Ellen Black - has always enjoyed learning new things. In recent years she has been lampworking and found that making glass beads has endless possibilities. Ellen started doing chainmaille while looking for something to work on when away from the torch. She finds chainmaille to be a lot of fun, and very relaxing.

Patricia Capotosto - has always been involved in the arts in one form or another. Patricia has found working with wire to be a fascinating and rewarding journey. Twenty years ago when she first saw jewelry made exclusively out of wire there was no formal education available. Determined to learn, she found some videos and books on the subject, which gave her a start. She began to perfect her skills, and applied for and was accepted into the Illinois Artisans program. Several years later her projects were featured in Wire Artist magazine. Wire art has grown considerably since Patricia's humble beginnings, when it was called wire wrapping. Having a foundation in wire wrapping has helped her become a much more skilled wire artist. For more about Patricia, go to Patricia Capotosto.

Carol Hamlin Faure - is delighted to have found a creative outlet that provides relaxation and meditation in the midst of a busy life.

Kim Humphrey - discovered beading over 5 years ago and is continually fascinated with the never-ending possibilities of bead design.

Susan Jackson and Wendy Hubick - sisters who co-own their business, Hummingbeads, they teach across the country and their beadwork has been featured in Bead & Button.

Phyllis Kaplan - As a child Phyllis remembers being fascinated by colors and movement. She saw rainbows of color float along the walls all around her from the stained glass window above. In college Phyllis pursued art and design, which led to a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in graphic design, industrial design and photography. Phyllis has been a graphic designer for over 30 years, working to express a client’s wants and needs in a 2 dimensional printed form. She has always felt that her design work was like a treasure hunt—the pieces were hiding and she had to find them and put them together in a way that worked to create the collateral material that would do the job for the client. Phyllis has continued with activities related to creating and making things — but always with visual things and never with the written word - only images, visuals, color, and shapes using many different materials.

Lisa King - Lisa has her own jewelry business with a specialty in beaded watchbands and an emphasis on vintage Swarovski crystals, but she recently became hooked on chain mail.

Loretta Ruppert - a retired nurse and an active volunteer with numerous skills invlolving needles, thread and beads.

Rachel Samuels - an all around creative person, Rachel is a mixed media and jewelry artist.

Debra Stephens - a creative person with a passion for buttons and beads. With a full time job at the Art Institute, she also works weekends at Bead in Hand.

Sherry Viktora - a Senior Instructor for PMC Connection, Sherry began working with stained glass in 1987, while practicing full-time as a Critical Care Nurse. She started teaching stained glass classes prior to becoming certified in PMC, and began teaching PMC workshops in Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Her enthusiasm for teaching and working with PMC, along with glass, allowed her to decide to leave nursing to pursue teaching and creating original art work. She specializes in creating nature-inspired art from PMC, glass and copper. Her artwork has been nationally published, and is currently displayed in several area art galleries. Sherry can be contacted through her web site, www.out-ona-limb.com or at her home-based studio, Out On A Limb, in Rockton, IL.

Pamela Webster - primarily a theater artist who has been expanding her creativity with beads and wire.

Doris Weinbaum – owner of Bead in Hand who is fortunate to be surrounded by creative teachers and customers who are a never ending source of information and inspiration.