The Accidental Origin Story

After managing to tear both hamstrings and compressing several nerves in my lower spine—while hanging Christmas decorations, of all things—I found myself facing a wheelchair, six months of physical therapy, and a lot of forced sitting.

Since I don't do well sitting still, I commandeered my craft room which to this point had only been used for planning my landscape bed alterations, my seasonal vegetable garden (I’m an avid gardener) and working on enormous jigsaw puzzles.

I began crafting centerpieces, wreaths, ornaments and trees! I kind of found my magic with tree making, so much so, I quickly became known as the "Tree Lady" at local craft shows. I made trees from pom poms, buttons, cording, twine, textured ribbons and decorated them with every bit, bauble, buttons, and lights that you could imagine. I also discovered how fun it was to make wine cork trees- finally a use for those saved corks!

Tanner and Penny.
Our studio mascots hard at work!

Finding the True Passion

When the holidays ended, so did my tree phase. The puzzles I work on are so big they require a lot of standing so I picked up a jewelry-making kit in early 2025 as my next creative outlet. This began a journey of discovery and learning that quickly turned into a passion that consumes about 12-15 hours of my day, every day-yes, even on the weekends.

The depth of creativity, variety of materials, skill and artistry involved in this craft basically means I will never get bored. I was reading everything I could get my hands on, watching videos, practicing wire techniques and brushing off the old design muscles that were tucked away somewhere in my brain. It was like waking a sleeping giant. What started as "PT for the soul" quickly turned into a passion. I was hooked for life.

A Family Affair

My friends and family encouraged me to sell at crafts shows and after doing some research I determined with some trepidation this could be a viable business opportunity.  I had always wanted to be my own boss and had considered some ideas in the past but somehow this felt right.

Willow Tree Studio became official July 2025 and my first couple of shows were not what I would call an amazing success story. It turns out, a 6-hour show is really a 10-hour lugging marathon.  Sometimes I would find myself questioning  my own sanity! I was in the midst of a fast-learning curve working out how to run a business with inventory, spreadsheets, financial statements, booth design and marketing. For every 10 things I completed 20 more took its place. Did I mention how much I hate being on the computer. 

By September 2025, my son Matthew officially joined as my partner to help me wrangle our operations and launch our website. You know that commercial where two people push a button to take their site live, and three seconds later they get their first order and jump for joy? Yeah... it doesn't really happen like that. We quickly learned that building a business takes a bit more elbow grease!

Together, we navigated the exhausting, exhilarating world of craft shows—and eventually decided to retire the seasonal decor to focus 100% on what we love most: jewelry.

Our Vibe & Philosophy

I’m doing this because I love to create and jewelry has been a perfect medium for sharing that with others. Art has always been a safe harbor. A museum, a book about art that I could lose myself in, an activity involving art that keeps my mind busy, my heart content and my soul satisfied.  I have been like this since I was a child. When my home life was too dark or chaotic I would hide somewhere and color or
draw. As I got older, I would paint, do needlepoint, cross stitch, crewel embroidery, sewing, quilting, drawing, or sculpting. I was never very good at any of it, but it gave me joy and satisfaction to engage in the learning process, the tactile nature of the materials, the satisfaction of completing something and the peace that came with the distraction it provided from my life.

After putting my creativity on the back burner to raise kids, making jewelry brought my inner artist back to life. My designs reflect all sides of me: quirky, bohemian, earthy, and a little unexpected. I use natural stone, glass, and metal to create rich textures and visual interest.

Jewelry is the magic that brings an outfit to life and expresses how you want to represent your inner self. A simple outfit with a few delicate pieces says, "elegant and poised," but swap those for chunky, colorful stones or glass and suddenly you're quirky, sassy, fun, or intriguing. I don't make jewelry that disappears around your neck. I make pieces that
demand a second look, meant to make you feel beautiful, confident, complete, and ready for anything.