The Ornamental Lady

• Latchhooking
• Crosstitch
• Knitting
• Crocheting
• Embroidery
• just to name a few.

Then I grew up. I went away to college at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where I earned 2 degrees. One was in accounting and the other was in computer science. I learned alot about business and worked in the garment district in New York City for awhile. Circumstances sent me back home to Bethlehem (I got married). I had jobs in the local computer industry until I decided this just wasn’t my bliss.   

I worked for Tupperware and Pampered Chef for a while and found that I liked being my own boss - doing things my own way - so I left the conventional job market to pursue my own dreams.

In 1990 I started making my own items and taking them to local craft shows. At first I even had a partner. I made homemade chocolates and crocheted items.

My partner and I parted ways but I kept creating. I created an item called a Tuffet. It was a recycled 30 pound cat litter bucket covered in fabric. The handle was also covered and there was a padded lid for the top. We found it could hold up to 250 pounds. You could use it as a seat or as a foot rest and there was storage for whatever you wanted. They sold well but not well enough.

I also made dipped candles, wooden pins, painted Christmas ornaments, candy necklaces for kids, polymer clay earrings, and crocheted items.

Then I found the plates. The ones I saw originally were done by some girls in New Jersey. They used decorative paper napkins and they were not useable. I decided to use fabric instead and to somehow make them useable and washable. It took me three months of trial and error before I came up with solution. A combination of sealers that will allow you to submerge the plate in water and not ruin it.

2000 - I started selling plates, and crocheted items. They were wonderful for my business. My sales soared. I introduced different sizes of plates, including serving platters. I then introduced cutting boards, and even clocks for a short time. Meanwhile I still crocheted.

2004 - I began having terrible knee pain - to the point I had to slide up and down the stairs on my butt. I went to the doctor. He informed me I have sliding knee caps. I have had them since I was a kid and if I just opened my mouth and convinced people when I was young that I wasn’t crazy when I felt like my knee cap was on the side of my leg instead of the front they could have been fixed. Since I did not do that - I developed bad arthritis in my knees at a relatively young age.

The doctor told me I needed to stop carrying around such heavy items as the plates and cutting boards. I started searching for some other way to be creative. I went to many classes in 2006 - glass fusing, mosaicing, stained glass making, metal working, but it was the beadweaving that really took my interest. I used to do beadweaving when I was in my twenties and I had forgotten how much I enjoy it.

2006 - I started beadweaving. I made 100 ornaments to take to my first show - Christkindlmarkt in Bethlehem, PA. I did the final week of the show and I was so happy with my results. I am now making jewelry and other items to take to my shows this year and eventually to put on the website.

I enjoy the fact that I can be creative and still be my own boss and make a living from my passion. Of course none of this would be worth anything if it was not for the supprt of my wonderful husband.