My mother's jewelry box was filled with amazing pieces that my dad would bring home from his overseas adventures in the Navy and as a young girl, I would spend hours sorting, holding and trying on her treasures. Earrings were especially fascinating to me and I love to watch them dance and sparkle while being worn. I was so very eager for my own pierced ears but I had to wait until I was 12 which seemed to be an excruciatingly long time.

My very first job as a teenager was assisting in a jewelry booth at an outdoor market. This was an amazing experience which taught me so much about hard work. I so enjoyed the process of helping someone find the perfect gift. Then, I went on to earn a B.S. in Business (Marketing) and a Master's in Teaching. Now, I am so fortunate to be able to make and sell jewelry in my spare time.

When my daughter was in high school, I decided it would be a great opportunity for her to assist in a home-based business and develop her work ethic so we took my hobby to our local Saturday Market and we set up a booth every Saturday for five years beginning in 2007.

In 2012, I decided to devote my attention to offering jewelry only online as my Etsy business had grown and I could no longer manage a physical inventory for the market and produce all of the personalized orders that were coming in. In 2013, I reduced my teaching hours to help keep up and in 2014, I decided to downsize the business and return to teaching full time. It's been fun and challenging to keep life in balance as I make jewelry part time and continue to teach reading at the elementary school near my home.

While I miss the lively face to face interactions of the market, I love the convenience of working from home. I live in a small, rural community with fabulous views, friendly people, and a cute little post office.

I primarily use two processes in my jewelry to create the personalized made to order pieces that have become my mainstay.

WHAT IS HAND STAMPING?
The process of hand stamping is often confused with engraving. In hand stamping, a metal shaft, with a raised letter on the bottom, is placed on a metal piece. The opposite end of this shaft is hit with a hammer to create an impression in the metal.

WHAT IS FUSING?
I don't much care for the constant use of chemicals (acid) needed for soldering sterling silver. I therefore choose to fuse fine silver which is practically pure silver. With a small torch, I can bring the temperature of silver wire to the melting point of silver and "melt" the ends of the wire together. This is how I create the surrounding rings for necklaces or stacking finger rings and knot rings that I offer. After the items are fused, I put them in a rock tumbler with steel shot. Each "hit" helps to compress and harden the silver molecules and give the piece a high shine.