Thirty years ago Lindi received a Stained Glass Lamp Kit as a Christmas gift from her brother. Little did she conceive that she would one day start a stained glass business as a result, not to mention branching into making jewelry!

For relaxation from the tedious glass work Lindi has been creating for nineteen years, she started ‘playing’ with glass fusing. Her husband, Larry Haefner, insisted that she find something to do with the numerous nuggets and glass pieces that were accumulating all over her shop. The answer came three years ago, when Lindi took a wire wrapping class with Dale ‘Cougar’ Armstrong and learned how to incorporate all of those glass pieces into beautiful, wire jewelry designs.

Lindi displays her work in local gift shops and boutiques, as well as in juried art shows and at bridal fairs. Her favorite jewelry venue is her own ‘Stained Glass by Lindi’ studio, located in Williamsport, PA. Lindi is an awesome, stained-glass artist who also enjoys being one of ‘Cougar’s’ teaching assistants at various jewelry-making events.

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While on a business trip with her husband, Sonja discovered an article written by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong in Step-by-Step Wire Jewelry Magazine. The article intrigued her so much that she contacted Dale and began taking classes at ‘Cougars Creations’ studio.

Sonja has a Master’s Degree in Studio Art and presently teaches art at the middle school level. She has previously exhibited and worked in a variety of art media including watercolor, pencil, and photography. Before venturing into the world of wire, she had previously exhibited and sold jewelry made from wood and oven baked clay. Sonja now admits that making and creating her own wire jewelry designs is her favorite artistic endeavor, as she loves taking an idea or inspiration and forming it into a piece of wearable art. She credits her love of creating wire jewelry to the teaching and encouragement from Dale.

Sonja has recently published her first wire jewelry pattern in Step-by-Step Wire Jewelry, and also has a design featured in Dale’s new Book “Wirework.” Sonja resides in eastern Kentucky with her husband and their son.

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Albina Manning was one of our Tucson 2012 Instructors! Discover Albina’s wire wrapping and weaving classes here: Albina Manning Course Listings
Jewelry designer and instructor Albina Manning was born in Yoshkar-Ola, Russia, a small town not far from Volga River. Ever since she was a child, Albina has loved doing anything by hand, especially knitting and sewing. She graduated from Mari State Pedagogical Institute and then worked for 9 years as a certificated elementary and physical education teacher in her hometown.

"Although I really loved my work as a teacher of young children, in 2003 my life changed a lot! I met my soul mate Peter and moved to Arizona where we were married, and a year later our beautiful daughter Anya was born. Then a Russian friend living in Japan sent me a beautiful, red beaded rose as a Christmas gift. I thought, ‘is it possible to make something as lovely as Mother Nature creates? Probably not, but sometimes copies can be worth that of the original.’ That is when I fell in love with beads and wire. My first experience was to make a beaded Money Tree. In spite of the fact that it looks like an old untrimmed tree and has a lot of ‘technical’ mistakes, I still love it."

Albina has taught at The Bead Museum, and at the J.O.G.S Gem & Jewelry Show, (where she and Dale ‘Cougar’ Armstrong became friends). Her work Bonsai Shakkan has been used by Fire Mountain Gems both as a back cover advertisement and inside their catalog. In 2009 Albina won the 1st Place Gold Medal award with her piece titled ‘Inca’s Gold Necklace’ in FMG’s wirework category. She presently teaches private classes and at The Beaderie.

Albina has written several E-books and has been published in ‘Art Bead Circle Magazine’ as well as the book Mixed Media Jewelry Techniques, a collaboration with Dale “Cougar” Armstrong and eight other talented jewelry artists. Learn more about Albina on her website: http://www.around-beads.info

Albina’s latest success is her Coiling and Weaving Wire Jewelry Designs Series, a 3-DVD series devoted to working with round wire to create beautiful designs, released in April 2011 through Wire-Sculpture.com:

Coiling and Weaving Series Set: 3 High-Definition DVDs	Beginner: Coil Drop Earrings and Arabian Bracelet
Intermediate: Sprig Earrings and Moonlight Pendant	Advanced: Golden Medallion Pendant and Viking Knit Chain

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Ever a crafter, Donna has always had her hands into something creative, especially crochet, baking and cooking. Originally from Pennsylvania, Donna and her husband’s employment transferred them to Tennessee where she met Dale ‘Cougar’ Armstrong and was introduced to the fine art of wire jewelry creation.

Since learning wire jewelry techniques, Donna has become a mixed-media jewelry maker; experimenting with PMC, silver smithing and lapidary work. She teaches at local bead shops, has been published in Step-by-Step Wire magazine and participates in many craft shows.

Donna and her husband reside in south-central Tennessee with their Sheltie, Ellie-Mae.

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