Twenty years ago, I was a widow with three young children. The need to be at home with them and my love of working with sterling silver and gemstones gave me the courage to take a leap of faith. I quit my day job and started making and selling my silver wire jewelry full time. I dove in head first and, by the grace of God, it worked out. I took some classes in Silversmithing to expand upon my skills. In 2007, SilverTrove became an Etsy shop.

Working one-on-one with my customers allows me to create custom personalized pieces which is one of the things I love about selling online. Every piece of SilverTrove jewelry is creatively designed and forged with love from partially recycled materials. In my studio, I follow strict environmental standards and recycle all possible materials and bi-products. I actively seek metals and materials that are responsibly sourced. I am concerned about the environmental and social impact of silver, gold and gemstone mining and I recycle the silver I work with, but no metalsmith can be sure that all the metals they work with have been ethically obtained. Did you know that producing enough 'new' gold for one ring generates 20 tons of mine waste that is being dumped into or rivers, lakes and streams? I hope we will someday have verified source information on all suppliers of jewelry metals and gemstones with the help of organizations like Earthworks. I am an active member of Earthworks and I urge everyone to sign the "No Dirty Gold Pledge" because gold, silver and gemstones are all obtained from the same mines. Earthworks exposes plans to open mines that would pollute natural resources and destroy wildlife and habitat and they work hard to stop them. They also expose mines with unsafe working conditions, unfair wages and underage employees and have been very successful in stopping these unethical practices. Go to: http://www.earthworksaction.org/
for more information including a link to the "No Dirty Gold Pledge". Their work is important because they expose unethical mining practices and are working to establish mining standards. Someday I hope all metalsmiths will know the source of the metals and gemstones they purchase. I hope we can all honor the earth first above our desire for aesthetic beauty.