Bead Chat Magazine Spring 2014 | Page 26

Meet The Maker begin his first year of school, fulltime, and I thought I’d have some free It all started with hearts. I had been dabbling in making jewelry for a couple of years. time on my hands. I could learn to I was a big fan of Swarovski crystals in my make my own hearts! Wouldn’t that be awejewelry designs and I loved weaving them into bracelets. I’m also a huge fan of hearts, some? That first amazing class was in 2005 if it has a heart or looks like a heart I will love and I was hooked. Before my classes ended I it. I just love anything and everything hearts. had scraped together enough money to buy My giant leap toward creating jewelry com- a torch, a few supplies and a small stash of glass. My husband set up a spot in the baseponents began with the hearts. I was having a difficult time finding the right size and ment for my studio and I’ve been there ever since. style of heart I wanted to use in my jewelry designs. I didn’t know about art beads at What is the inspiration behind your style? that time and my search was limited to local bead shops. I don’t know why I didn’t take my search to the internet but I’m glad I My style? I’m not sure I have a specific style. I like to learn new techniques. Sometimes didn’t or I may have never began this creaI feel like I should focus on one medium tive journey. In my search for hearts I came across a local and develop a cohesive style within that craft center that was offering lampworkmedium. I can’t help myself though. I am so intrigued by new techniques, even new ing classes. My youngest was just about to Where and when did it all begin for Ema K Designs? 26 artisanwhimsy.net