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there's a lot to tell

i first took a jewelry design course in high school and became infatuated with creating beautiful unique items to wear that i could say i made.  sadly, after high school there was not really a place for me to create and real life began - working to pay bills and having little to no time to create. 

fortunately, i have energy unlike most and have always worked more then one job (sometimes as many as 5-6) which unfortunately, left me with very little time to be creative in any way.  as far as making jewelry, there was not only the lack of time, but the lack of money and space for the expensive equipment and materials.  that is until one day debbie, fran and tanesja came into the office wearing the cutest beaded necklaces proclaiming "i made it" when i took notice.  they had taken a stringing class at a local bead store - immediately i was in love and the epiphany that i did not need a 'studio' to create was realized.  well, it's now about four years later and my idea to string led to my finding lampwork which caused my desire to make my own beads.  a private lampworking class with mari johnson (she rocks!) of new lenox's blue fire beads in 2002 started the real madness!  now I not only have a lampworking set up, but I have the basics for silversmithing and most recently fell in-love with PMC and fine silver through a class with kate mckinnon.  i plan (hope) to grow and grow and grow until i have all of the toys that I want and 'need'.  that's where you come in.  hopefully you find my creations a necessity affording me the ability to keep learning and buying and buying and learning.

i am very close with my family and friends and without them would not be where i am today (literally since some of them are my best customers!).  additionally, i have the most supportive (yet cranky) boyfriend you could ever imagine -- and i wouldn't change a single thing about him.  he told me my creations were amazing and oogled over my glasswork long before it was anything to be too proud of and he often makes life bearable when i feel like i am coming apart at the seams.  we have two cats, a dog, three lizards and three fish - although, sometimes i wonder if they have us.  being home is far more like being on the discovery channel some days.  

i work full-time at an accounting firm and also do some secret shopping in my diminishing spare time (the picture above is of me from a mystery shopping article in Crain's Chicago Business magazine in the summer of 2006 - and is the most you'll likely see of me in pictures).  i am trying to stay to just one and a half jobs now so that I can go back to what makes me happy - creating.  i can only hope that my little creations make you happy too!