an artist for as long as I can remember, trying out everything from cross-stitching to soap-making and scrapbooking to wood burning. When my husband got out of the Air Force and we moved from Italy back to the States (to Virginia), I was craving a creative outlet during the months all of our stuff was being shipped to us; but I didn't want to buy any supplies I already had, and I wanted the supplies to be small since we were living with my aunt until we found a house. When my mother-in-law sent me a handmade necklace set that she'd bought at a craft fair, I decided to take up jewelry making again. I'd dabbled a bit in high school and college, but I didn't have the financial means to buy the quality of supplies I wanted to use, nor the time to "play," so I gave it up. Now that circumstances had changed, I was anxious to try it again!

I experimented and played around with different styles, and one day stumbled across metal stamping. I have an English degree and a MAJOR love of words and phrases, so it was a perfectly natural fit for me and I never turned back. Soon after I got my first metal stamp set and some supplies, I made my sister a Circle of Love necklace for her birthday with my nieces' names on it. Coincidentally that same week, my friend and hair stylist was coming back to work after maternity leave and I was going to be her first client. I figured it would be hard for her to leave her baby, so I made her a Circle of Love necklace with his name so he'd always be with her at work.

Well, she loved the necklace and the gesture, and showed it to her coworkers... within five minutes I had orders for five more. I didn't even know what to price them because I'd never planned on selling them! The stylists ordered more and more for friends and family, showed them to their clients who ordered more, who showed them to friends and family who asked where they could get them... and I realized I'd better open an Etsy shop!

My favorite thing about my job is that I get to connect with customers in very real ways about very human emotions, and that my jewelry brings joy, hope, and comfort to those who wear it.