for Jewelry Makers

Insight and skills to elevate your jewelry practice

Here’s my list of dates for the next few months. I’ll add details for everything soon. Please be in touch if you are interested in a specific course, and I’ll send you the information.

Workshops and Classes for 2026

March 14 and 15, Building a Best-Selling Collection at Metal Arts Guild GA
link to register

March 22, Sunday, Tube clasp, in my studio 

March 30 - April 20, Mondays, Spring 1, Classes, in my studio   

April 11 and 12, Basket setting, in my studio, link to register

April 18, Saturday, Tube Clasp, online

April 19, Sunday, FREE, Making a punch to use for hammer setting, online

April 27-May 18, Mondays, Spring 2, Classes, in my studio   

May 2, Saturday, Wax model for a symmetrical ring with a gem, online

May 23 and 24, Hollow form ring with gem, in my studio

May 31 – July 7, 6-week series, Building a Collection, online

June 1 - June 22, Mondays, Summer 1 Classes, in my studio 

June 29 - July 20, Mondays, Summer 2 Classes, in my studio

Additional offerings for jewelry makers:

Weekly Newsletter

Online design program

In-person classes

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jewelry-related stories, news, design

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short-format lessons and articles keep your design instincts sharp

  • motivation and community

  • current trends, events, designers

  • design, marketing, and sustainability guidance

Excerpts from recent newsletters:

Why We Wear Jewelry

Featured
Where does your jewelry live when it is not being worn?
Where does your jewelry live when it is not being worn?

exploring the keeping of altars in the home and where jewelry lives when not worn

Crowns are Fun
Crowns are Fun

Let’s reclaim our right to wear crowns

NFL Draft Picks and Their Jewelry
NFL Draft Picks and Their Jewelry

NFL and Hip Hop cultures express similar values through jewelry

Jewelry as Semaphore
Jewelry as Semaphore

There are many reasons why we wear jewelry. Among the principles communicated through the jewelry on display at the inaugurations, these three were the most apparent: wealth and the status afforded by wealth, group affiliation, and values or aspirational ideals.

Jewelry from the past continues to resonate
Jewelry from the past continues to resonate

If jewelry is a core cultural expression, then how do the forms and materials translate over time?  

Jewelry and the Self
Jewelry and the Self

Design

Featured
We feel texture with our eyes
We feel texture with our eyes

We feel texture with our eyes.

Three designers from Romanian Jewelry Week 2025

Make it Interesting with Movement
Make it Interesting with Movement

How movement and balance create unity

The Language of Balance
The Language of Balance

Study balance, part of the unity, balance, movement design triad.

Pathfinder Process

Featured
Collaboration vs. Domination
Collaboration vs. Domination

Choosing to collaborate with materials vs. dominate

featuring Romanian Jewelry 2025, Grand Award Prize winner Manami Aoki

Mastering Materials
Mastering Materials

Let’s reframe our creativity using different language

This is a reflection on my journey from when I thought that conquering a material or technique was required to be truly skilled.

Thinking about Materials
Thinking about Materials

we translate ideas into things using materials

There are lots of reasons why we might select a material to explore, manipulate, tame, or celebrate, including cultural tradition, perceived value, and visceral enjoyment.

Why take the Why Quiz
Why take the Why Quiz

Making good decisions depends on recognizing what you value. Today, we're discussing your creative practice, but the clarity helps with every aspect of your life.

Jewelry as Relic and Intimate Reminder of Values
Jewelry as Relic and Intimate Reminder of Values

The language of jewelry.

Jewelry is a bridge connecting us to the most meaningful human emotions. These 2500-year-old beads look contemporary, reinforcing the idea that we intuitively speak this language.

One of the most valuable aspects of Pathfinder is the insight you gain into your core values and motivations. Money is important, but using money as the lodestar can lead to an empty, unsatisfying goal for creative people.

In addition to creating goals and action steps to guide the physical production of your work, the Pathfinder Process results in a body of information you will use in all aspects of your creative practice.

Getting Started with the Pathfinder Process
Getting Started with the Pathfinder Process

Pathfinder is a goals-setting exercise originally designed for jewelry makers, but the process works for creative practices of all kinds.

Using Trend Reports to guide your outreach, not your designs
Using Trend Reports to guide your outreach, not your designs

I look at trends to see which of my current designs to prioritize for promotions.

It is essential to develop and maintain your authentic design voice. This is an ongoing process that, for best results, is independent of trends. There is a market for everything, so make the things that interest you and use marketing tools like trend reports to learn how to present your ideas to the world.

Knowing who you are is the first step to figuring out where you want to go.
Knowing who you are is the first step to figuring out where you want to go.

Last week, I recommended using the month of January to recover and renew before making a plan for the new year. But there are some preplanning activities you can do that won’t feel like work yet will be beneficial and essential even when you get to the goals-setting process.

Jewelry Club

An Online Program for Jewelry Makers

Jewelry Club members are successful jewelry makers who appreciate high-level content to stay fresh, motivated, inspired, and connected to the world of jewelry outside their studios.

Mastering technical skills is essential, but it's just the beginning of the journey. Understanding your design voice is equally important.

Recognizing good design is intuitive. Learning the vocabulary of design helps you access subconscious knowledge, making your work easier and more enjoyable. An ongoing conversation about design is at the core of Jewelry Club.

A critical aspect of any creative practice is getting your work out into the world. Jewelry Club programs that help us see our jewelry from the audience's perspective support that effort. (This is a soft approach to what most people call marketing.)

To round out those two pieces- design and marketing- we include cultural awareness to better understand our place in the lineage of jewelry making and regular updates about designers and collectors worldwide.

Lastly, there is sustainability, aka profits. Here, knowledge about techniques and processes helps us explore ways to improve profitability while maintaining our design identity.

This range of topics will help you produce jewelry you love, develop an individual, authentic voice, and build and maintain a creative practice.

Subscribe to Jewelry Club and join like-minded jewelry makers who want the most from their creative practice. 

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Gain design confidence

  • produce better jewelry

  • understand your audience

  • make jewelry you love

In-Person Classes

I offer classes in jewelry-making techniques in my Decatur, GA studio. Class size is limited to four students, providing exceptional individual attention.

Check this page for details.

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