Ever a crafter, Donna has always had her hands into something creative, especially crochet, baking and cooking. Originally from Pennsylvania, Donna and her husband’s employment transferred them to Tennessee where she met Dale ‘Cougar’ Armstrong and was introduced to the fine art of wire jewelry creation.

Since learning wire jewelry techniques, Donna has become a mixed-media jewelry maker; experimenting with PMC, silver smithing and lapidary work. She teaches at local bead shops, has been published in Step-by-Step Wire magazine and participates in many craft shows.

Donna and her husband reside in south-central Tennessee with their Sheltie, Ellie-Mae.

Several years ago, Karen’s family hosted a foreign exchange student from Italy who showed her how to turn a shoebox into a bead loom and then how to use it to make bracelets. Karen was then 18, and ever since she’s been hooked on beading and wirework. A voracious reader, she learned every technique she could through books and online research, and worked to improve every aspect of her techniques, supplies, design, and presentation ability.

Karen now shares her knowledge and skills by teaching bead and wirework classes in her home state of Texas, where she is constantly amazed with the new ideas beginning students are able to come up with. “That’s what makes everyone’s work different,” she says, “everyone approaches a craft with ‘different eyes.”

Striving to remain inspired, Karen tries to keep a ‘different eye’ by exploring all types of color and media. She especially enjoys working with wire, freshwater pearls, gemstones and Swarovski crystal. In 2009, Karen won the Fire Mountain Gems beading contest, Bronze Medal for her stunning earring design.