Every item in my shop is handmade by me in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. No outsourcing, no off-shoring, no casting, no mass production. It's just me -- and a righteous stash of beads and wonderful things, suggesting new possibilities daily. I love my life.
My grandfather was a bronze casting artisan for Louis Comfort Tiffany, and I grew up with a deep appreciation for glass and metal arts. The alchemical process of silversmithing was revealed to me at the venerable Worcester Center for Crafts, where I was incredibly lucky to find myself in the classroom of Kelly Jean Conroy Bultema, MFA, who is a very successful etsy artist in her own right.
Right now, I'm engaged in selling my work for the purpose of raising money for Morethanme.org, to help house and educate girls in Liberia left orphaned by the Ebola epidemic. The severity and urgency of the situation there has led me to put aside my other preoccupations and donate 100% of my proceeds to this very worthy charity. Check out their website -- it's really exciting to see how even small donations can go a long way to keeping these girls off the street!