I've been crocheting since I was a little girl and my grandma showed me how to make simple house slippers to slide over your socks. It all started with one simple chain. . .



In high school, I began making jewelry and selling it out of a backpack at street fairs and festivals during the summertime. Walking around The East 185th Street Fair in Cleveland during August 2002 with 10 bracelets on each arm and a sign that said "1 for $5, 2 for $7" was the first dollar I ever made selling my jewelry. I should have had it framed - but I'm sure that I spent it on fried dough and carnival games later that very night!



In college, crafting seemed to take a backseat and even after I entered the work force, my long hours at the office usually found me too weary to pick up my crochet needle, and be productive afterwards. My beading supplies gathered dust & my fingers started to itch with unspent creativity and imagined projects. My to-do list seemed a mile long with paper lanterns, crochet flowers, D.I.Y. summer flip-flops. . .



In 2010, I moved to Martha's Vineyard with my boyfriend and our cats. We left behind the city life and since then I've been able to put a 9-5 job in the backseat and simply let my creative engines roar. After much urging from my family and friends to share my work with the rest of the world world, I opened up shop here on Etsy and never looked back.



Since my first Etsy sale, I've shipped all over the continental U.S. and various places across the world including Canada, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the U.K. I love knowing that my work will be enjoyed by someone, worn by someone special -- somewhere in this wide world, and most of all: treasured by a person who enjoys handmade objects.



I can see the ocean from where I sit in my studio, weaving my summer jewelry. Every day, I am inspired by the prolific and simplistic beauty of nature, which is abundant on this gorgeous island. When I'm not crafting, I love to take nature hikes and let me say: It isn't hard to imagine a flower before it becomes a crochet applique... or to imagine wearing my brightly colored anklets and bracelets while we dig our toes in the sand on a hot summer day. . .



My sea life plush toys, flower headbands and funky summer jewelry are all products of this essential spark - the inspiration, the colors, shapes, textures, the way the light falls on the petal of a daffodil, the roar of the ocean at night -- all those wild and beautiful things that make you want to create.