Each piece of Vintage Keyper jewelry is lovingly designed and hand crafted by me. For my assemblage pieces I enjoy scouring antique stores and flea markets to acquire the vintage findings, silverware and china that I use in my pieces. The unique findings inspire and drive my designs and they are all one of a kind. Also, I can turn your own special mementos or china into keepsake pieces. For my sterling silver pieces I find inspiration from both nature and fashion. Many times I sketch out a design then bring it to life in my studio, other times I just create on the fly. I try to keep my pieces affordable so everyone can enjoy having several pieces in their wardrobe.
I discovered my talent for making jewelry in 2013 at the age of 50. I raised two girls and they both married within 6 months of each other. I found myself with an empty nest and I was feeling lost. I asked God to lead me to what my next phase of life should look like. While waiting I began making all types of crafts including a few pieces of jewelry using skeleton keys acquired in our travels. Little did I know this was the answer to my prayer. I did a sale in my sister’s home to recoup the money I spent on my new found love of crafting. I noticed my key necklaces received a lot of interest and I really enjoyed making them. I decided I would focus my attention on making more. But it wasn’t long before I began desiring to expand my talent. Since I loved vintage things and I liked repurposing things, my desire was to make broken china pieces. I signed up for a silver smith class thinking I would learn the technique I needed to do this. I quickly realized that I was totally off base but due to a great teacher I decided to continue on in my silver smith classes. It opened up a whole new venue for creating. I was still determined to learn how to make broken china pendants so I found an online class and I taught myself. I also loved old silver-plate silverware and the beautiful patterns so I incorporated that into my jewelry pieces as well. Then after having to make a move from my hometown to New Braunfels, a friend signed me up for a one time class at a local art studio to help encourage me to keep going. That is where I learned my latest skill of working with PMC (Precious Metal Clay). It opened up yet another avenue for me to express myself. I really enjoy and take pride in creating unique and affordably priced, one of a kind, jewelry. I hope you find a piece to call your own.
I discovered my talent for making jewelry in 2013 at the age of 50. I raised two girls and they both married within 6 months of each other. I found myself with an empty nest and I was feeling lost. I asked God to lead me to what my next phase of life should look like. While waiting I began making all types of crafts including a few pieces of jewelry using skeleton keys acquired in our travels. Little did I know this was the answer to my prayer. I did a sale in my sister’s home to recoup the money I spent on my new found love of crafting. I noticed my key necklaces received a lot of interest and I really enjoyed making them. I decided I would focus my attention on making more. But it wasn’t long before I began desiring to expand my talent. Since I loved vintage things and I liked repurposing things, my desire was to make broken china pieces. I signed up for a silver smith class thinking I would learn the technique I needed to do this. I quickly realized that I was totally off base but due to a great teacher I decided to continue on in my silver smith classes. It opened up a whole new venue for creating. I was still determined to learn how to make broken china pendants so I found an online class and I taught myself. I also loved old silver-plate silverware and the beautiful patterns so I incorporated that into my jewelry pieces as well. Then after having to make a move from my hometown to New Braunfels, a friend signed me up for a one time class at a local art studio to help encourage me to keep going. That is where I learned my latest skill of working with PMC (Precious Metal Clay). It opened up yet another avenue for me to express myself. I really enjoy and take pride in creating unique and affordably priced, one of a kind, jewelry. I hope you find a piece to call your own.