When ISU President Gregory Geoffroy’s wife, Kathy, walked into Gilger Designs, ISU student Sena Shebaro did not recognize her patron.

“I was just sitting down designing some stuff,” said Shebaro, sophomore in art and design. “Then Mrs. Gilger asked, `Do you know who that is?'”

Kathy Geoffroy was on a mission to find a designer Cyclone pin.

“I wanted a kind of pin that would look like a Cyclone, that was kind of dressy but something I could also wear to football games,” she said. “I also wanted something that, when I was not in the area, it would still be a pretty piece of jewelry to wear.”

Kathy Geoffroy, who currently is living in Maryland while the Geoffroy’s son finishes high school, came up with the idea for a Cyclone brooch after seeing local women wearing Terrapin jewelry for the University of Maryland.

So the search began. Kathy Geoffroy scoured jewelry cases up and down Main Street until she walked into Gilger Designs, 236 Main St., which specializes in designer jewelry and unique pieces.

Michael Gilger, the store’s owner, had been mentoring Shebaro for two years.

Shebaro already had been working on sketches similar to what Kathy Geoffroy had in mind.

When she found out who her customer was, she decided to prepare a few more drawings.

Kathy Geoffroy said she had envisioned a “stylized Cyclone,” similar to the designs on the back of Jack Trice Stadium.

That night, Shebaro sat behind the stadium and produced 20 thumbnail sketches in hopes her customer would like one of them.

“Several designs were very nice,” Kathy Geoffroy said.

“Some were a little more modern looking, and I’m more traditional.”

The final piece, a rose-gold Cyclone brooch with strips of yellow-gold over the top, was the product of 10 to 12 hours of work. Gilger said the pin was difficult to make, because it is not a uniform shape.

When she saw the finished product, which cost less than $1,000, Kathy Geoffroy thought it was beautiful.

“I’m not good at visualizing what the final product is going to look like in the planning process,” she said. “I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.”

Kathy Geoffroy wore the pin to President Geoffroy’s installation and the Baylor football game and said her husband also likes the brooch.

“He thinks it’s really nice I have a Cyclone pin to wear,” she said.

Kathy Geoffroy said she enjoyed the process of designing her own piece of jewelry.

“I really enjoy being able to tell people it was designed by a student,” she said. “It makes it more special than finding something in a case.”

Working with Shebaro was a good experience, Kathy Geoffroy said.

“I was very impressed with Sena,” she said. “She was fun to work with, and I could see she was excited and enthusiastic about it.”

Along with designing, Shebaro sizes rings and carves waxes for jewelry molds at Gilger Designs.

“Sena is a skilled artist,” Gilger said.

“She has a natural gift in fine arts. I hope that when Sena finishes school she will stay with us.”

Shebaro said upon graduation she might stay at Gilger designs.

“I will probably do something in this area and continue my visual studies in art,” she said.

For the moment, Kathy Geoffroy does not have any plans to commission another piece of jewelry. But you never know – she might need something in silver.

“Sena gave me a lot of ideas,” Kathy Geoffroy said.