Karleen Page Biography

My name is Karleen Page and my nickname is "VibrantJewels". I've been crazy about rocks all of my life. Yeah, some say I have rocks in the head, too! LOL, but everywhere I've ever traveled, I'll pick up interesting rocks and bring them home. When my brothers and I were children, we'd go to our ramshackle cabin on Craig's Creek, and spend hours looking for pretty rocks in the shallow rills.

When I first started college "way back when", I was an Art Major, and although that didn't "pan out", I've taken many art courses over the years, in addition to being a writer and having a lot of poetry and things posted at my other web site, www.theopenheart.net, I have always painted or done crafts of some type all of my life.

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When I married Jim, we shared our interest in rocks, minerals and gemstones. (Sadly my dear hubby passed away last year.) We started going to gem and mineral shows, and came home with many treasures. I started making necklaces for myself, and soon realized that I had a lot more gemstones and beads than I could ever wear, plus it was getting to be a very expensive hobby, er, habit! Yes, I confess, I am now a full-fledged beadaholic!!

Jim had been an insurance agent for too many years and I had been teaching computer classes. We were looking for something we both enjoyed doing and perhaps could earn a living at that was more creative and less stressful. So we began selling jewelry, bead kits and beads. The name of our jewelry shop is Vibrant Jewels, which is mostly online and all over the house! LOL.

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I find almost every gemstone fascinating, especially the ones that are sometimes overshadowed by diamonds, emeralds, etc., such as the Jaspers, Chalcedonys, Aventurine, Fresh Water Pearls, Amethysts, Turquoise... oh, bunches and bunches of neat things. Rainbow moonstone, how could I forget that one!!! Jim is crazy about Labradorite, Opal and Ruby, and is teaching himself to polish, facet and cab gemstones. I also treasure lampworked and dichroic beads, and vintage glass, and love putting together unusual combinations.

After I learned the peyote stitch and began making designs with seed beads, mostly free form. I taught a beaded cabochon class at our local bead club, and have posted the tutorial online.

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It seems that people are more interested online in buying beads and kits and "doing it yourself" than buying finished jewelry, so I have concentrated more lately on creating bead combos. It's really more work than you might at first think to put together something unique and pleasing, but it does give great satisfaction as we work together on ideas and designs.

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For those not in the selling business, a lot of hidden costs go into creating jewelry or even bead kits. Not only do you have the price of inventory, but overhead - such things as electricity, other utilities, housing costs, postage, supplies and materials such as baggies, thread, labels, etc. And then there's the value of your time - and it takes a lot of time to create a piece of jewelry or a bead kit, then it must be scanned, a description written with measurements, posting fees at auction sites, the time it takes to handle e-mails and paper work.

I normally do NOT copy designs, although I get ideas from a lot of bead books and magazines. Maybe sometimes I "re-invent the wheel" so to speak, but I really enjoy playing with my beads, and creating something interesting with them.

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I'm very open to ideas from buyers. Tell me the kind of beads, kits, or jewelry you want, and I'll see what I can come up with. I have a pretty large inventory right now, from new beads to vintage, and many kinds of gemstones. I tend to get interested in a particular color and theme and make a lot of kits out of that at a time. I like to try new color combinations, like the turquoise and lilac kit that has been very popular. E-mail me at vibrantjewels@earthlink.net with any ideas or suggestions.