More Than Wire and Beads: My Story of Life, Loss, and Love

People always ask me how long I’ve been making jewelry, and honestly, I never really know what to say. I opened my Etsy shop back in 2011, but my jewelry journey started way before that—and it’s been a wild ride ever since.

Back in 2011, life looked pretty different. I was happily married, raising a little girl, and working long, rotating 12-hour shifts. My Etsy shop was just this tiny side hustle with a few pieces listed. Sales were super slow, but I still remember how thrilled I was when I sold 10 custom “Tiny Dancer” necklaces to a buyer in Canada. It felt amazing at the time!

Then in 2013, everything turned upside down. My husband was diagnosed with grade 3 brain cancer. The next 15 months were a blur of surgeries, chemo, and trying to hold it all together. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through, and sometimes I still wonder how I got through it. I ended up packing away all my jewelry supplies to make space for family who came to help out, and I didn’t touch wire or beads for years.

On top of that loss, I’ve also struggled with depression my entire life, which makes it even harder to feel creative at times. There have been periods when I really wanted to make something but just didn’t have the energy or spark.

But…life kept moving. I found a new job with normal hours, found love again, and eventually moved into a new home—with my own space just for making jewelry! I got my Etsy shop up and running again in 2018, jumped back into craft fairs in 2022, and just last year, I launched my own website. My daughter’s grown up now, and these days, I focus on the people and things that bring me peace and joy.

"Life is a journey filled with rough patches and beautiful moments, but through it all, creativity has always been how I carry them both."