What happened to the "Original Montana Collection"?

The Story Behind the Montana Collection

If you've followed my journey for a while, you may remember that I introduced a Montana Collection last year. It wasn't just another jewelry collection; it was one of the most meaningful things I've ever created.

That collection was dedicated to my mom, who passed away from cancer. Every piece was inspired by the mountains, landscapes, and family history that tie my heart to Montana. It represented countless hours of designing, handcrafting, and pouring my heart into honoring her memory.

Unfortunately, those pieces were stolen from me.

Last year, I was exclusively designing jewelry for someone I believed I could trust. I spent an entire year creating pieces (600 pieces to be exact) without being paid for my work. During that time, I also purchased sterling silver, stones, and all the overhead (solder, fuel, shop supplies, and the countless other overhead expenses that go into creating handmade jewelry), for multiple collections with the understanding and promise from him, that I would be reimbursed. That reimbursement never came.

Eventually, I had no choice but to hire an attorney to recover the compensation I was owed. While the matter was ultimately settled, the original Montana Collection was lost to me.

For a long time, I questioned whether I could ever recreate something that held so much emotion. Those pieces carried memories of my mom and losing them felt deeply personal.

But over time, I realized something important.

No one can take away my creativity.

No one can take away the stories that inspire my work.

And no one can take away the passion I have for creating heirloom-quality jewelry by hand.

So instead of letting that chapter define me, I decided to begin again.

This new Montana Collection isn't a remake of the original, it's something even more meaningful. It's still dedicated to my mom and the beautiful state that has shaped generations of my family, but it also represents resilience, perseverance, and choosing to move forward after one of the hardest seasons of my life.

Every stone has been selected by hand. Every piece has been forged one at a time in my studio. Every detail reflects not only the beauty of Montana but also the strength it took to start over.

If you’ve chosen to support my small business, thank you.

Your encouragement has helped me rebuild, not just a collection, but my confidence as an artist. Every order, comment, share, and kind message reminds me why I fell in love with silversmithing in the first place.

I hope you enjoyed the first capsule of the new Montana Collection. There is still so much more to come, and Capsule Two will be released August 21st. I can’t wait to share the next pieces with you.

And while I’ve shared a small part of what happened to the original Montana Collection here, there is much more to this story.

For the past year, I have remained relatively quiet about what I experienced, the unpaid work, the financial loss, the legal battle, the threats to my family and I, and everything that followed. There were things happening publicly and privately that were incredibly difficult to sit back and endure without telling my side.

Someday soon, I will.

I plan to write a separate blog post sharing more of my story and what I experienced over the past year. Not because I want this person or this experience to define me, but because I believe there is value in finally using my own voice to tell my own story.

For now, though, I want the Montana Collection to be about what it was always supposed to be about: my mom, my family, Montana, and the love and memories that inspired me to create it in the first place.

This collection is more than jewelry.

It’s proof that even after something meaningful is taken from you, you can pick yourself back up, return to your bench, and create something even more beautiful.

The Montana Collection continues August 21st.

And this time, I’m telling its story myself.