About Us

Soot & Cinders is a small, woman-owned business that deals in handmade jewelry (with home décor, custom pet portraits, and more to come). My specialty is "burned" items - this includes one-of-a-kind items made by hand with traditional pyrography (aka wood burning) as well as designs etched or carved with my laser engraver. 

My Story

I've always loved art, and I've never found a craft I didn't like (with the exception of maybe knitting). I first got into drawing when I was 11, and I did everything from realistic still-life's to literally hundreds of chibi-style caricatures of attendees at various fairs and conventions.

In 2022, I first tried my hand at pyrography, that is, using super-heated instruments to draw burned images into wood. I also loved making jewelry, and I had already sold my designs at arts and crafts fairs across the southeast United States. I decided to try and combine these two art forms. 

I had dabbled in online selling off and on through Etsy for years, but in late 2023 I decided to really go for it and start focusing on online sales both on Etsy and my own platform.

And then I got cancer.

A routine exam in July 2024 revealed an unexpected mass the size of a grapefruit. Everything seemed to indicate it would turn out to be benign. In the end, they found two tumors. Both were cancerous.

If you or a loved one have ever been on the receiving end of that devastating news, you know how it turns your life upside down in an instant. I'd also lost two close family members to cancer in the seven years prior, so I'd seen firsthand how devastating that horrible disease can be.

However, after two surgeries and six rounds of chemotherapy - and the overwhelming love and support of more people than I can possibly thank here - I was declared cancer-free in January 2025.

Now as I write this in February 2025, I still have two years of immunotherapy ahead of me, but I'm working hard to get my life back on track and start moving forward. And I'm using my art to do so.

Other Places to Find Soot & Cinders

You can find Soot & Cinders on Pinterest at https://www.pinterest.com/sootcinders/ (sootcinders) or on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sootandcinders/ (sootandcinders)

I also sell on Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/SootAndCinders