It all started on my sixteenth birthday with a class at a Richmond Virginia bead store. It was the first time I had ever been in a place like that--a place dedicated solely to making jewelry and personal adornments. I can still remember the way my eyes glazed over as I took in the thousands of different colors, shapes, and textures. I didn't stand a chance.

One wireworking class later, and I had a brand new necklace, and a brand new obsession. Over the years my materials and techniques have varied, but one thing remains unchanged--if it sparkles somehow, I am so there.

A few years ago my focus shifted once again from silver and semi-precious gemstones to the nearly lost art of beaded flowers. Beaded flowers are made by stringing some sort of bead, usually glass seed beads, on wire and then manipulating the beaded wire into petals and leaves.

But all that metal and glass is heavy, so when I started getting the itch to do craft shows again, I wanted something light and easily portable. Enter polymer clay. Polymer clay comes in blocks and can be combined with various other craft products like alcohol inks, mica, powdered pigments, glitter, acrylic paint, and metal leaf to create various shapes, colors, textures, and effects. It's an incredibly versatile medium which I combine with my original love of beads to create fun, whimsical, sparkly jewelry.