Are you bored when you walk into the mall or the jewelry store? Do you have trouble finding pieces that express your personality, and don’t offend your values?

That was me, and that’s why I started making jewelry about ten years ago. Minimalist style is lovely and classic, but it’s not who I am. Also, the Boho pieces I did like were often of poor quality, and mass-produced in third-world sweatshops, both things that go against my core values.

I’m a daydreamer, a lover of books and movies and music. Of science fiction, fairy tales, and all things Medieval and Arthurian. Steampunk and Art Nouveau are my favorite movements (I'm a mass of contradictions!), and I am inspired by nature, the forests, the oceans.

For years, I just bought simple clothes and jewelry that didn’t make me feel special at all, suppressing what I was inside. But then creative expression began seeping through, and finally exploded out of me. Now I can’t keep it in anymore.

Once I started making jewelry and giving it to friends, it just wouldn’t stop. Pretty soon, there was so much, I had to find more people to share it with. There’s nothing like the joy of seeing someone else feeling special and expressing herself by wearing my pieces!

I make great quality jewelry, often with recycled materials, right here in my south Florida studio. And 10% of my sales go to two charitable organizations. WaterAid provides clean water and basic sanitation for people in 38 countries (and counting). Kiva gives those less fortunate a leg up in their businesses so they can feed their families. I believe there is room for all of us and we can all help each other.

I have also learned the joy of teaching jewelry-making to others, especially when they may have thought they were not “artsy” at all because they couldn’t draw. We are all creative, and if you can use a twist-tie, you can make jewelry from just about anything.

So do join me on this journey, because we all deserve to express ourselves and feel special every day!