I had a deep love for natural stones for a long time. A rare trip to places near and far wouldn’t result in a new tumbled rock, raw crystal, a stone figurine, or some jewelry featuring precious or semi-precious stones.
This eventually made me think that instead of just collecting pretty stones, I could make jewelry with them, and then others who appreciate the same things as me would enjoy wearing my creations. That was a “why haven’t I thought about it sooner” moment for me, followed by all kinds of ideas, but getting actually started took more than two years. Coming from years of bead embroidery and bead weaving, I was not sure what I wanted to do with much bigger stone beads, pearls, and shells. So I kept experimenting.
Pearls, natural wood, and shells became my other favorite materials that played nicely with natural stones, and now the more jewelry I make, the more I enjoy collaborating with my beads and other components.
Sometimes I plan a design first and find beads for it later, but often it starts with a few beautiful beads from a local bead store or an antique shop that serve as an inspiration for the whole design. All I have to do then is to find beads that will complement them and make a one of a kind piece of jewelry. But then again, there are pieces that refuse to come together even when ideas in my head seem to be fantastic, and then I go through multiple versions before me and my beads come to an agreement.
My first choice of components are always local bead shops, vendors at rock and mineral shows, and antiques that sell vintage jewelry and single beads. Nothing can compare to holding actual beads in my hands and choosing exactly what I need, getting leads to more local places of interest, and learning about more about the world of beads and beading. I do have a small group of carefully selected remote suppliers but turn to them only as a last resort.
Later on, I’ve added jewelry repair and custom jewelry to the mix. While it is always a pleasure to bring somebody’s treasured jewelry back to life, my main specialty now is custom jewelry.