How it all began:
SwirlsOnline began through the thoughtful gifts of others to the artist, Sandi. Several years ago, I received a gift of a small hobby set complete with pliers, plastic beads, and plated wire, which I promptly put on a shelf and forgot.

Then a year after that, I received another gift which at the time seemed arbitrary. It was a how-to manual on beaded jewelry...in Japanese! Yes, I thought it strange as I do not speak or read Japanese. This gift also promptly found its way to the shelf and was forgotten.

Another year after that, I found myself stuck one rainy day doing nothing and wandering aimlessly around my place. Lo and behold, I found that shelf with the forgotten gifts. Curious and quite bored, I looked through the Japanese and saw that the directions came with lovely pictures that I could decipher. Using the hobby set, I made my first wire-twisted bead bracelet.

I have been hooked ever since. The next year has seen me expand my book and design collections and adding to the tools and supplies of that original hobby set. Now, I show here all of the fun work that has come out of those long ignored but not entirely forgotten gifts.