This is maybe the best part—spending hours on the shores of the Lake (or ocean or river) finding specific stones for the different types of jewelry. Although the waves brings in new rocks all the time, each beach definitely has it's specialty.

Here the rocks are sorted by shape, size, whether or not they will need to go through the tumbling process, and what they will become. Think: earring pile, bracelet pile, etc.

The lake, ocean, or river will do a lot of the work to shape these rocks, but some of them need some time in the tumbler to really let their colors shine and make them extra smooth. These stones go through a 4-week cycle with different grit at each stage until they are ready for drilling.

This step takes a lot of skill, patience, and steadiness. One by one, each rock is drilled by hand. Placement depends on what they will be made into. We go through a lot of drill bits!

Look at a pair of earrings—how do the rocks match so well? They are sorted by size and color, polished and unpolished. Then, we look for a match for each individual rock. At the end of this stage, each set or cairn stack is placed on a nickel-free post and organized for the next step.

Finally, the stones are made into all the beautiful pieces you see. They get transformed into earrings, necklaces, bracelets, keychains, bookends, suncatchers, and more! We spend a tremendous amount of time with these rocks, and it makes us so happy when they go home with people who love them!