When I was still a little girl, I attended boarding school because of distances between our farm and the town. My dad/mom would drop me off before school starts on a Monday morning, and fetched me again straight after school on a Friday, normally at about 13h15. I then would spend the weekend on the farm.

My mom was really very good with sewing, baking, creating things, painting, and often made me special dolls' clothes. She will then dress the doll in the new clothes, and should they go to town during the week, leave the dressed up doll on my bed in the boarding school. I will then find the "surprise" on my bed when I return from school that day.

One of my very special memories from those years is a particular doll that was dressed in a full length pure white wedding gown. I came home from school one day and there was this beautifully dressed up dolly on my bed. I can still picture the image, it is so vivid.

What I didn’t know then is that a passion for beautifully beaded items was born. That wedding gown was certainly one of the most gorgeous things any little girl can have, the sequins beads were just awesome, tiny little beads adorned the gown, and it was just beautiful to look at, touch and hold.

My passion for beads was buried for some years, life happened, and only in 2009 did I have the time and opportunity to start beading.

The fascination of beads lead my through many paths and techniques, stringing, looming, bead weaving, and finally I found my niche in Bead Embroidery. Which shouldn’t be a surprise, as the passion was born with a beautifully embroidered wedding gown for my dolly when I was still small.

Living in the most beautiful part of the world, near Cape Town in South Africa, has both advantages and disadvantages. Beading wise I’m far away from the Beading World in America and Europe, and had to teach myself all I needed to know about techniques etc. I discovered resin, polymer clay, and ventured into making my own cabochons. Local hardware stores became a source of supplies as I bought and made my own aluminium inserts for my cuffs. Material shops became another huge friend, as I could buy my leatherette and bugle beads from the bridal section.

Internet is an absolute blessing, and during June 2012 I discovered a source for gemstone cabochons in another part of our country some 1200 odd miles away. I now can choose which cabochon is most suited for a piece of jewelry, being it resin, polyclay or gemstones, and often combine various types of cabs for my jewelry.

Whenever I have the means available, I buy beads. Small, large, various shapes and sizes, anything and everything to do with beads so I have the choice of using a wide variety when creating. Good books are also a source of inspiration, I purchased several to help me with my techniques, and you-tube provided several good videos to help me. Of course many beading websites made their way into my home by providing me with information, none of which I could go without.

My Etsy Shop opened in January 2012. It is a honor to share my creations with the rest of the world, I’m now part of a Beading Community who support me, teach me, and through Etsy I can not only reach the Beading World, but the Beading World can also reach and interact with me.

I was totally over the moon when I was approached by a member of the Etsy Bead Embroidery Guild some months ago whom asked me to become a member. What an honor for me, as I only started Bead Embroidery during July 2011. All of the sudden the Beading World became very small, I was in immediate contact with Best of the Best!

Etsy not only provided me with a platform for my Beaded Jewelry, it also provided me with a shop to sell from, friends from all over the world, continues interacting with a beaded community which never would have been possible if I didn’t open up shop on Etsy.

And to think that it all started with a beautifully made wedding gown for my dolly – in a way I’m honoring my Mom in continuing the bead embroidery tradition she started so many years ago.

I have come full circle!