I am one of eight kids, no extra money, but plenty of love, laughs, encouragement and good guidance. My father, a polio victim at age 3, put braces on his legs and crutches under his arms every day and went to work. Mom was home and there for all of us every day, all day. We all learned to work and pitch in very early in life. My older brothers shined shoes, my sister and I helped my mother make jewelry at the kitchen table. It was literally milk money. I loved it, hence the wind blew me in that direction.
My first after school job was jewelry. My boss had scrap chain and I asked if I could have it. At the time, body chain jewelry was all the rage, (the 60's) so I made myself a full dress from that scrap chain. When my boss saw my creation, he asked if he could show it to someone, and that someone offered me a job designing jewelry at 17 years old. I learned everything about the manufacturing process. Three years later, at age 20, having at least 10 years experience making jewelry, I asked my parents what they thought of me going into business for myself. Answer: "You go girl"
Every business goes through different stages and mine did, too. I started making jewelry for other companies for several years then transitioned into developing my own line in the mid 80's.
My business was a true family business. First, my youngest brother, Michael, then my sister, Audrey, then her daughter, then Michael's son, Chris, and then my brother David's wife, Linda, then their son David, and that's just relatives. The women, girls, and young men that worked for me over the years were truly an extended family. We laughed every day, we dressed up for Halloween, spun the "Wheel of Plenty" for Thanksgiving, we exchanged gifts for Christmas, we had pizza day and hot weiner day. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun. I was truly blessed to work with the best group of folks any business owner could ever ask for.
Now here I am in my 60's. Soooooo many of my designs have never been seen before until now on Etsy. I am thrilled to be here and I hope you enjoy my life's work as much as I have.