My initial training is in engineering.  I've spent 21 years doing design and management at high tech engineering companies.  Work in this industry is very competitive and produces lots of stress so I've found various non-engineering outlets that give me a less stressful way to create things. 

One hobby I have that my husband shares is scuba diving.  This is actually where the name for my creative side came from.  Diving around San Diego means going into pretty cold water and I'm a cold wimp.  To deal with this I ended up buying a dry suit - in purple and black.  Needless to say I'm an interesting site coming out of the water with a bulky purple/black dry suit, silver tank on my back, pink flotation vest, ...  and I'm usually struggling to walk since I've got very small feet for my size (lots of PSI on small area = sink deep into sand).  So my hubby started joking I looked like a sea serpent/monster coming out of the water.  When he found a rubber stamp with a sea serpent on it and bought it for me to use as a "signature" stamp on my hand made cards the name stuck.  I modified the spelling a bit so I could even use it for my license plate and so sea serpent became cserpent and has now expanded to cserpentDesigns!

I've been making hand made cards for 10+ years.  I also play soccer and between games at a tournament one of my soccer friends got me to go to a wire wrapping class.  I made my first bracelet in that class (and as I look at it now I want to take it apart and redo it to look a lot nicer!).  I then saw a beaded watch band in a magazine and figured I could expand on that idea and make myself a cool beaded watch band in PURPLE!  (my favorite color).  I started the watch band using gold plated findings, finished it up at another wire wrapping class and got interest from many of my friends and family in having jewelry made for them.  I still was just dabbling and got really mad when the gold plated findings started to tarnish in a very short amount of time.  From that I learned my lesson about making things that last - don't make them with gold or silver plated parts!

That 2nd wire wrapping class really kick started my interest in making jewelry with beads (beads and more beads! - aka BBMB).  I took some classes in basic jewelry making (stringing, knotting, ...) and have been making jewelry for family and friends and customers for 3 years now.  My designs are also available at a gallery in La Jolla,CA - Art in 18K. You can link to it and see my other items for sale from my website. I have a great time buying the parts needed to make my jewelry.  Sometimes I'll find one interesting bead or stone and that will be the kick start for a piece of jewelry.  I really enjoy the creation process and get excited when I finish a piece and can share it with folks I know and with ebay I can now share my creations with a much larger family.

I hope you enjoy my designs as much as I do!