Inspired by the ocean....

Although it wasn't intentional, my latest beads and jewelry were inspired by the ocean.

I've wanted to learn to surf since I was tiny living in Southern California. If my family would have stayed, I'm sure I would have learned to surf by the time I was a teenager. Instead we moved to Port Townsend, WA., where I eventually learned to snowboard with my husband and our boys. Our shared love of snowboarding is what brought us to Bend 13 years ago.

Turning 40 made me realize that if I was ever going to learn to surf in this life, I'd better start soon. So last summer, my husband and I began our adventure of learning to surf! Neither one of us is very good. We're just barely able to stand up and catch tiny waves sometimes. We're having the best time though and it feels really good to be a beginner at something again.

The first beads from the Flowing Collection were made shortly after returning from our first (of hopefully many!) surf trips to the Oregon Coast....

You can see a bead from the Flowing Collection being made in the flame in this video:

You can also watch this short video to see one of the components, a latticino cane, being made:

Each piece in the Flowing Collection is either limited edition or one of a kind. You can see and shop for these beads, earrings and necklaces here.