[Welcome] New Members for May 30, 2009

Please welcome our newest members!

Dave R.
Welland, Canada

Was recommended to this site from another forum, this seems to be a
great collection of people in the jewelery industry or consumers.

Susan Piernan
University of California
Sebastopol, CA. USA

I’m a newbie taking jewelry at my local junior college.

Claudia Belizen
Sistersdesign
Altamonte Springs, FL. USA

Although I’m not new to this forum, it has been several years since
I’ve visited here. I learned a lot from the contributors to this
forum and can’t wait to learn and share more.

Elizabeth K Ackman
Rimba Raya Jewels
Atlanta, GA

http://www.rimbarayajewels.com

I began “life as a jewelry maker” after our second trip to Brazil.
There I was introduced to jewelry making by some of my
sister-in-law’s friends,Noted Jewelry Artists in Brasilia, Brazil. I
became facinated with selecting Gem Stones and designing a piece of
jewelry, based on the Gem Stones I like d. One piece led to another,
and that was five years ago.I only do one of a kind designs, because
I would not last doing a design over and over again it would be to
boring.

I found that my interests were so varied, I needed to improve my
skills, and being a former teacher, I decided to teach myself, and I
did. My first lesson was soldering, and having grown up, following my
father around, watching him “fix” things, I knew some of the basics
about soldering but I neede d more, so I began purchasing books on
soldering, fabricating, forming,f orging, fusing, riveting and the
list goes on. Having always been a visual learner, the books with
pictures took me to the next level of my education.

As a former Geography teacher, I have always loved the rain forests,
and after spending time in these areas of the world, my husband and I
decided to give back to save the Rain forests. We donate 10% of our
profits to save these wonderful areas of the world. Our name means
“rain forest” in the Indo nesian language. My husband is from
Indonesia and he knows most of the Gem Stones found there. A lot of
these stones are expensive, and rare so we buy them there, along with
Bali Silver. Many Agate Druseys come from Bali, and have become
extremely popular for use in jewelry.