This all started as a case of "monkey see, monkey do".

I have a friend who owns a bead shop and I would watch her work on projects while we met up to play role playing games once a week, and I found the whole process intriguing. It all started innocently enough: learning how to properly string and hand knot beads. Then the embroidery looked fun.. And Kumihimo just looked so zen!

Next thing I knew, I was carrying around a backpack full of jewelry making supplies just looking for free time to make something pretty!

Moving from beading to wire wrapping was a natural progression. And of course from wire wrapping to wire weaving.. Im SO inspired by the crafty skills of artists online, and that is reflected in my work. I collect as many skills as I can and then work really hard to put them all together in my own way.

Im still growing, still learning, and still craving the chance to try many new techniques. Some people were gifted at being very athletic, or good at math: I'm simply good at crafts. I can learn and pick up new skills quickly, but I struggle to perfect them and I am very hard on myself. I try not to get discouraged in my quest for perfection, but it's hard not to. I want to make the best I can possibly make, and keep learning more, and share my knowledge with others along the way.

I've recently started a YouTube channel ( www.youtube.com/thedragonsgem )despite the whole YouTube / COPPA hullabaloo, and have a few tutorials up at the time of writing this. I hope I get to make many more to share with the world. I sincerely believe that knowledge is meant to be shared and not hoarded, or else skills and techniques die with their keepers. The more we share our talents, the more they can be developed and grow. I'm so pleased to be part of that development process.