A Beaded Affair

Pennsylvania Craft Jeweler discovering the art in crafting, selling and promoting my friends.

Since I was a little girl I’ve had a fascination with jewelry and gemstones. I could be found in my mother’s jewelry box on any given Saturday. When I was 10 my Grandmother gave me an antique belcher style ring made by my great grandfather who was a jeweler and I fell in love with antiques. Some years later, grown up and with a job I started collecting antique jewelery and gemstones specializing in old diamonds. Enjoying my collection soon wasn’t enough. I needed to learn how to set stones so I could wear what I collected. I’ve never believed in jewelry sitting in a jewelry box. It needs to be worn and enjoyed.

That decision started me on an adventure in learning and expanding my jewelry tastes. First I taught myself to set gems and then discovered precious metal wire. Wire sculpture allowed me so much design flexibility without the expense of purchasing soldering equipment and could be done in my home. Just about then, sterling silver prices surged and became prohibitively expensive for experimentation and I found copper wire. Originally purchased for practice and design development I realized I loved the warmth and feel of copper and started including these pieces in my portfolio and buyers loved it too. Next came beaded necklaces to accent the wire sculpture pieces and another passion was born. I came to the beaded jewelry world through the back door and find I am right back where I started at gemstones having found wonderful sources for real gemstone beads like sapphire and diamond.

My journey is only beginning.