Beading and Me: A Love Story

Once upon a time, when I was a very little girl in summer camp, I spotted an older girl (about 12) with these incredible bug earrings.  They were large-ish green and black flies with mesh plastic wings -- and I was entranced. 

"Where did you get those?"  I asked.

"I made them," she said.

I went home that day determined to bead pretty much everything I could find into earrings.  My father, a talented metal worker, already had all the wires and cutters and simple instruction I'd need.  That, at the age of nine, began my lifelong love affair with beading. 

My childlike enthusiasm for beading hasn't wavered one bit over the decades.  In my travels, I enjoy collecting rare beads--made from material indigenous to the place--as well as natural trinkets like glass, shells, stone and wood to string into one-of-a-kind wearable treasures.

I enjoy using my love of beading to create awareness and raise money for causes I believe in, including several children's charities and domestic violence organizations.