Several years ago friends of ours showed my husband and me how to make a set of windchimes using old silverware, beading wire and decorative beads. We became hooked. We made several sets to give as presents and as we became more comfortable with the beading techniques, we soon realized that a lot of the handmade jewelry we were seeing for sale might be something we could take a stab at.

We started out with simple beaded necklaces with shells, seed beeds and freshwater pearls and then started with semi precious stones. As I wore the necklaces and started receiving more and more compliments, my confidence grew. And Keith, being the the great husband he is started finding beautiful beads for me on eBay to make into jewelry.

He finds the components and I put them into a design and enjoy the benefits of wearing the fruits of our labor, so to speak. I find that the creative process is relaxing from a stressful job and I especially enjoy learing new techniques and figuring out how take the vision in my head and turn it into a wearable piece of art.

I started creating on a huge old farm table in my dining room and now I have a designated crafting space. I still have a window with a view and I share the space with our kitty kids, the Three Little Kittens. They are always willing to help me as I create the next piece. You can usually find one of them napping nearby if they are not involved in assisting me.