My best friend (and, on occasion, worst enemy) growing up was always my mom. She was a radiant woman with a roaring laugh and a remarkable ability to hold a conversation in her sleep. When she wasn’t raising my siblings and I, getting her nails done, or spending time with her friends, she was in her jewelry studio (our laundry room) making all sorts of wonderful stuff. We would go together on trips to Michael’s to pick out beads and charms that she’d make magic with. When she passed away I decided I wanted to continue her life’s work and took a few metalsmithing classes in college. It’s been five years since I picked up the torch and now I want to set the world ablaze. My craft is a love letter to my mom, Andrea LaSala Skudlarek, a feisty woman who I miss terribly.