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Hi there,
I grew up around the Mt.St.Helens area in Washington state. I am the daughter of a bonafied rockhound, stone mason, and artist. As a child my father would pick up my brothers and I and we would head out to hike up remote creeks hunting for agates, petrified wood, and Native American artifacts. He once took us on a trip to hunt for Geodes. These are some of my most treasured memories.
My husband and I moved up to the Olympic Peninsula in 2000 and have been here ever since. We really love this area where the mountains meet the ocean. It's really a spectacular place to live with no shortage of things to do in the outdoors.
One day while walking on the beach I discovered a little yellow, lemon drop shaped gem. I had no idea what it was but it was really beautiful. I continued to hunt for these "gems" not knowing until later that it was actually sea glass. I got my hands on a copy of Richard LaMotte's book 'Pure Sea Glass' and discovered the origin of sea glass.
I really wanted to make beautiful jewelery with my collection of sea glass and thought it would look really elegant to bezel the sea glass. The problem was that I didn't know how to do this. I went to a local jeweler and asked how I could bezel the sea glass. I was told that it wasn't possible because of the irregular shapes of the glass. Not to be deterred I went to a couple of jewelery supply shops and asked if they had any idea how to bezel the sea glass. They both referred me to another jeweler in our area. I contacted the jeweler and then met with him. As it turned out he is a serious fan and collector of sea glass with a huge collection. He was more than happy to teach me how to bezel and even helped me to order the tools and supplies necessary to do the job. What luck, thank you Michael! Since then I have been practicing, practicing, and practicing some more. It's been over a year and I'm getting pretty good at it. I spend alot of time on each piece I do and hope people really like them.
Thanks for reading my story. Have a good day!!
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