As founder and principal buyer of the Beadworks Group, Nancy traveled the world in search of the most beautiful components for jewelry design. She is equally at home with gemstone merchants in Jaipur, silver makers in Bali, glass artists in Bohemia and pearl producers in China. Her knowledge of beads and findings is unrivalled, spanning all categories of material and all stages of production from the creation of a single bead to its final role in a finished piece of jewelry.

Starting as a silver and goldsmith, Nancy turned to designing with beads because of the vastly greater possibilities for creative expression. Having seen the world of jewelry design open for herself, she then went on to introduce other people to the creative pleasures and the economies of making their own jewelry. By creating Beadworks’ original classes and teaching her skills to other instructors, she generated a network of instruction which has added to the ever-growing number of enthusiasts able to design and create jewelry.

In her books, Simply Pearls, Simply Silver, Simply Gold, A Touch of Glass, Simply Gemstones, and Simply Stunning, she shares her design and production techniques in comprehensive and easy to follow guides, enabling an even wider audience to make their own attractive necklaces, earrings and bracelets.