Bijoutiful: (pronounced with a silent or soft “j”)
‘Bijou’ is the French word for jewelry, or a small, intricately wrought trinket. Combined with the tail end of the English word ‘beautiful’, we have something truly special….Bijoutiful!
“I try to leave as small a footprint on this planet as possible, and have to feel good about what I do,” says Barbadian born metalsmith jeweler Amber Yearwood, whose commitment to an environmentally and socially responsible lifestyle carries over to each aspect of her work. Jewelry is a “dirty” business, from destructive mining for metal and stone, to the harsh chemicals and cleaners often used by jewelers in the fabrication process. Not only does Amber personally source her materials from sustainable businesses using recycled precious metals, ethically mined and cut stones, as well as vintage, antique and found metal components, about 95% of her creation process is eco-friendly as well. She strives to use only natural solutions to clean and age her metal, and post-consumer recycled paper for her packaging and marketing materials. True to the “local” movement, each piece is designed, fabricated, finished and packaged by Amber herself in her studio located in Dallas, Texas. For now, Bijoutiful is a true “one woman show”. In the future, Amber expects to only hire help for her online presence.
Piercing, saw/fretwork
Stonesetting
Soldering
Filigree/Filigrana
Torch and kiln-fired vitreous glass enamel
Patinas and oxidation
Wire-wrapping & Beading
Riveting
Texturing by way of hammers and other handtools
Forging & Fold-forming
Alloying
Rolling Mill operations (embossing, making wire and sheet)
Stamping (for personalization)
Metal Clay
Casting
Etching
Polymer Clay (faux stones such as Amber and Turquoise)
In her spare time, Amber enjoys a multitude of things such as reading, cooking, gardening, staying in the sea back home in Barbados for so long that her fingers “prune up”, playing with and training her 2 lab mix pups, taking road trips with said pups and the love of her life, getting lost in dusty “Mom and Pop” thrift stores, playing guitar, as well as practicing her aim at the range with her 9mm Glock and other various firearms. She strongly believes in educated and responsible gun ownership, one’s inherent right to self defense of person and property, and though she tows no party line, she lives by the Libertarian adage of “harm no one.” 
Amber has always been somewhat of an obsessive type, headstrong & ambitious. She studied a few different languages, but only two really caught her attention: Russian & Spanish. She can read Cyrillic, speak like a 3 year old “dyevushka” and recite Pushkin & Akhmatova, but she is most comfortable with Spanish. She also loves to dance Salsa, Merengue and Tango. Perhaps it’s the Spanish blood that runs through her veins…. Whatever the case, her biggest passion lies in metal and all things shiny!
Amber Yearwood is a self-taught metalsmith jeweler born in Barbados, a beautiful, small island in the Caribbean. She currently lives in Dallas, Texas with her boyfriend, 2 cats and 2 dogs. She is an avid gardener, loves to travel, read, cook, visit dusty old Mom & Pop thrift shops and antique malls, visit the shooting range, and above all, learn new things, concepts and truths. 
Do you have a store in Austin?
No, I don’t…it would be nice, though! :p I don’t know if you’ve stopped by yet, but I sell at the SoCo artist’s market. It’s usually open just on Sundays, but this coming weekend it’ll be open on Saturday as well and my booth is right behind the Hey cupcake trailer. I also have a larger selection online in my ArtFire studio: http://www.artfire.com/users/bijoutiful Thanks for your interest!