Before I retired from the world's largest food company after almost 20 years I used to jokingly tell my friends that I would just send my entire paycheck to one of the premier artisan jewelry sites to feed my addiction to beads and baubles! I used to kid that the owner, a famous actor would send me Christmas cards every year I spent so much money on his site. And then I retired and I was faced with the reality that no only did I no longer have any place to wear all that jewelry on a daily basis but I could no longer afford to purchase more as now I was on a budget. UGH. And then my marriage collapsed and I decided that I needed a back up plan for the rest of my life. "Why not make jewelry" I asked myself. No problem. I'll just start making it. WOW - wake up call! I never realized just how difficult it was but after beginning over and over again I think I finally got it right. And I have to admit I've never had so much fun at a "job" before! I design and create everything I make in my shop. My only problem is that there just isn't enough time in the day to do everything I plan out. I now babysit my new granddaughter who was born in late 2015 which takes up most of my time and in my "spare" time I teach taekwondo to the children of military families on base at Fort Leavenworth, KS as a third degree black belt - another "addiction" of mine! I started in the martial arts (for the second time - first time was in 1973) 8 years ago with my daughter (a second degree) and my 13 year old granddaughter (a 3rd degree also). So between Taekwondo classes, teaching it and babysitting my life is rather hectic. I try to "play" with my beads for a bit every night when possible and when I can't find time I have jewelry withdrawals! Hence the name of my shop. It truly is an addiction - one for which there is no 12 step program for. But then, I'm not looking to stop any time soon!
I hope you've enjoyed my story. If you have any questions, please feel free to send me a convo as I love chatting not only to all the friends I've made on Etsy but also customers. Enjoy!!