MEET THE ARTIST

Welcome to our site! Here’s a little bit of history about us. I grew up with my sister, Shari, and brother, Phil, in a small town in central Iowa. My husband, Chuck, grew up here in Des Moines. I am a self-taught artist and crafter. I have always enjoyed working with my hands by drawing, painting, sewing and working with flowers. My siblings and I would help our parents, planting and tending a very large garden at our home. Mom loved her flowers and always found a way to sneak in a few rows of flowers in with the vegetables in her gardens. She was the artist in the family and my dad is the guy who can do anything with his hands. My paternal grandmother and my aunts were also a great source of inspiration to me as a child.

I loved my art classes when I was in school. I would spend all my free time in the art room working on projects for class. My sister and I loved to create “floats” for the annual school homecoming parade and won several prizes for our creations.

After high school, I went to work in a retail distribution center, planning on staying for only a couple of weeks and ended up working there for the next 33 years. After marriage, I had two small children to raise and a career in the retail distribution field, so my creativity had to take a back seat for a few years. I still sewed all my own clothing and tended flower gardens, but painting was something I didn’t have time for. After the kids were grown and out of the house, I signed up to take a Saturday afternoon painting class from Laurie Speltz at the Creative Coach and was hooked on painting again - I haven’t put my brushes down since! Laurie and her sister Sandy are a great source of inspiration and encouragement. Please visit her website (www.lauriespeltz.com) to see her wonderful designs!

I have always made things for myself, family and friends. I had a favorite tee shirt that had a spot on it and decided I would use fabric paint to make a design to cover it up. It was such a hit with the girls at work that soon I was painting and decorating all kinds of wearables for them, too. My cousin Diana signed me up to sell my decorated shirts at a craft show in her home town in 1991 and I’ve been selling my products at craft shows and boutiques across the Midwest ever since. Gradually, over the years, I have added all types of painted items to our inventory. Working with silk florals is a real passion and "therapy" for me.

I turned to full-time painting and floral arranging in 2007 when the company I was employed at decided to close the facility where I worked. My husband cuts most of the wood that I paint and he is my partner in working the craft shows. My husband loves it because each new type of crafted item requires a new tool for him! My parents and siblings also help set up and tear down our booth at shows. Due to my husband’s work schedule, we have had to limit the number of shows we are selling at. So, with encouragement from family, friends and my wonderful customers, we decided to venture out to selling on-line. I am constantly looking for new ideas, watching for new trends in design and listening to what my customers are looking for. We hope you will enjoy the items we have to offer and will visit us often to see our new products. If there is something special you would like us to make for you, just ask! We will do our best to accommodate your requests.

I am grateful to all our family, friends and customers who have supported and encouraged us. We love to watch people’s reactions to our creations and make them smile! Thanks for viewing our site and please visit us again often!