About Me

I love color – always have.  Kaleidoscopes, rainbows, stained glass, you name it.  I can remember as a little girl, how fascinated I was with a 64 count box of crayons.  It was like a 64-color rainbow.  My love for jewelry is just as great.

Several years ago, I read an article on making beaded jewelry and thought to myself ‘I’d love to be able to do that!’.  I suppose I could go through my library of bead magazines to find out exactly when, as that was when I started buying every bead magazine I could get my hands on.  But we won’t go there…..  After reading the article, I immediately started researching the making of beaded jewelry.  And then it happened, I went to a local bead show (the beginning of the end) and that eventually led to my discovery of Lampwork Beads.  I was hooked! 

For Valentine’s Day the following year, my husband bought me the book, Making Glass Beads by Cindy Jenkins.  For a couple of years, I toyed with the idea of trying to make my own lampwork beads but lacked confidence in my ability to do it.  Torches, propane, oxygen, glass rods, mandrels and on and on?  I knew nothing of all that!  Finally I decided to take the plunge and signed up for a 2-day class with Gary Newlin at a local bead store.  I returned home with a torch and hoses and no clue how to hook them up.  Luckily my multi-talented husband did!  After taking over the oxygen tank he used for welding, purchasing some glass and other necessities, here I am.  Well, there was a little more than that involved, but I won’t bore you with the details.

On a more personal note, I live in the majestic mountains of Western North Carolina with my husband and our three beautiful children, who by the way, have suffered through countless bead shows, suppers of Campbell’s soup and scrambled egg sandwiches, a messy house and having a permanent card table, covered with beads in the living room (not to mention everything else covered with beads).  All this to allow their mom/wife to pursue this obsessi…..I mean dream, and I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. 

And I thank God, not only for blessing me with a love for glass beads and jewelry and the ability to share it, but also for the courage to try.

Thank you for visiting my website and taking the time to learn more about me.  I hope you enjoy the beads and jewelry here as much as I enjoy creating them.

Vicki ~