OXFORD - When Hart Court resident Patricia Sullivan made crystal and silver bracelets for herself with her children's names on them a few years ago, she had no idea that it would lead to a career in jewelry-making.

The bracelets were just a way of expressing pride and love for her daughter, Shay, now 6, and her son, Logan, who is 4.

But, when her friends saw the bracelets, they wanted one too, recalled Patty, a former manager of a Texas company that printed People and Time Magazines.

"I started making them for friends and family and it grew," she said.

Today, Patty creates, not only "mom's bracelets," but also necklaces, pendants, earrings, watches and other types of jewelry that she sells both wholesale and retail.

She calls her business "Embracelets Designs." The name, a merger of the words, "embrace" and "bracelets," was suggested by her husband, Patrick, a pharmaceutical salesman.

In addition to the faceted Swarovski crystals in various birthstone colors that she uses to fashion the personalized jewelry, she uses sterling silver, brass, 14 carat gold and grade A and B stones to create unique, high-fashion pieces.

The stones include turquoise, freshwater pearls, smoky quartz, citrine, London blue topaz, rubies, sapphires, garnets and more.

She works out of a small studio in her home, a room that is neatly organized and decorated with enlarged color photos of her jewelry.

The gemstones and crystals are stored by type in compartmentalized, plastic boxes stacked on her studio shelves.

Her workshop table is laid with her tools - primarily German-made pliers and a couple of hammers.

Her work is a far cry from the beads-on-a-string that many jewelry-makers offer.

Some of her pieces contain gems or stones in hand-formed wire cages; other pieces are fashioned from antiqued, twisted and coiled sterling silver wire.

One popular chunky bracelet comprises silver wire coiled repeatedly around itself with crystals and gemstones randomly threaded throughout. The bracelet can be purchased in bright or antiqued silver.

A necklace in her collection comprises hammered sterling silver circles in two sizes, antiqued and polished, and comes with coordinating earrings.

Yet another striking piece is a rose-colored pearl bracelet on an oxidized silver chain with a Thai rose charm.

Patty especially likes to draw on nature for ideas for her designs, which she first sketches on paper. Her spring line will include lots of floral shapes, vines and sea life, she said.

The jewelry ranges in cost from $8 to $40 for earrings, $35 to $150 for bracelets and $20 to $250 for necklaces.

She said she tends toward the lower costs to make her items affordable, but also enjoys making some higher-end pieces.

Patty uses only high-quality materials, shapes her own clasps, hammers her own silver and, when she has to, does her own soldering.

She sells directly to the public on the web at www.e mbracelets.net and at stores like Newberry Place in Southbury, Country Hearts in Monroe, The Bowerbird in Old Lyme and Turning Stones Casino in Verona, N.Y.

She also participates annually in select shows, including the Monroe Strawberry Festival in June, the Milford Oyster Festival in August, the Durham Fair in September, the Westport Creative Arts Festival in November and the Christmas Expo in Hartford in December.

Patty is discriminating when it comes to choosing her venues, eschewing those which allow sales of mass-produced items. She will only do shows that are juried, where vendors sell only their own, personally crafted wares.

She also sells her work wholesale and toward that effort has produced her own marketing materials. Her portfolio, which reflects her college training in graphic arts, includes impressive full-color photos that she took herself and printed on her computer.

Patty's business over the last several years has expanded to the point where she employs marketers and a part-time assistant.

Having someone else do the legwork and take care of invoices and mailings frees her up to dedicate time to her craft.

She is surprised at her success. "This is a lot bigger than I thought it would be," she said modestly.

What's nice about it , she said, is that she can work at home and be available for her family.

"I don't want to miss being a mom. This type of work lets me do that," she said.