As a kid I made myself a dollhouse for my trolls. (hey, they were popular back then.) All sizes of shoeboxes stuffed into the basement window. They each had a waterbed and even a set of clothes that I made from my mom's fabric and notions stash. It could entertain me for hours on end- even though my friends were into trolls, none of them had troll houses. One day my cousin came over and laughed at what a dork I was for making such a useless pile of crap. She was teasing me that someday I would probably make my own couch. I thought hey, that would be cool- not dorky!

In high school I would sit on the floor in my room with the door shut listening to music and making little sculptures out of colorful Sculpey clay that I would bake in the oven. I was soon surrounded by little trippy guys and people. I'd show you all photos but they all got broken in the several moves I have had since then.

My senior art project in high school was a coffe table made out of broken skateboards and coffee cans. I got an A.

I went on to mastering baking- cakes, cookies, cupcakes, tiramisu, pie...

My mom got me a sewing machine for christmas in 2005. I was still baking a lot and working, so I did a few projects with her, mostly quilts.

In 2008 I got married and we moved into a bigger place, so I set up a desk for my sewing machine and mostly made stuff for friends and family. I opened up my etsy shop in 2009. (In my first year I only had 2 sales.) In the summer if 2011 we moved to San Francisco and my shop totally took off- since then I have made lots of custom dolls, and some of them have gone to Australia, Canada, Spain, and Italy.

This past summer I participated in the Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco. It was a huge success, and I hope to be able to be included every year!

I have been building (hoarding!) my fabric stash, and trying every new thing I can get my hands on.

I love details- tiny shoes, embroidered faces, pirate hats and swords, little ruffles on dolls dresses and appliqued quilt blocks. I have been trying lots of new things recently- a custom bumper for an oval crib, a matching apron and dolly for a one year old's birthday, a ruffly round pillow for my bed.

It's like I'm back in the basement as a kid, or on the floor of my bedroom as a teenager- I sit in my studio and make stuff all day long. It's my dream job, and I love it!