I believe that jewelry tells a story. It can be a secret story, a reminder to yourself; it can be a story you tell to the world around you; it can be a costume or a talisman or a suit of armor. I love stories, and I love the challenge of translating an image or a narrative into a beautiful, wearable medium. I design and make jewelry using vintage and antique glass, hardware, metal and sterling silver.

Old things are endlessly appealing to me, and when I design jewelry it's especially satisfying to use old materials in a new way. When the delicate beauty of old glass comes together with the hardworking story of metal to make a piece that speaks to you, that is work I love.

I'd just started making jewelry in 2007 when I discovered vintage glass beads. They sparked my imagination in a whole new way; I fell in love, and have been obsessively hunting for unusual components ever since. I love using materials with provenance, and I put a lot of time and effort into finding unique vintage beads in excellent condition. I also think it's important to recycle materials when I can. All of my silver wire comes from a company that recycles sterling silver scrap, and my packaging contains post-consumer recycled material.

My jewelry is sold in a number of brick and mortar shops around the United States, but selling online is my favorite venue. I love the connections that can blossom between the maker and the user of handmade things. So many of my own treasured things were made by people I later came to know as friends, and I love the stories that live in these things I see and use every day.

I try to make my photographs and descriptions as thorough as possible, but sometimes I forget something. Please feel free to convo me with questions or if you'd like to see additional pictures of a particular piece of jewelry.

Welcome to Leaves of Glass, and thank you for supporting handmade.

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On Etsy, I'm also urban legend, which is lightweight and colorful jewelry designed and made using vintage plastics. You can visit that shop at http://urbanlegend.etsy.com

My day job is production and office management for mavora.etsy.com, a graphic design and paper shop specializing in weddings.

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http://www.katerimorton.com
http://www.twitter.com/katerimorton