About Us

For Halloween this year we went back to our old haunts in Washington DC to trick or treat on east Capitol Street.

Abbott Family Summer Trip 2008: Click on Kathy to see pictures of our trip out west.

History of Jabebo Earrings

Jabebo Earrings began in 1995 after I developed a technique of reproducing miniature images (water-color paintings at first, evolving over time into art I create directly onto the computer using a stylus and Adobe software) that can be displayed from earring wires. It quickly became my primary creative outlet as I learned to customize the earrings to appeal to specialized tastes. The first stores that carried them were nature centers and refuge visitor centers in the Washington DC area, where my wife and I lived at the time. Today they are carried by more then 50 gift shops at nature centers and wildlife preserves. I really enjoy knowing that our earrings help to raise money for these institutions. Please visit our list of locations where you may see them.

Mary and I met in Kenya where we both worked as school teachers.

Today we are still a cottage industry, working out of our home where all our earrings are made from beginning to end. My wife (Mary) is a music teacher. My work history is very diverse, ranging from tracking manatees in south Florida to teaching science in Kenya with the Peace Corps to working at the Smithsonian Institution. Mary and I met in Kenya where she was teaching at an international school, just south of the Equator, and I at a Kenyan school just north of the equator. How many people can say they lived in a different hemisphere from their girlfriend, yet got to see her every weekend? Nearly 15 years later, our life is now much less exotic. Four years ago we moved to Central PA to be close to Mary's family. During that time, I have been a stay-at-home dad to our twin daughters, who are looking forward to starting second grade in the fall. I have also been putting in many long hours while growing Jabebo Earrings, which was a neglected but never-forgotten passion of mine while the twins were very young and I was working full time at the Smithsonian. I stay very busy, but still try to find time to create other art projects in various mediums as well. Click here if you would like to see some of my art work as well as some work I have done for museums: See Kevin's portfolio.

Kathy & Tory exploring a rocky marsh along Poe Creek.

Our time in Capitol Hill instilled in us a love for older homes, Victorian architecture, and towns that are intended to be traversed on foot. That has brought us to settle in the town of Bellefonte, PA, located about 20 minutes from Mary's home town of State College, PA, and Penn State University. We have found our dream home here (or at least it will be our dream home once we've modified it so that it has more than one bathroom!) as we approach our two-year anniversary in the house. We are a short walk from the YMCA and a slew of small independently owned businesses, an awesome coffee house, and a very cool toy store. The Victorian House Antiques and Artisans Gallery is where you can purchase Jabebo Earrings and items by other local artists. If they don't have the design you are looking for just ask, maybe I can run down with a pair.

Bellefonte has a number of lovely B&Bs, so if you're looking for a weekend get-away, please be sure to look us up and we'll show you the Jabebo workshop! Scroll further down to find more pictures that I took in and around Bellefonte.

Ours is the red brick house on the left.

Doesn't the house look quiet and serene in the picture? Well, step inside and you'll find out the truth. In addition to the two very loud and active 7-year-old children, we have quite a menagerie of pets as well. They are, from oldest to youngest...

Shy, a beautiful blue/gray cat of unknown age. The vet thinks she's about 4 or 5. Shy was a stray cat who was adopted and named by our daughter Tory.

Snickerdoodle (Snicker or Snick for short), a 3-year-old "Labradoodle" who is going through his awkward teenage years. We rescued him when he was a year old and when our aging Golden, Dakota, was diagnosed with cancer and given only weeks to live. Snicker's youthful exuberance revived Dakota and we enjoyed another two years with him.

Margarita is no longer with us. She ran off with another man who had a long term relationship with a blue conure that had died. We let her go with good wishes becuase as our lives continues to spin out of controll Rita could never tolerate any less attention. We learned an important lesson: You can either have a house full of kids and animals of all kinds, or you can have a parrot!

Blueberry, a pure black two-year-old cat. She was adopted from the local SPCA by our daughter Kathy. If you want to know why Kathy named a black cat "Blueberry," check out a copy of "Cat Kong" by Dav Pilkey the next time you visit your local library. Blueberry's two main hobbies are farting and annoying Shy.

Dakota recently passed away, 4 years after this picture was taken. He was our one pet Kathy and Tory knew since they were born and they really miss him, as do we.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed learning a little more about us. Mary and I have certainly come to enjoy learning about all of the various shops, parks, and preserves that carry Jabebo earrings as we exchange phone calls and emails in the course of doing business. Though we have gone from being world-travelers to being homebodies, our earrings allow us to reach out to and learn about parts of the country we never would have known of otherwise. Thank you to our loyal customer base!

More about Bellefonte:

Bellefonte is a scenic little town built on steep hills around Spring Creek. One street can look down upon the roof tops of the next street over. There is a spring that supplies the city water which gives rise to the name Bellefonte (pronounced simply Bell-Font). Are you ready for a walk around town? Here are some scenes:

Old school building across from our front porch.

One of the many steep side streets.

The Brockerhoff House and the gives the downtown a quant "Old Europe" look.

Downtown again.

Best views of the mountains are from the cemetery.