Pyrus Designs
Welcome and thank you for visiting my site! If we haven't met, grab a cup of coffee and let's get to know each other!
My name is Karen and I am the creator of everything here. I grew up in Oregon and settled a little south of Seattle, WA. As long as I can remember, I have always had a need to create and was naturally drawn to arts and crafts.
While attending art school, I discovered a local bead shop. This is where my love for jewelry making started. It was a way for me to get instant gratification by being able to whip up a pair of earrings or necklace in a day when my school projects were not so quickly finished. I worked in this shop for several years and grew significantly as a wire worker and developed a love and appreciation for quality gemstones and materials.
In 2008, I moved to WA state and started my career in the corporate world. My beadwork took a back seat as my career and family grew, but I always found ways to keep my creative passions partially satisfied. I continued to grow as an artist through knitting, paper crafting, and jewelry making. In the summer of 2016, I took a 2 day silversmithing class and fell absolutely in love with the process! I started to buy stones before I had the silver or tools to actually make anything. I know it sounds silly, but I was too excited at the thought of this new art form and the challenge of mastering it. It took me almost 6 months to save enough money to afford the tools and materials needed to start silversmithing from home. I was squeezing in as much bench time as I could around my standard full time job and my family time, but it was never enough...
In the summer of 2017, I decided to take a leap and quit my full time job so that I could focus 100% on this business. I grew significantly professionally and personally from 2017-2019 while being self-employed. Life circumstances led me to return to the workforce fall of 2019. I continue to create, but am much more limited with my studio time so try to make it meaningful when I do get to my work bench.
I'm so excited about continuing to grow and develop as an artist. Thank you so much for being a part of this journey and allowing me to share my passion of beautiful jewelry with you!
Follow me on Instagram (below) to see more of my day to day!
(updated 9/2020)