I hand select my beads, stones and other elements for all my projects. For earrings, I match two items for size, color and shape as best as possible so please allow for the natural variations found in most gemstones. I use fine silver, sterling silver, gold filled components and occasionally 14K gold. I may also use copper, brass and aluminum in my jewelry. Metals used are always listed. I generally knot pearls with silk thread. Some of the glass beads I've made myself using lampworking or fused glass techniques, and their description will reference that. I also use more mainstream materials like gemstones, Swarovski crystals, Bali silver, etc.

The term means that a tube of karat gold (no less than 20% of the overall weight) is permanently bonded to a core of less expensive metal. Gold-filled metal work contains over a hundred times more gold than cheap gold-plated pieces. Under normal wear, and with the reasonable care that you would give any precious metal jewelry, gold-filled jewelry will not peel or flake and can be treasured as heirloom pieces. Just like karat gold, it is tarnish-resistant and safe for most people with sensitive skin.

Gemstones fall into two classes: precious (diamond, emerald, ruby, sapphire) and semi-precious (opal, agate, jasper, onyx). Gemstones can be used in a variety of ways: mined raw, polished, carved or cut. I generally use semi-precious gemstones in my designs, or a combination of the two.

Swarovski produces the finest quality Austrian full-lead crystals in the world. These crystals are renowned for their brilliance and clarity. Their precisely faceted edges and angles allow light to pass through and reflect in a prism of colors. The Czech Republic is a prodigious producer of glass beadwork of all kinds, their crystals are very good quality machine cut stones but are not as brilliant as Swarovski's giving them a "softer" appearance. I use both in the jewelry I make.

Dichroic glass is created by adding a thin layer of metallic oxides which transmit certain light wavelengths while reflecting others, causing an iridescent effect. The color appears to change at different angles. I buy sheets of dichroic glass, cut pieces, and then grind the pieces into the shape I want. I then layer them and fuse them in my kiln.

Most glass has a high melting point but when placed in a kiln, layers of dissimilar glass can be melted and bonded (or "fused") together to make jewelry, art pieces, etc. This process usually involves using cut and ground pieces of colored, dichroic and clear glasses to give the final product dimension and depth.

Lampworking is a type of glasswork that utilizes a high-heat torch to melt rods, tubes, and sheets of clear and colored glass to a molten state. The liquid glass is then draped onto steel rods (mandrels) where it can be shaped with a variety of tools. Lampworked beads come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.

Vintage beads are older or antique beads which I've usually acquired by hunting down legacy pieces and dissecting them. Most of my vintage beads have been purchased from auctions and estate sales, or donated from friends and family. They are unique and beautiful but don't ask me what they're made of, most of the time I really don't know!

This is basically giving an article of jewelry an antiqued look. I especially like using this process on segments that have coiled wire in them because it brings out the depth. It's time consuming and labor-intensive but I feel the end result is well worth it. The precious metal is dipped in a solution for darkening, progressing from a light brownish shade to black. I then clean and dry the piece, and follow-up by hand polishing with fine grade steel wool to remove the dark areas from the raised portions of metal, which renders a three dimensional effect. In most cases, I then put the jewelry in a tumbler, which burnishes the metal and produces a brilliant shine.

I do all of the design, wire work, wrapping, stringing, sawing, drilling, filing, polishing, melting, soldering, fusing and assembly work by hand in my home studio. I pride myself on my workmanship and I want my jewelry to reflect that attention to detail.

Because of the care I take in making my jewelry, it should last for years with normal wear. Handle it as you would any other piece of favorite jewelry. You should avoid wearing ALL jewelry in water, especially when taking a bath, swimming, or washing dishes. Detergents, chemicals, even body oils may cause premature tarnishing and fading. You may also be surprised to know that the coloration of some natural stones may be affected by sunlight and temperature changes.

Precious Metal Clay (PMC) is a substance developed in the 1990's, which suspends microscopic particles of fine silver, gold, or platinum in a moldable clay base. When kiln-fired at high temperatures the metal particles bond to each other and the clay binder dissipates resulting in solid forms used for jewelry-making as well as sculpture. As you can imagine, this is an expensive material to work with. Silver PMC produces works of .999 pure (fine) silver.