Through the years I have taken classes in casting, wax carving, rendering, CAD, and silver smithing.
The last few years I have used You Tube to teach myself beading stitches like brick stitch, ndebele, peyote, peyote with a twist. My friend Karen DeSousa taught me kumihimo.
One of the reasons I took the time to learn these things is because I truly like learning and feel a sense of satisfaction when something I make pleases me and others. The other reason is because I design clasps, pendants, connectors and other components for jewelry and the more I learn about how it is made, the better my designs are.
It is also good to give examples that show the flexibility of the use of my work.
![](https://img.etsystatic.com/isbi/188bfc/1576267047/isbi_fullxfull.1576267047_8xl55wfx.jpg?version=0)
Kumihimo - cones and clasp www.phxfox.com
![Ndbele - clasp by www.phxfox.com](https://img.etsystatic.com/isbi/b40e84/1528800578/isbi_fullxfull.1528800578_7s7e9x4s.jpg?version=0)
Ndbele necklace - clasp from www.phxfox.com