Although CarrieTown is technically located in Boise, Idaho, I like to think it is a state of mind that goes beyond geographical boundaries. CarrieTown is the creative outlet for me, Carrie Applegate--office worker by day, fancy-dancy artiste by night!

I started making jewelry in 2000 after I saw a gorgeous necklace in Paris. "Surely it can't be too difficult," I told myself as I went on the first of many, many trips to the bead store.

I started making jewelry at my coffee table, keeping my tools & supplies in a lunchbox. Which then overflowed to a couple of lunch boxes, an old Samsonite suitcase and took over my 1950's kitchen table. Then I had to take over the guest bedroom. When that was completely overflowing with craft supplies, I started looking for a new house!

I was lucky enough to find an adorable 1940's bungalow with a fenced in yard for my dog, Bobby and a separate 2-car garage. My handy parents helped me insulate and drywall half the garage, and CarrieTown finally had an official home!

Once I had my own studio, I really started exploring new materials to create with--vintage paper scraps, postcards, pin-ups, sheet music, and lots & lots of old books. I started creating little jewelry collages to incorporate into my beading, but felt limited by the tiny size. I then started making my cheeky sarcastic collages using the same old materials and adding sarcastic quotes and zingers.

I also tried to take the old-to-new mentality to my jewelry as well. I scour estate auctions and sales for old treasures that can be remade into new heirlooms.