About Me

Where to start? What to say?
*Warning* I tend to ramble.

First, I want to thank my husband, Jeff, for being supportive and encouraging. If it weren't for him, I'd never have gotten started in this fantastic, fascinating hobby/craft/art/business! Thank you, Jeff, for putting up with me and all my interests.

Second, I'd like to thank my wonderful son, Josh, for doing the majority of the work on this website. But he says now it is up to me to keep it going! Oh, No!

I grew up around arts and crafts. My family lived in a tiny town in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. We always got a lot of snow and Mom kept busy with all kinds of different arts and crafts. What else can you do when you are house bound and the only channel on T.V. has more snow than outside? She always encouraged us kids to try new things, too.

So, I learned counted-cross stitch, knitting (barely), crochet, acrylic, oil, and watercolor painting, painting on glass, yarn punch, sewing, quilting, woodburning, wood carving, papermaking, bottle cutting, stained glass work, pottery, sculpting, beads... Ahh, beads, that was what captured my interest time and time again. Buttons, seed beads, wooden beads, beads made out of found objects, bead loom weaving, crocheted beads, macrame necklaces with beads, beads stitched onto clothes... Hey! I can make beads out of oven baked clay! I learned how to make millifiori canes with fimo and make them into beads. I learned that I could sand the clay beads with super fine wet-dry sandpaper and make them silky smooth then coat them to give them a glass-like shine. They almost looked like the real thing (glass). I kept trying to get my oven baked clay beads to look more like glass. Then one day I discovered a beginners lampworking kit in a craft catalog. I didn't know you could actually MAKE glass beads! I began to lust after a lampwork kit of my own. It was all I ever talked about.

In 1998, my wonderful husband, Jeff, surprised me with a HotHead kit with all the trimmings for my birthday. I was in love and hooked! After my first attempt at making beads, I felt so wealthy. A whole palm full of handmade glass beads that were mine and I had made them myself! My sister-in-law, Cheri, put my first beads together in a bracelet for me. What a great way to preserve my first beads! I still love them, and the bracelet!

The following year Jeff took me to Embellishment in Sacramento for a two day lampworking class with Leah Fairbanks and Kim Osbin. I learned so much from them. In the class I got to use a minor torch. It was SO much quieter than the HotHead and it melted the glass so much quicker. I loved it and went on and on about it the first night after class. My husband insisted I get a complete setup at the convention, torch, hoses, regulators, kiln, extra glass, everything! Isn't Jeff wonderful?!? Who was I to argue with such a man?

We came home, got everything set up, and I was in heaven! A wonderful friend of ours made me a steel table top with a back splash and rounded edges and corners. Leah and Kim advised buying an oxygen tank as opposed to renting one because the cost could balance out in only a year. I called around town to find out about oxygen tanks and found one of our local businesses was very helpful and patient with me. I still go to them to get my oxygen tank refilled, and the men who work there are great! In 2000, Jeff surprised me at Christmas by giving me certificate to take a class taught by Sharon Peters at Arrow Springs. I was so excited! The class wasn't until February and the wait was forever! I learned a lot from Sharon about working the glass and being creative. Very creative.

I dabbled off and on with my bead making, taking watercolor classes and pottery classes in between bouts with my torch, then in the summer of 2003, I decided it was time to get serious about my bead making and tried to get to my torch every day. I began to wish there was a bead store in town where I could possibly sell my beads. Lo and behold! Crow Girl's Beads and Things opened up in downtown Sonora. I went in with my mom to buy some doodads to go with my beads for a necklace and Lis, the store owner, asked me to bring in some beads and a display and she would sell them. Wow! I didn't even have to ask her! A big thanks to Lis and Dan Nelson for their encouragement and enthusiasm.

Then I began to think about trying to sell on eBay. I happened to find help in the guise of Julie Ann Smith of Angelamp Beads, a wonderful eBay seller who was VERY generous, sharing her helpful advise and experiences about getting started on eBay. And SO encouraging! And bossy! Telling me I was good enough, to stop being afraid, and to get out there and sell my beads! Thanks Jules!

So, now you know how I got started in the wonderful world of lampworking. Any questions?

And in my non-lampworking time (which is only eight hours a day), I'm a Teacher's Aide at a nearby grammar school.

I'm short, my hair is ever-changing (right now it is in the process of changing from brown to white streaked), my eyes are hazel (from my dad), I love arts and crafts (from my mom).

Me

Jeff