About Me

I am a branch of a fine flowering tree. My roots run deep. My branches yield service, art, sewing, reuse, adventure and so much more.

As a child I looked up to my maternal grandmother. She served everyone she did and didn't know. She wrote poetry, sewed. farmed, rode bicycles hundreds of miles and camped along the way. She ran a day care and raised veggies to share with anyone and everyone. As an older woman she and my great aunt developed an organization called  "Senior Gleaners" harvesting unpicked fruits and veggies from the Del Monte farms in northern California and prepared boxes for senior citizens in need.

My Grammie is the foundation of me. Her "make something from nothing" life inspired me from a very young age. I loved "garbage shopping" in my mother's sewing room. Taking fabric scraps, ribbon pieces and paper trimmings to create my own barbie clothes and style their homes.

When I was a young adult I discovered a photograph of Grammie taken for the Attleboro Press. She crafted an amazing dollhouse from cardboard. Fully furnished it. Painted every detail including mini portraits to place above a miniature fireplace. Then, gave it away.

I love to give. I love to serve. I love dreaming up new ways to use old things creating fantastic things for others.I NEVER pass a pile of anything  remotely reusable on the side of the road. A stop, look and dream attitude has been the beginning of tree houses, playhouses, furniture and gifts.

My creative side has turned 300 antique hankies into pennant banners for my daughter's wedding. Used fruit crates to construct an entertainment center and reupholstered a free rocker from an online classified ad for the perfect nighttime nursery perch.Decorating weddings, creating Christmas trees for the local children's hospital annual fundraiser, furniture upcycling, garden and landscape design and  more are opportunities I relish.

I suppose I will always be a "garbage shopper". I will always relish making "something from nothing". Serving others will always be a part of me and finding joy in life will always result from the foundation of creativity, service adventure my Grammie passed down to me.