How'd you get into making these charms?

I was trying to find a charm that I could have my children's profile put on, but I couldn't find anything, so I started researching different types of material and ways to put things on the material, and that's how we came up with the stainless steel.

Are the images unique or from templates?

They are unique, but I do have some ready-made graphics, too. But mostly people will send me a photograph of their child or their pet, and I'll do the image of whoever it is that they love and then laser it onto this charm.

Do you have an art background?

Actually, I was a paralegal. I was a docket clerk who prepared legal documents for the attorney and kept his calendar until I started doing this (five years ago). While I was looking for charms for myself, my husband said maybe this is something for you to do, because if you're looking for silhouettes of your children then there must be someone else out there looking, too.

Where do you usually sell your charms?

You can go to charmingsilhouettes.etsy.com or email me at charming@swbell.net. But right now the word-of-mouth is how I've sold more items.

What's the typical response?

It's usually a female and someone who is having silhouettes of their child, grandchild or pet. People typically think all pets look alike, but when I do a charm for someone and you get the cat's ears just right or dog's nose just right, people always write back and they talk about how much it looks like the one they love.

Do you have lots of repeat customers?

People usually buy one to give, but then they keep it and so they usually buy another one to give to the other person. It happens a lot, that's kind of funny.

So do they get a discount?

Yes, if you order a second or third charm, you get a discount the more charms you order. I put them on chains for necklaces or bracelets, because most people want to wear it right away.

How many profiles do you have of your children?

I liked their profiles as children, but when I started they were teenagers. So I started with profiles of them as young children and then I made another silhouette of them as teenagers. But if you had enough profiles, you can have the silhouette of a child through the ages, that would be pretty cool.

What appeals to you about the silhouette?

Well, you can tell a whole lot from looking at a person full-on, but looking at his profile is really telling in a different way. You can always still see the child in someone, no matter their age.