Early September 1996, my son and I finally escaped the house we had called home for the last few years. Living with an abusive alcoholic was takings it toll on both of us. We left with our clothes and a meager checking account and moved in with my parents’ house for safety... the scary, dark cloud of the past 4 years had been removed.

My son wanted to send a special gift to his half sister for her birthday. We went to Hobby Lobby in search of something he could make for her. We were both captivated by the beads department. It was there we found a complete kit for making a rose quartz necklace. It contained a beautiful crystal, beads, stringing material and all necessary findings for completing the necklace at a reasonable price. While scanning through the selection I came across one with a beautiful amethyst which I could not refuse for myself. Completely satisfied with our purchases we set for home to string our necklaces.

Being 12 years old he was immediately distracted as soon as we got home and held no interest in putting together the one he was going to make for his sister so I proceeded to make both. By the time I finished both necklaces, having altered both from the directions to what I perceived to be more pleasing to the eye, I was hooked, and I do mean hooked completely.

I woke up the next morning and went to hobby lobby and spent $100 on beads and finding. This would normally be fine except I was financially unable to afford such expenses. Throwing caution to the wind and concentrating on the little voice screaming so loudly from within I spent almost all of our meager checking account on my new found addiction.

However, I was not the only one hooked on this new craze; my son was completely caught up, too. He enjoyed designing necklaces for me to make for him to wear to school. It was there that one of the school employees spoke with him about a necklace he was wearing. A short conversation lead to her calling me and coming over to the house to see my rapidly growing collection of beaded brainstorms. She immediately fell in love with my designs and soon asked the million dollar question: "how much would you charge me to make this in a different color?" It was at that very second that it all made sense. I could do this for a living! From that second on the days and nights became one big blur. I was making jewelry 18+ hours a day. I could not control myself, the ideas were pouring out faster than I could make them. Quite a few words come to mind: obsessed, addicted, consumed, captivated, fixated, turned on, hooked, enthusiastic, fanatical, passionate, spirited, zealous, determined, driven, persistant, relentless, tenacious, unwavering, engrossed. Well, you get the idea. I went completely and totaly bonkers at Hobby Lobby.

Within a month I rented a small booth space at a local craft mall. My inventory was growing at a rapid pace. The craft mall turned out to be a not so profitable venture. Desperate for the perfect place to sell my jewelry, I was told that I should set up a booth at the Farmer's Market at the Little Rock River Market. Early March 1997 I took two tables, table clothes, shelves, and a chair and displayed my jewelry for the public to see. The responses I got were overwhelming. My sales that first day surpassed a month of sales at the craft mall. Once again i was totally hooked and knew I was on the right path.

Since then I have turned my beading craving into a business. January 1998 I offically left the hobby-hood, so to speak, and got my business license and tax i.d. number and started taking credit cards. It was slow going at first. I needed to reinvest everything I made in to the business, and being a single mom made this a very difficult task. But my son and I were sold on the business that we gave birth to and we were determined that we would make it work no matter what the sacrifices. And we did. Since then, my son has graduated from high school and is working and over 21 years old. He is still behind me 100%. I am no longer a single mom. I met a wonderful man; we married and bought a house together. I now have my very own 'bead room' for my business. I am still a dedicated Farmer's Market vendor and suppose that I always will be. My business has ventured in other directions leading me to teach classes at a fantastic little bead store in Sherwood, Kittie's Kreations and I am also starting to sell wholesale to a few retail stores. I desigend this website from the ground up (that took a few weeks!) I will be making and selling instrucional dvd's and hope to have my first book published soon. So, as you can see, I am still just as consumed today as I was over 10 years ago. However, I have finally learned how to take breaks and not work till my health suffers. But you can rest assured, that the majority of the hours of my day are spent on this business in some form or another. Oh Dear Lord its so very wonderful to be able to so something that I love to do so very dearly each and every day and to never grow tired of it and still be able to pay the bills to boot! Thank-you God for blessing me with this wonderful job!

Life for me is good! I have made wonderful friends at the River Market, both vendors and some truly awesome customers, and I thank God every day for the gift he has given me. I am truly blessed....